Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

Finally, arrr, matey, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, and set it up on pad 5. Begad! T' rocket be 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, and it was a very heads up flight. Aye aye! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! T' H lit after a short delay. It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Begad! Blimey! Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. After it coasted for 9 seconds, me hearties, arrr, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Well, blow me down! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It drifted for a long way, and be recovered undamaged. Avast! When I recovered the rocket, me hearties, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Aye aye! Blimey! Later, arrr, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, shiver me timbers, but it was still spectacular.