Vehicle 9

First flight of Vehicle 9 on a conservative Estes D12-5 black powder motor, launched from an Aerotech Mantis launch pad, northeast Switzerland, May 28, 1999. This was a perfect flight to a Rocksim-computed altitude of approximately 380 meters. Due to wind drift, the rocket was initially lost after parachute deployment. Fortunately, we found it later that day, by chance.

The unashamedly Estes Astron Goblin inspired Vehicle 9 has a length of 414 mm and a diameter of 42 mm, with 2.5 mm balsa wood fins. It was built from Estes parts and is intended for 24 mm D and E motors.

Top photo taken by Erol Ünala; lower photo shows Vehicle 9 in Zurich, Switzerland, on June 7, 2016.

Vehicle 39

The very first rocket ever featured in this blog, Vehicle 39 A Enigma, photographed on the occasion of a return to the location of its first flight in northeast Switzerland, on June 17, 1999, 13 years after the event.

Vehicle 39 was launched on an Aerotech E15-7W composite motor, from an Aerotech Mantis launch pad. The Mantis had originally been developed by Enertek, a company established in the late 1980s by Centuri's Lee Piester, together with Gary Rosenfield, Bill Stine, and Paul Hans. Unfortunately, Enertek failed to get off the ground, so to speak, and this truly versatile launch pad design (along with other items) later resurfaced a an Aerotech product. As with all of my launch pads, I added a slanted umbilical mast to my Mantis, in order to attach the ignition wires and thus reduce the weight which often threatens to pull the ignitor out of the motor.

Vehicle 39's flight was perfect, as was the deployment of the booster and payload section parachutes. The rocket carried two Estes Transroc II sonic beacons.

Photography by Erol Ünala.

N Project: 4" Aluminium/Glass Fibre/Carbon Fibre Rocket, Part 5

Top: final pre-launch work at our BALLS X launch preparation area out on Black Rock dry lake, on Saturday, September 30, 2000. Marco Schenker (left), a friend from our teenage model rocket days, is holding the N2000 motor before insertion into the Dr. Rocket motor case which doubled as the lower airframe of the 4" aluminium/glass fibre/carbon fibre rocket.

Second photo from top: the author of this blog, inserting the greased N2000 motor while Marco Schenker is holding the motor case. Team member Erol Ünala (left) is filming the procedure.

Third photo from top: our esteemed friend and US partner Dave Triano of Shadow Composites (left) and project initiator Professor Eugene Trubowitz (second from left) are seen preparing to seal the motor case with the forward closure. Team members Marco Schenker and Erol Ünala are looking on.

Bottom: Eugene Trubowitz securing the upper airframe to the loaded lower airframe section. Team members Marcel Busse (left), Marco Schenker (right) and Dejan Romancuk (far right) are standing by to assist.

Second photo from the top by Zane Reed Johnson; all other photos by the author of this blog.

N Project: 4" Aluminium/Glass Fibre/Carbon Fibre Rocket, Part 4

Top: the near completed 4" aluminium/glass fibre/carbon fibre N-motor rocket, photographed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, in late September of 2000, the week of the launch. The rocket was then placed and secured in a flight case, together with its 4" glass fibre/carbon fibre sister ship, and flown to Reno, Nevada. After spending a couple of day purchasing additional tools and supplies in Reno, we transferred the rockets and support equipment into cars and, on September 29, 2000, proceeded to Gerlach, Nevada, at the edge of the Black Rock desert/dry lake.

Centre: securing the attachments of the recovery system before installing the BlackSky AltAcc recording accelerometers at one of our rooms at the generously named Bruno's Country Club in Gerlach, September 29, 2000.

Bottom: the Aerotech N2000 motor before installation in the motor case, photographed at our BALLS X launch preparation area out on the dry lake, on Saturday, September 30, 2000.

Classic Centuri Publications

As much as I of course also loved Estes' extraordinary product range, I will likely forever lament the unfortunare demise of Centuri as an active manufacturer. There was just something about Centuri (and Enerjet) that connected seamlessly with my own frame of mind. With such confession out of the way, these are some of the truly extraordinary booklets and brochures published by Centuri in the 1970s. It was sometimes challenging for us, who were based in Switzerland, to obtain these publications at the time (as related in various posts in this blog). Moreover, when spending whatever pocket money was available to us, our priority was of course to obtain model rocket kits and motors.

Needless to say, every single one of these releases by Centuri was thus a veritable treasure to us. Not just because of the information contained therein, but also because of the wealth of deeply inspiring photos they presented. This was long before the internet, after all, and the nearly limitless amounts of reference material it offers to today's model rocket enthusiasts.

American Rocketeer was Centuri's house magazine, providing a mixture of company and product news, educational material, and advertising. Volume 4/Number 1 (1970, top row, left) was a prime example, its pages filled with beautiful black & white period photos of real and model rockets. Of note is the announcement, in a small article on page 11, that Centuri Engineering had acquired an 80% interest in a new subsidiary company called Enerjet. The magazine also proudly declares that Centuri's impressive Saturn V model rocket had one advantage over the original: it could be flown repeatedly.

American Rocketeer Volume 5/Number 1 (1971, top row, right) provided more of the same. Most prominent was an article about the Apollo 16 moon mission, followed by an extremely detailed two-page article on scratch-building the large and unusual Uni-Bird model rocket (also shown on the cover). But for us fanatics in Switzerland, starved for anything model rocket related, even just seeing the photo featured as part of the Centuri ad on the back cover amplified our enthusiasm.

Centuri's original Model Rocket Designers Manual (1971, top row, centre left) was one of the publications we frequently saw advertised but never managed to obtain until many years later. It is a small-format guide to all things model rocketry, beautifully illustrated and very comprehensive.

The petite Model Rocket Mini-Manual (1975, top row, centre right) was just a folded flyer included with some of Centuri's kits. It contained only the most important information about model rocketry, but we loved it as an addition to our collections of rocketry items.

The Model Rocket Design Manual (1975, bottom row, left), authored by Grant Boyd, was a large-format, expanded version of the above mentioned Model Rocket Designers Manual. Now printed as a substantial softcover booklet, it served us countless times as a source for new ideas. It contained chapters on techniques, staging, gliding, clusters, scale, displays, odd designs, and much more. Its layout, articles, and photo content also had the (thoroughly intended) effect to make us even more eager to obtain Centuri products.

The fantastic Power-System Handbook Operating Manual (1977, bottom row, centre) recycled some of the Design Manual's material, but it was truly unique in leading the modeller through a cohesive and educational building project involving the X-7 and X-16 modular rockets. And once again, the countless drawings and photos serve make this booklet a joy to browse through, even decades later.

Centuri's Model Rocket Club Guide (bottom row, right) was exactly that, a primer on establishing a model rocket club. Dave Sharma and me preferred to refrain from joining any club at the time (not that there would have been many options), and so the actual value of the Club Guide, to us, was again to be found in the inspiring photographic content.

Photo taken in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 1, 2016.

Vaughn Brothers Rocketry EX-18

Vaughn Brothers EX-18 two-stage minimum-diameter model rocket (intended for 18 mm motors), photographed on an Aerotech Mantis launch pad in Thalwil, Switzerland, in May of 1999.

The EX-18's high-performance design was vaguely reminiscent of Centuri's equally striking two-stage Stiletto model rocket, but the Vaughn Brothers kit was rather more basic in its contents (evident already by the plain face card), in spite of containing advanced materials in the shape of glass fibre fins and Kevlar shock cord. The result was a beautifully immaculate, robust rocket, however.

Vaughn Brothers RK-019 EX-18 face card © by Vaughn Brothers Rocketry , scanned from my actual kit.

Centuri Javelin

Centuri's unpretentious but graceful Javelin model rocket appeared in the company's range of kits as early as 1965. A little more than a decade later, two young teenagers in rural Switzerland first discovered professionally manufactured model rockets and motors. I was one of them, and the beautifully detailed and richly illustrated pages of the Estes and Centuri catalogues of the 1970s captivated me deeply. Next to the Starfire and the two-stage Stiletto, the Javelin was among the earliest Centuri rockets I purchased, approximately in 1978. At that time, I built it youthfully deficiently, but it still performed impressively.

Another twenty-odd years later, with Centuri long since having ceased to exist as an active manufacturer, I was able to locate a pristine Javelin kit. It was exactly as I remembered it, with all its highlights and flaws (e.g. the plastic nose cone being slightly too wide for the body tube). This time, I built it to a higher standard, and it resulted in a beautiful, clean model rocket, reminiscent of the exciting good old days of this hobby. This Javelin is shown above, photographed yet again almost twenty years after its completion, in Zurich, Switzerland, in May of 2016.

Estes Astron Sprint

Photo of my first Estes Astron Sprint high-performance sport model with streamer recovery, taken in front of what was then my home in Nürensdorf, Switzerland, approximately in 1978. The image painfully reveals that I did not yet possess the patience necessary to build my model rockets to a reasonably high standard at the time. My best friend, Dave Sharma, was far ahead of me in this respect, and his truly fantastic builds served as a tremendous inspiration for me to eventually improve my skills.

As was the case with many of the model rockets I owned at the time, I would acquire additional Astron Sprints during later years, both for nostalgic reasons and because this was really a timelessly beautiful and iconic design.

Estes #1294 Astron Sprint face card © by Estes Industries, very likely the actual face card from the completed kit shown above.

N Project: 4" Aluminium/Glass Fibre/Carbon Fibre Rocket, Part 3

Detail work on the 4" aluminium/glass fibre/carbon fibre N-motor rocket, at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, in September of 2000. Following the application of black and red paint to the rocket at an automotive paint shop, we began assembling the electronics compartment. The main mounting base for the electronics consisted of an aluminium centering ring and shoulder, screwed to the modified and threaded forward closure of the aluminium N2000 motor case. This construction also served at the mounting point for the glass upper airframe section.

The second photo from the top shows Professor Eugene Trubowitz during a test assembly of the upper airframe section to the lower half of the rocket with the still empty electronics compartment. A piece of white insulation foam can be seen on the aluminium centering ring; this was designed to shield the electronics from the head emitted by the motor.

Threaded steel rods then served to hold four custom-made aluminium mounting bridges, to which we attached the two BlackSky AltAcc dual deployment recording accelerometers. The AltAccs were intended to trigger the release of the Rocketman main und drogue parachutes.

Moreover, the threaded steel rods also provided the mounting points for the sealable aluminium top bulkhead/shoulder, which, in turn, held the two pyrotechnic release modules and the aluminium recovery system strap retainer bars. The entire assembly was beautiful and tidy, but, in hindsight, perhaps a bit too delicate for the loads it would encounter.

Centuri Starfire

The iconic Centuri Starfire was the first professional model rocket kit I ever purchased and built, in 1976 or 1977. Even if just for that reason alone, it will always evoke fond memories, but it was also a very sleek and attractive design, and a well-equipped kit (featuring a plastic nose cone, two parachutes, a metallic "spec plate", and nice waterslide decals). I thus purchased additional copies of the kit during subsequent years, both to build as intended and to use as a basis for conversions.

The above photos show one of these later incarnations of the Starfire, photographed on a customized theodolite metal tripod during a launch in northeast Switzerland, on April 16, 1986. It was a somewhat windy day, so the rocket was only flown with an Estes B6-4 motor. The flight was perfect, but that was always easy to achieve with the very stable Starfire. This particular rocket has survived to this day.

Centuri KC-12/#5072 Starfire face card © by Centuri Engineering Company, scanned from the actual kit that yielded the Starfire shown above. Photography by Marco Schenker.

Flight Systems Motors

A selection of 1970s vintage Flight Systems Inc. black powder motors. The discovery of Flight Systems' more powerful motor range in the late 1970s enabled us, finally, to fulfil a burning desire to construct rockets capable of a noticeably superior performance.

As young teenagers in 1975 and 1976, we initially built self-made and utterly flawed aluminium tube rockets filled with any highly flammable material we could obtain. These efforts resulted in far more explosions than legitimate flights, and it is solely due to sheer luck that we came out of this period without any serious injuries. In late summer of 1976, we finally discovered professional 18 mm and 24 mm black powder motors of the A through D range, first those manufactured by Estes, and soon after those by Centuri. At this time, they were still somewhat difficult to acquire in Switzerland. Frequently driven by ambition and youthful enthusiasm, however, we were often dissatisfied by the speeds and altitudes attainable with these motors.

Through our subsequent NAR membership and the associated subscription to the Model Rocketeer magazine, we soon learned that there existed further companies that manufactured different motors. But it was only when German distributor ESE Electronics and Scientific Equipment started carrying the Flight Systems Inc. product line that we finally were able to actually purchase that company's E and F motors. They were a revelation to us at the time, and they enabled us to accomplish a brief revolution in our rocketry activities before certain harsh realities in our lives temporarily forced us to divert our attention to other issues.

Shown in the image above are Flight Systems Inc. 21 mm E5-6 motors produced in May 1978 (top left, yellow header), 21 mm D20-7 motors produced in June 1979 (top right, blue header), a 27 mm F7-4 motor produced in June 1979 (second from bottom, green print) and a 27 mm F100-8 motor produced in July 1979 (bottom, purple print). The small plastic bag at bottom right holds the electric ignitors. The photo was taken in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 18, 2016.

Vehicle 69 With Estes AstroCam 110

Photo flights using Vehicle 69 with a standard Estes AstroCam 110 forward-looking aerial camera, northeast Switzerland, June 17, 1999. The rocket was flown three times that day; all flights were flawless and stable and returned one analogue photo each. In addition to the camera, the payload also included an Estes Transroc II sonic beacon to facilitate locating the rocket after landing.

The launches were conducted from one of the formidable Aerotech Mantis launch pads. The first flight utilized an Aerotech E15-7W single-use composite motor, the second was conducted with an Estes D12-7 black-powder motor. Vehicle 69's final photo flight of the day made use of an Aerotech D13-7W RMS reloadable composite motor. The rocket was initially lost upon recovery; we only managed to find it after a lengthy search.

The red hue visible on the right in the aerial shot is an old school analogue photo development artefact. Top photo shows Vehicle 69 in Thalwil, Switzerland, on June 8, 1999.

Estes Firing Line Vampire

The unique Estes Firing Line Ready To Fly Vampire injection-moulded, pre-assembled, and pre-decorated plastic model rocket, in design and looks a distant cousin of Estes' Astron Goblin model rocket.

The sublime look of the Vampire made it one of our favourite model rockets during the 1970s, in spite of the fact that we never actually managed to obtain one in Switzerland. It had first been featured on pages 4 and 8/9 of the 1973 Estes catalogue, but we became aware of it through a photo in the model rocketry chapter of Guy R. Williams' book The World Of Model Aircraft as well as by means of the first Estes catalogue we ever saw, the 1976 edition.

The rather tiny Vampire was designed to fly on mini motors (something we considered entirely unexciting, however), and it was also available as part of a starter kit, including the realistic Firing Line launch pad. The Vampire featured attractive paper stick-on decals. These decals do not age all too well, however; they are prone to becoming brittle and unglued, as was the case with the collector's example shown in the top photo, taken in Thalwil, Switzerland, in May of 1999.

I subsequently removed the damaged decals and carefully sanded the entire rocket, before converting it to fly with low-power 18 mm motors and restoring it to a semi-original look (bottom image, taken in Zurich, Switzerland, in June 2016).

N Project: 4" Aluminium/Glass Fibre/Carbon Fibre Rocket, Part 2

Further images documenting the construction of the 4" aluminium/glass fibre/carbon fibre N-motor rocket for the BALLS 10 experimental launch at Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The photos were taken at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology's machine shop in Zurich, in September of 2000.

Top photo shows the rear half of the rocket, essentially a Dr. Rocket 98 mm aluminium N motor case with welded aluminium fins. Aerodynamic fillets, consisting of a black epoxy mixture, have been applied over the weld lines.

Second photo from the top shows the project's initiator, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Professor Eugene Trubowitz, concurrently preparing the two 4" rockets of the project for the installation of the rail guides and their aluminum stand-offs. The epoxy fillets on the 4" aluminium/glass fibre/carbon fibre rocket in the foreground have in the meantime been sanded to the final configuration.

Third image depicts the custom-made aluminium centering ring and shoulder, mounting point for the glass fibre upper airframe section, screwed to the modified and threaded forward closure of the motor case.

Bottom image was taken during the first tentative assembly of the still unfinished and unpainted rocket at the Federal Institute of Technology, in mid-September 2000. The glass fibre upper airframe section has been crowned with the custom-made carbon fibre/steel nose cone. The rocket stood 2336 mm tall.

Classic Model Rocket Catalogues

A selection of classic Centuri model rocketry catalogues, from the company's pinnacle to its demise. Although I duly loved Estes model rockets and purchased a great many of them, I was always slightly more partial to Centuri. Their rocket kits had a certain inexplicable something that appealed to me, as is beautifully illustrated and thus preserved for posterity by the contents of these catalogues.

The truly glorious catalogues were of course the glossy, small-format ones of the 1969 to 1979 period. Although beautifully preserving the typical spirit of the 1960s, the graphic design of the 1969 catalogue (no. 691, 96 pages, top row, left) was still a somewhat one-dimensional affair. The same might be applied to the 1971 catalogue (no. 71 D, 96 pages, top row, third from left), in spite of the magnificent appearance of Centuri's legendary Space Shuttle on the back cover.

Centuri really came into its own with the beautiful 1972 catalogue (no. 721, 72 pages, top row, second from left), featuring stunningly strong colour renderings and photos of the company's models. The 1973 catalogue (no. 73, 76 pages, top row, right) provided more of the same.

The 1979 catalogue (no. 791, 64 pages, bottom row, left) was a less colourful and slightly more formal affair, but it was still bursting with truly extraordinary rockets. The 1980 (no. 801P, 64 pages, bottom row, second from left) and 1981 (no. 811NP, 64 pages, bottom row, third from left) catalogues were somewhat similar and even brought back some of the colour. But the kits offered therein had become far more toy-like and increasingly lacked the realism of real rockets, which, to me, decreased their appeal significantly.

By the time the dreadfully bleak 1982 catalogue (no. 821, a mere 32 pages, bottom row, right) appeared, one could easily foresee the end of Centuri's product line. The catalogue was an utterly unattractive concoction of poor, chaotic design. Only one further Centuri catalogue would appear, in 1983, but the company had sadly long lost not only its independence but also its uniqueness.

Photo taken in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 1, 2016.