T' American Spirit

April 19th, 1999, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, matey, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, arrr, Mass, at me first CMASS launch. Aye aye! Begad! At t' same launch, 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. I loaded it into me Ultimate, 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. Well, blow me down! Begad! Beautiful flight, but suffered a sep. Blimey! The payload section drifted away, never t' be seen again. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! T' booster section came in ballistic, arrr, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Avast, me proud beauty!

After the events o' 9-11, ya bilge rat, I decided that I wanted t' build a patriotic rocket. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Havin' no money t' buy a new large rocket, matey, I decided t' repair use what was left o' the fin can o' t' Ultimate, and created a new rocket, shiver me timbers, which I called t' American Spirit. I took t' fin can, matey, me hearties, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, and sanded down all t' epoxy. Well, blow me down! 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, arrr, I reattached them, shiver me timbers, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Ya scallywag! Then I epoxied a tube coupler into t' airframe above t' centerin' ring, me bucko, and then attached a two foot section o' LOC 4” dia tube t' it. I then took a razor blade, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. Blimey! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, ya bilge rat, which be attached via a standard tube coupler. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! For the nosecone, ya bilge rat, arrr, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. Avast! I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Ahoy! Aye aye!

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

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, me bucko, 2002. Ya scallywag! Avast! 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. Ahoy! Blimey! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but it be 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, ya bilge rat, 2002. Loaded t' bear with more power. Blimey! Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. Begad! In t' center, ya bilge rat, an H128-10W. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! On t' outboards, two G64-10W’s. Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, matey, and it was an AWESOME flight. Aye aye! Begad! Lots o' fire, ya bilge rat, 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. Ya scallywag! This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Avast! Also, since the payload bay was gettin' a little surgery done t' it, matey, 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. T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, matey, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Well, blow me down!

Next flight took place on April 19th, 2003. 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, ya bilge rat, so recovery be provided by t' altimeter. Once again, me hearties, shiver me timbers, it function flawlessly.

T' most recent flight o' t' American Spirit took place durin' NSL 2003 in Clarks Summit, PA. Aye aye! She was loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. Arrr! T' largest cluster I have ever done. Begad! All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. Arrr! However, t' main chute got tangled, me hearties, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. 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, clusterin' composite motors can become pricey. Avast! Maybe one o' these days, me hearties, when I have more loot t' burn, me bucko, me hearties, arrr, I will build a beefed up version, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Ahoy! Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Almost a full K!