Last Launch Of The Century, Part 2

Late afternoon maiden flight of the newly completed Vehicle 81 C Into The Pandemonium during our "last launch of the century", northeast Switzerland, December 22, 1999. Vehicle 81 C was the third variation of a design originally sketched in late summer of 1999, and the first version to actually be built. It measured 1173 mm in length and 66 mm in diameter, and it was powered for this flight by an Aerotech G35-7W Econojet 29 mm composite motor.

The payload carried in the nose cone compartment was a Missile Works RRC2 altimeter for passive altitude determination. The flight was extremely stable and near flawless, and so was the recovery sequence, using Rogue Aerospace and Top Flight parachutes. Minor damage suffered by the rocket at parachute ejection and touch-down was subsequently repaired.