Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, arrr, this thin' is huge. Well, blow me down! For people in HPR, me hearties, this isn't so big. Begad! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and is 4" in diameter. Well, blow me down! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, me bucko, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Ahoy! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! 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. Ahoy! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Aye aye! Aye aye! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, arrr, click here. Blimey! Blimey! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Avast! 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. Begad! Ahoy! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Well, blow me down! If t' main motor doesn't light, matey, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Begad! It better fly right, matey, 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! Blimey! 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. Begad! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. Ya scallywag! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, shiver me timbers, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and found that an H140 SU would work, shiver me timbers, matey, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Aye aye! Blimey! So, arrr, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, ya bilge rat, and fly it on an H180. Aye aye! Avast! Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag!

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