T' American Spirit

April 19th, 1999, 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. Begad! At t' same launch, 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. I loaded it into me Ultimate, and gained me level 1. T' Ultimate launched again with a G75, me hearties, and then had its final flight… two F25-9W’s and a single G75-10J. Begad! Beautiful flight, but suffered a sep. Avast! The payload section drifted away, never t' be seen again. Ya scallywag! T' booster section came in ballistic, shiver me timbers, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Ya scallywag!

After the events o' 9-11, 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, me hearties, ya bilge rat, which I called t' American Spirit. Begad! Begad! I took t' fin can, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and sanded down all t' epoxy. Then I cut off t' damage tubin' above t' forward launch lug, ya bilge rat, 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, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Aye aye! Begad! 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. I then took a razor blade, 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, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, which was attached via a standard tube coupler. Aye aye! For the nosecone, me hearties, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Ahoy!

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

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, 2002. Avast! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Begad! Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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 was on July 27th, 2002. Ahoy! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Loaded t' bear with more power. Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. In t' center, an H128-10W. Blimey! Blimey! On t' outboards, two G64-10W’s. Begad! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, and it was an AWESOME flight. Arrr! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Lots o' fire, lots o' smoke, and lots o' noise. 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, ya bilge rat, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Begad! Blimey! Also, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, ya bilge rat, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

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

T' most recent flight o' t' American Spirit took place durin' NSL 2003 in Clarks Summit, PA. Ahoy! She be loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. T' largest cluster I have ever done. All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. Ahoy! However, arrr, t' main chute got tangled, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Ya scallywag! Avast! Fortunately, me bucko, thar be no damage. 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, ya bilge rat, matey, clusterin' composite motors can become pricey. Aye aye! Maybe one o' these days, matey, shiver me timbers, when I have more loot t' burn, shiver me timbers, matey, I will build a beefed up version, me bucko, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Ahoy! Well, me bucko, blow me down! Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Almost a full K!