Hawk Mountain Raptor

Hawk Mountain Raptor near-minimum diameter, high-performance rocket, intended for 29 mm E to I composite motors, photographed in Zurich in summer of 2016.

I acquired and built this Raptor in late 2000, also adding the optional payload section. As is common for many commercially available mid to high power rockets, the appearance of the kit contents was somewhat sparse, and only a bare minimum of instructions were included. The quality of the rocket's parts was impressive, however. The Raptor consists of a G-12 glass fibre airframe of 33 mm diameter (pre-slotted for secure fin installment), G-10 glass epoxy fins with pre-sanded airfoil, a 29 mm motor mount, Kevlar shock cord with quick link, a glass fibre nose cone, and an x-shaped Top Flight parachute, among other parts.

Besides adding the optional 300 mm payload section, I also replaced the conformal launch lugs with more appropriate rail guides, in order to be able to fly the Raptor from my Rocket Vision Quad-Pod launch pad (top photo). Moreover, a few other aspects of the rocket were modified (e.g. the possibility to firmly secure the nose cone to the airframe, etc.).

The finished Raptor thus turned out to be a sleek and beautiful rocket.

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.