Vehicle 76

The design of Vehicle 76, a sport model with payload section, is loosely based on the smaller Vehicle 9, previously covered here. Vehicle 76 was built in 1999, using various Vaughn Brothers, Estes, and Aerotech components. It utilizes plywood through-the-wall fins with a thickness of 2.3 mm. It measures 650 mm in length and 66 mm in diameter and is intended to be flown with 29 mm F and G composite motors.

The nose cone, 205 mm in length, conceals a tubular payload section with a length of 180 mm and a diameter of 42 mm. At the time, it was tailored to the altimeter I used most often, the Missile Works RRC2. The payload section is fully removable, for ease of altimeter access. The rocket is recovered by means of two silk parachutes.

Top photo shows Vehicle 76 in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2016. Lower photo was taken in Thalwil, Switzerland, after completion of the rocket in summer of 1999.

Vehicle 79 (Redux)

Vehicle 79 Dominator III ranks among my favourite rockets in my fleet. It is an uncomplicated rocket to fly, and its simple design provides a consistently impressive performance on F and G composite motors. Vehicle 79 was constructed from a variety of US Rockets and Aerotech components, featuring through-the-wall plywood fins, a custom-made aluminium baffle unit, and a payload section with a length of 315 mm. Top photo was taken at my former workshop in Thalwil, Switzerland, on November 22, 2010.

Lower photo shows Vehicle 79 on a friend's aluminium launch pad, on the occasion of our "last launch of the century", held on December 22, 1999, in northeast Switzerland. We flew our rockets from 2 to 5:30 pm; the temperature fluctuated around the freezing point. This was our seventh flight that day and thus our last flight of the launch and of the century. Vehicle 79 was powered by an Aerotech 29mm F20-7W Econojet motor. The payload flown consisted of a Missile Works RRC2 altimeter and a custom 9V piezo sonic locator. The flight was perfect and loud, and the RRC2 indicated an altitude of 1274 ft.

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.

Vehicle 79

First flight of Vehicle 79 Dominator III on an Aerotech F12-3J RMS composite motor, northeast Switzerland, July 30, 1999. The rocket measured 938 mm in length and 57 mm in diameter; the payload carried consisted of a Missile Works RRC2 altimeter and a 31.5 mm custom piezo locator.

The ascent phase of the flight was perfect, but upon recovery, only the drogue chute deployed fully while the main parachute failed to unfold. The resulting hard landing caused significant damage to the nose cone, one cracked fin epoxy fillet, and slight damage to the payload section. Nonetheless, Vehicle 79 flew twice more that day and was later fully repaired.

Last Launch Of The Century

Preparing an Aerotech G40-10W 29 mm composite motor for Vehicle 98 before the rocket's first flight in the afternoon of December 22, 1999, during what we termed the "last launch of the century" (top). We launched seven flights that day; this was the second.

Vehicle 98 measured 1063 mm in length and 57 mm in diameter. The rocket carried a Missile Works RRC2 altimeter, but it unfortunately failed to log the altitude on this flight due to a loose contact between battery and altimeter.

The boost phase of the flight was flawless. The drogue parachute deployed perfectly, the US Rockets standard main parachute was shredded upon deployment, however. Nonetheless, the combination of drogue and damaged main chutes ensured that the rocket sustained only very minor damage to its nose cone in spite of the hard landing (bottom).