Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, ya bilge rat, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Begad! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! As o' now, ya bilge rat, I don't know what t' exact weight is, matey, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Avast! Avast! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, matey, and I built a booster pod for it. Ahoy! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Ahoy! Arrr! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Arrr! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Aye aye! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, shiver me timbers, and boosts it higher. Begad! Avast! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Arrr! Ya scallywag! If t' main motor doesn't light, me hearties, matey, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Well, blow me down! It better fly right, me hearties, or I will have a lot o' work t' do!

Flight #1: (1)H180 + (8)D11's

T' Ninja flew for t' first time on July 20, me bucko, 1997. Blimey! Aye aye! After talkin' t' some people, me bucko, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! So I needed a more powerful engine. Aye aye! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, me bucko, me hearties, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Aye aye! Aye aye! So, me bucko, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Ya scallywag!

Finally, ya bilge rat, it be ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, and set it up on pad 5. Well, blow me down! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. When if finally came time t' launch, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, and it be a very heads up flight. Arrr! Begad! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... T' H lit after a short delay. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Begad! Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Blimey! After it coasted for 9 seconds, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Aye aye! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! It drifted for a long way, and be recovered undamaged. Aye aye! When I recovered the rocket, me hearties, I smartly looked, arrr, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, but it was still spectacular.