T' American Spirit

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

After the events o' 9-11, matey, I decided that I wanted t' build a patriotic rocket. Havin' no money t' buy a new large rocket, I decided t' repair use what was left o' the fin can o' t' Ultimate, and created a new rocket, matey, arrr, which I called t' American Spirit. I took t' fin can, arrr, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, and sanded down all t' epoxy. 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. Begad!

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

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

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, me hearties, matey, 2002. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Well, blow me down! 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. Avast! We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, arrr, but it be 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. 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. Ahoy! In t' center, an H128-10W. Begad! On t' outboards, two G64-10W’s. Arrr! Arrr! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, me bucko, and it was an AWESOME flight. Arrr! Lots o' fire, shiver me timbers, 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. This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, shiver me timbers, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Avast, me proud beauty! Also, ya bilge rat, since the payload bay be 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. Arrr! T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, matey, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Blimey! Ahoy!

Next flight took place on April 19th, 2003. Ya scallywag! A central G35-7W surrounded by three G35-7W motors were instantly ignited by Magnelite igniters, matey, arrr, and t' resultin' liftoff be very spectacular. I plugged the ejection wells o' t' G motors, matey, so recovery be 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, shiver me timbers, me hearties, PA. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! She be loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. Avast, me proud beauty! T' largest cluster I have ever done. All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, me bucko, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. Begad! However, ya bilge rat, arrr, t' main chute got tangled, matey, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Fortunately, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, thar be no damage. Arrr! Well, blow me down! T' video o' this flight made it on t' NSL 2003 DVD.

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