Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, arrr, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Ya scallywag! Begad! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Ahoy! Begad! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, 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. Well, blow me down! Arrr! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Blimey! Blimey! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, me bucko, and I built a booster pod for it. Blimey! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Ahoy! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, click here. Ahoy! 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! Aye aye! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Ahoy! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me hearties, me hearties, and boosts it higher. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, matey, ya bilge rat, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Begad! Well, blow me down! 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, ya bilge rat, 1997. Ahoy! Aye aye! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Avast! Well, matey, blow me down! So I needed a more powerful engine. Aye aye! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Ya scallywag! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, me bucko, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Aye aye! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, ya bilge rat, me hearties, 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! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy!

Finally, ya bilge rat, arrr, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and set it up on pad 5. Ya scallywag! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Blimey! 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. 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... T' H lit after a short delay. Aye aye! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Avast! 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. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. It drifted for a long way, me hearties, and was recovered undamaged. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! When I recovered the rocket, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, shiver me timbers, but it be still spectacular. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag!