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.

1970s Model Rocketry, Part 3

Regrettably, the 38 years that have passed since these photos were taken have caused me to fail to recall the designation of this vaguely Scout-inspired rocket. It had been designed by my best friend, Dave Sharma, a tremendously skilled rocket builder. The rocket was built from Centuri parts; it measured in excess of 1000 mm in length and approximately 35 mm in diameter, and it contained an extended payload compartment.

I either acquired or traded the rocket from Dave and flew it successfully a number of times, launched from a Centuri Power Tower launch pad. It was damaged, however, on the day these photos were taken in northeast Switzerland, in July of 1978. The pleasing aesthetics of the design and its fantastic flight performance left their mark with me, and I subsequently designed and built an upscaled version of it, named Vehicle 39 Enigma. Vehicle 39 became one my main rockets and is still a part of my collection to this day.

Photography by Hans Hofer.

Swiss Model Rocket Competition, 1978

A young teenager in September 1978, I entered the 6th Swiss Modellraketen-Flugtag, a model rocket competition organized by the Technorama science museum in Winterthur. It was the first of only two such events I would ever enter. The competition was held at Allmend Frauenfeld, concurrently military training grounds and recreational area just north of the town of Frauenfeld. Altitude determination capability was provided by Contraves AG, Zurich, the company that built the payload fairings for the European Ariane launch vehicle.

The rocket I entered was pretentiously named HIAC-38 Radial and constructed from Centuri parts. It was designed for 18 mm motors and measured 390 mm in length. Radial performed well, ranging near the top of the recorded altitude results. The second of the two required flights resulted in a disqualification, however, due to the separation of the recovery system at ejection.

Nonetheless, I still received a performance certificate. A restored version is reproduced above; the original is significantly damaged by scorch marks due to the unexpected combustion of solid rocket motor fuel during ill-advised experiments at my home, later that year.

Incidentally, Dave Sharma and I became aware of one competitor whose motors emitted an unusual sound while his rockets attained stellar altitudes. We reported our suspicion of tampering to the competition leaders, and it was subsequently revealed that the individual in question had clandestinely drilled a bore into the Estes motors he was supplied with by the competition authorities, in order to increase their performance.

First Flight Of Enigma

Vehicle 39 A Enigma launching from customized theodolite metal tripod on a Flight Systems E60-8 mid-power black powder motor. This was the rocket's first flight. 

Vehicle 39 was built during March and April of 1986, loosely based on a design for a smaller rocket constructed by my best friend Dave Sharma in 1978. Utilizing CMR and Estes parts, Vehicle 39 measured 835 mm in length and 41.5 and 29.5 mm in diameter. It was originally intended to be flown with Flight Systems E and F motors and later converted for use with Aerotech motors.
 
Photographed by Martin Kyburz at Allmend Frauenfeld, Switzerland, on Saturday, April 26, 1986.