T' American Spirit

April 19th, arrr, 1999, shiver me timbers, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, ya bilge rat, Mass, at me first CMASS launch. Arrr! At t' same launch, me hearties, someone sold me a RMS 29/180 and 240 set for a real good price, shiver me timbers, and Steven Boy sold me a H97. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! I loaded it into me Ultimate, matey, and gained me level 1. T' Ultimate launched again with a G75, and then had its final flight… two F25-9W’s and a single G75-10J. Begad! Blimey! Beautiful flight, me bucko, but suffered a sep. The payload section drifted away, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, never t' be seen again. Arrr! T' booster section came in ballistic, me hearties, shiver me timbers, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Aye aye!

After the events o' 9-11, I decided that I wanted t' build a patriotic rocket. Begad! Havin' no money t' buy a new large rocket, shiver me timbers, I decided t' repair use what was left o' the fin can o' t' Ultimate, shiver me timbers, and created a new rocket, arrr, which I called t' American Spirit. I took t' fin can, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and sanded down all t' epoxy. Begad! Then I cut off t' damage tubin' above t' forward launch lug, which left about three inches o' damaged tubin' beyond t' forward centerin' ring.

Since t' original fins were still in good shape, I reattached them, matey, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Well, blow me down! Then I epoxied a tube coupler into t' airframe above t' centerin' ring, and then attached a two foot section o' LOC 4” dia tube t' it. Ya scallywag! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! I then took a razor blade, matey, matey, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. Begad! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, which be attached via a standard tube coupler. Ahoy! Arrr! For the nosecone, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. Avast! I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Begad! Aye aye!

Paintin' t' American Spirit be a challenge. Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I wanted t' do an American Flag theme. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! Blimey! So I decided t' do t' stripes down t' body, ya bilge rat, and put t' stars on the payload section. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' make things simple with t' nose and tail, me hearties, I decided to paint those gold. Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! First step was t' paint t' entire rocket white. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! Then I used maskin' tape t' mask t' stripes, ya bilge rat, thinkin' o' a white and red stripe between each fin (6 fins, me hearties, that equals 12 stripes). Ahoy! For t' starts, matey, I printed out a bunch o' stars on label paper, cut them out by hand, ya bilge rat, and painstakingly position them on t' payload tube. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! I lined up t' top o' t' “arms” with one of t' fins, so thar are 6 rows o' stars, arrr, alternatin' betwixt three and four stars per row. Blimey! Blimey! There are 21 stars total. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' booster was then sprayed with red paint, me hearties, and t' payload section with blue. Avast! Then t' fin can, and nose was painted Gold. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! Shortly after this, I learned that Gold Paint does nay take to well t' clear coat. Aye aye! Arrr! Blimey! Oh well…

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, 2002. Blimey! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Avast, me proud beauty! Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, but it was cool to hear t' E23's thrustin' for a whole second after t' WHAM o' t' H220’s burn.

Second flight be on July 27th, 2002. Begad! Ahoy! Loaded t' bear with more power. Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. Arrr! In t' center, an H128-10W. Aye aye! Ahoy! On t' outboards, two G64-10W’s. Arrr! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, matey, and it was an AWESOME flight. Begad! Lots o' fire, arrr, ya bilge rat, lots o' smoke, and lots o' noise. Begad! It is also very interestin' t' see t' reduction o' t' fire and smoke once t' shorter burnin' H128 ran out o' fuel.

Some minor repairs were required after t' last flight; one o' t' fins stabbed t' payload section. Begad! This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, shiver me timbers, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Arrr! Also, shiver me timbers, since the payload bay was gettin' a little surgery done t' it, I decided t' drill the holes and cut t' panels in t' aft end so it can accept me 4” electronics bay t' incorporate dual deployment into this rocket. Well, blow me down! T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, me hearties, matey, me bucko, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket.

Next flight took place on April 19th, shiver me timbers, me bucko, 2003. Begad! A central G35-7W surrounded by three G35-7W motors were instantly ignited by Magnelite igniters, me bucko, and t' resultin' liftoff be very spectacular. Aye aye! Blimey! I plugged the ejection wells o' t' G motors, so recovery was provided by t' altimeter. Once again, it function flawlessly.

T' most recent flight o' t' American Spirit took place durin' NSL 2003 in Clarks Summit, PA. Aye aye! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! She was loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. Begad! Blimey! T' largest cluster I have ever done. Arrr! Blimey! All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. Begad! Blimey! However, matey, t' main chute got tangled, me hearties, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Begad! Blimey! Fortunately, thar was no damage. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! T' video o' this flight made it on t' NSL 2003 DVD.

I do plan t' fly t' American Spirit again in t' future, but as you can imagine, matey, matey, matey, clusterin' composite motors can become pricey. Aye aye! Blimey! Maybe one o' these days, when I have more loot t' burn, I will build a beefed up version, shiver me timbers, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! Blimey! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Blimey! Almost a full K! Blimey!