Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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

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

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

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