Brief:

T' Night Hawk is an awesome (yet simple) 7x29mm cluster rocket made by THOY. Begad! Begad! I received this rocket as a Christmas present a few years back. Arrr! It has very easy construction, and can fly on about any combination o' 1, matey, 2, 3, 4, shiver me timbers, 5, 6, ya bilge rat, matey, or 7 29mm motors.

Construction:

T' rocket came in a plastic bag with (1) long 3.9" airframe tube, (1) short 3.9" payload tube, me bucko, (2) centerin' rings, (7) 29mm motor tubes (3 long, shiver me timbers, 4 short), (3) plywood fins, a steel cable shock cord mount, a 36" fluorescent orange 'chute, a 1" wide black elastic shock cord, an ACE 3.9" nose cone, me bucko, a 3.9" booster/payload coupler, ya bilge rat, a 1/2" launch lug, ya bilge rat, and a plywood bulkhead with an eye hook for shock cord attachment. Avast, me proud beauty! T' airframe tubin' was thick paper (like LOC tubing), and all o' t' parts were undamaged, and o' good quality.

T' kit had standard construction, and went together smoothly. Well, blow me down! T' only problem I had in construction was installin' t' fins. Ahoy! Ahoy! T' rocket has through-the-wall fin mounting, and each fin tab is intended t' slip through t' slot in t' body tube, arrr, and fit betwixt two o' t' seven motor tubes. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! When I did this, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, and therefore left a nasty gap along t' fin root. I solved t' problem by fillin' t' gap with putty, but I do nay know if I aligned t' tubes incorrectly, or if t' tabs were cut too long. Avast! Either way, matey, t' rocket still went together very well, me bucko, and looked very nice. Aye aye! It is quite large, too, (about 5 feet tall) so it stands out.

Finishing:
In t' year betwixt construction and t' first flight o' this rocket, matey, it went through three different paint schemes. Aye aye! I finally ended up with an all black body, with U.S. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Air Force decals on it. Begad! I painted it with sanded grey primer, me bucko, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and Krylon spray paint. I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, me hearties, me bucko, me bucko, and covered up t' nasty, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Arrr! Hey... I know it sounds cheap, matey, but it worked!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

T' first flight o' t' Night Hawk be at t' ROCC (Rocketry O' Central Carolina) November, me hearties, arrr, me bucko, 2000 launch. Begad! Well, blow me down! I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! T' motors were friction fitted into place, ya bilge rat, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Blimey! Begad! So... Begad! I consulted some people, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Aye aye! Begad! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Begad! Ya scallywag! Despite this, I took them, and loaded them into t' rocket, and wired them in parallel. Arrr! Arrr! Then, 5...4...3...2...1... LIFTOFF! All three motors lit, matey, and t' rocket ROARED off o' t' t' pad on an awesome column o' black smoke.

Recovery:

T' rocket ejected at apogee, me hearties, but t' 'chute was a bit too small, ya bilge rat, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Blimey! So... I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, t' fins, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and t' fin roots. Ahoy! T' process was messy, me hearties, matey, but it came out all right for me first try at it. Aye aye! I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Blimey! So, I filled t' glass with vinyl spackling, shiver me timbers, and put a wrap o' clear lamination sticker on t' payload t' make it all smooth and pretty. Begad! Then, t' rocket be once again primed, arrr, sanded, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and painted. Arrr! Well, matey, blow me down! I painted it just gloss black this time, and put no decals on it (but I will someday soon :-) Lastly, me hearties, shiver me timbers, t' slow down recovery speed, I left t' 36" 'chute on t' main body, me bucko, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, so that each section could descend slowly, and separately. Arrr! Blimey! I also attached rail guides, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Begad! Now it was time for flight two. Avast! T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Begad! This time around, shiver me timbers, I made sure I got good igniters, ya bilge rat, so I ordered some Trailin' Edge Technologies Fire-in-the-Hole low current tungsten igniters. Aye aye! T' second flight be at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. T' new igniters worked t' perfection, shiver me timbers, and t' Night Hawk roared off o' t' rail into t' sky on a light trail o' Blue Thunder smoke with a little blue flame at ignition (I had t' look hard, though). T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. T' flight was great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

PROS: T' Night Hawk looks sharp, is easy t' build, me hearties, and flies great on about any motor combination you can think of... Ahoy! but make sure you build it strongly! CONS: T' chute is a bit too small, matey, me bucko, you must make sure you line t' motor tube gaps with t' fin slots, ya bilge rat, and t' flight cost is goin' t' be more than single motor flights.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5