Brief:
1.59X upscale o' one o' t' original Estes Goonybirds, me hearties, me hearties, t' Super Sky Shriek is for t' most part an E-powered Estes Fat Boy with cool fins and an even cooler paint scheme.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• BT-80 main body tube 8.0"
• Estes PNC-80BB nose cone
• 2 centerin' rings
• 48" Keelhaul®©™ shock cord
• 48" sewin' elastic shock cord (1/8")

Technically thar were no instructions for t' SSS, but part o' t' beauty o' t' rocket be that none were really needed. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! I built t' engine mount usin' some centerin' rings scrounged from an Estes Patriot kit that long ago became somethin' else, shiver me timbers, a length o' BT-50 for t' motor tube, ya bilge rat, and an E motor hook and engine block. Begad! Ahoy! Once this had dried I tied a length o' Keelhaul®©™ betwixt t' two centerin' rings, cut a slot in t' tip o' t' upper ring, slathered t' whole thin' with wood glue and mounted it in t' body tube. Avast! T' fin guide from t' original Sky Shriek upscaled a little small, but I compensated for t' error and attached t' fins with LocTite gel CA and wood glue fillets. Aye aye! Blimey! I made another mistake here that I didn't catch until I be in t' hotel room on Friday night. Blimey! Ya scallywag! I forgot t' three strakes betwixt each pair o' fins...and t' launch lug but that's nothin' new. Luckily I had brought buildin' materials with me includin' balsa and launch lugs so I was able t' cut three lengths o' balsa and prime them before goin' t' bed. Avast! Ya scallywag! At t' field t' next day I painted t' strakes and t' launch lug on t' new table that I bought at Wal-Mart then attached them with epoxy. Ahoy! Ahoy! An hour later it was flight worthy.

Finishing:
Bein' that it is a two-color paint scheme, matey, t' Super Sky Shriek should be an easy rocket t' paint. Blimey! Blimey! It is, but thar are maskin' and placement issues that can be a pain. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Havin' already replicated t' paint scheme in a 1:1 clone, matey, I thought I'd have no trouble with it's big brother. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I thought wrong and I have no one t' blame but myself.

I printed out two versions o' t' mask for t' paint scheme, arrr, one at 158%, t' other at 159%. Aye aye! I should have gone with one at 160% because that seems t' be t' one that would have worked best on t' copier I used. Avast, me proud beauty! T' 158% upscale was far too small and t' 159% be also iffy, but since I had already left work for me NSL vacation and was leavin' t' next morning, me hearties, I was stuck with it. I had previously sprayed t' whole top 2/3 o' t' rocket with Valspar Cherry Red gloss, but as I sometimes do, I forgot t' put on t' launch lug. Blimey! This is critical because t' launch lug is a major landmark for correctly placin' t' mask. Begad! My rocket had no launch lug, arrr, and since this didn't register at t' time, I just stuck t' mask on and sprayed t' unmasked area with Valspar gloss black. Ya scallywag! It be later when I be peelin' t' mask off that I realized what I had done. Well, blow me down! T' damage wasn't terminal t' either t' rocket or t' paint job, arrr, but t' launch lug lines up a lot closer t' one o' t' fins than I'd normally be comfortable with, me bucko, arrr, me hearties, and this in turn makes decal placement a lot more difficult. Begad! I had printed t' upscaled sticker decal onto a large piece o' label paper and carefully cut it out. Arrr! Begad! I tried a few trial stickings t' see exactly where I could apply it without t' red or black paint showin' in a spot where it shouldn't have. Avast! Avast! It turned out that me upscale o' t' sticker had been correct, however barely. T' finished product looks great, ya bilge rat, especially with t' "goo-goo-googly" deadlights that me daughter picked out.

Flight:
T' Super Sky Shriek be one o' several first flight rockets that I took with me t' NSL 2007. Aye aye! Arrr! While it wasn't me first flight on Saturday (as I still had some work t' do on t' strakes), it was definitely t' one I looked forward t' t' most. I had built it with t' Estes E9-6 in mind and it sat on t' pad next t' Mark Bundick's Astron Sprite upscale. (Bein' on t' pad next t' t' NARRRRR president caused me t' wonder if t' Sky Shriek had undergone a more stringent inspection by t' RSO in case any revolutionaries had secreted themselves inside with ideas o' doin' harm t' Bunny's Sprite. Sort o' a Trojan Rocket?)

While bein' on t' pad next t' t' president is a high-visibility, me bucko, high-pressure spot on t' bill, me bucko, t' big Goony be up t' t' task. Avast, me proud beauty! T' E has become one o' me favorite motors and this flight was as graphic a depiction o' why that I could come up with. Avast! Liftoff was slow enough for me t' easily capture a launch shot, but it left t' pad with authority. Aye aye! Ahoy! I have no way o' figurin' how high it went, shiver me timbers, but it be plenty high for me, matey, even on a field as large as AMA. T' big fins caused it t' windcock slightly but nowhere near as much as I thought it might. Blimey! Ejection seemed t' come just as t' rocket lost its forward momentum and recovery was just out past t' high power pads. Ya scallywag! Avast! Easily me favorite flight o' NSL.

Flights two and three were both on E9-6s at a recent Quark section launch. Ahoy! While they were similar t' t' NSL flight in every way, they did do somethin' a little different. Blimey! Both flights had a whistle after motor burnout that was clearly audible from t' ground. Well, matey, blow me down! I didn't notice this at NSL, me bucko, but t' crowd be larger and noisier. It's also possible that it didn't whistle at NSL and did at VOA because I replaced one o' t' strakes that sit betwixt t' fins. Ya scallywag! I'm nay sure which it is, but t' whistle lends a whole new meanin' t' t' name "Sky Shriek".

Recovery:
As usual, t' recovery team consisted o' too much Keelhaul®©™ (four feet or so), too much 1/4" sewin' elastic (ditto four feet), me hearties, and a nylon chute that seems t' get swapped out betwixt a lot o' me E-powered birds. T' date, all have performed admirably, shiver me timbers, matey, although I wish I could find that blanket o' Perma-Waddin' that disappeared durin' t' move a couple o' years ago.

Summary:
PROs: Great lookin' design despite t' tongue in cheek intentions o' t' original Goonies. Well, blow me down! Upscales nicely in both size and power with a minimum o' muss and fuss. Avast! Someone actually thought this be a design I came up with and wondered if it was fit for family launches. Arrr! Avast! Whistles durin' t' coast phase. Does anyone know if t' original did this?

CONs: What could you say bad about a flyin' tongue?