Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, me bucko, this thin' is huge. Begad! For people in HPR, me bucko, this isn't so big. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, arrr, and is 4" in diameter. Begad! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, arrr, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Begad! Blimey! Blimey! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Ahoy! Blimey! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. 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. Begad! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. My original idea (Which changed) be t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Avast, me proud beauty! At a either .5 or 1 second, ya bilge rat, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. Aye aye! Ahoy! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Blimey! Ya scallywag! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, matey, and push the chute out. Aye aye! It better fly right, ya bilge rat, 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, arrr, 1997. Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Ya scallywag! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, me bucko, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. I ran a computer altitude sim, ya bilge rat, and found that an H140 SU would work, me hearties, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! So, ya bilge rat, matey, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and fly it on an H180. Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Begad! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Begad!

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