T' American Spirit

April 19th, me bucko, 1999, arrr, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, matey, shiver me timbers, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, Mass, arrr, at me first CMASS launch. Ahoy! At t' same launch, matey, me hearties, someone sold me a RMS 29/180 and 240 set for a real good price, me bucko, arrr, and Steven Boy sold me a H97. Begad! Blimey! I loaded it into me Ultimate, arrr, 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, arrr, but suffered a sep. Blimey! Begad! Blimey! The payload section drifted away, matey, never t' be seen again. Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! T' booster section came in ballistic, ya bilge rat, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Aye aye! Blimey!

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

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

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, arrr, 2002. Aye aye! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Avast! Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Aye aye! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. Avast! We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, arrr, shiver me timbers, 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. Begad! Loaded t' bear with more power. Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. Avast! Begad! In t' center, an H128-10W. Aye aye! On t' outboards, two G64-10W’s. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, ya bilge rat, and it was an AWESOME flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Lots o' fire, me bucko, lots o' smoke, and lots o' noise. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! 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 be easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, arrr, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Ahoy! Blimey! Also, me bucko, since the payload bay be gettin' a little surgery done t' it, ya bilge rat, 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, arrr, me hearties, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Blimey! Ahoy!

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

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

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