Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Begad! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Ahoy! Aye aye! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, me hearties, me hearties, I don't know what t' exact weight is, shiver me timbers, matey, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Well, blow me down! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Avast! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Blimey! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, and I built a booster pod for it. Well, blow me down! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Begad! Blimey! My original idea (Which changed) be t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. Ya scallywag! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Begad! Blimey! It better fly right, or I will have a lot o' work t' do!

Flight #1: (1)H180 + (8)D11's

T' Ninja flew for t' first time on July 20, 1997. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, matey, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, shiver me timbers, arrr, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, and fly it on an H180. Begad! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Aye aye! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Arrr!

Finally, ya bilge rat, it be ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, shiver me timbers, and set it up on pad 5. Begad! Ahoy! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Aye aye! When if finally came time t' launch, shiver me timbers, matey, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, and it was a very heads up flight. 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... Begad! T' H lit after a short delay. It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Avast! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Aye aye! After it coasted for 9 seconds, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Begad! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, arrr, but it deployed after a second or two. Blimey! It drifted for a long way, me hearties, and was recovered undamaged. Begad! Blimey! When I recovered the rocket, shiver me timbers, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Begad! Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, me hearties, arrr, me bucko, but it was still spectacular. Avast!