Rocket Fleet, 1986

Part of my active fleet, photographed on the occasion of our morning to afternoon launch at Allmend Frauenfeld, Switzerland, on Saturday, April 26, 1986. It was a beautiful, clear day with only low wind and a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. Incidentally, this was also the day the Chernobyl nuclear disaster took place.

Lower photo shows, from left: the black Vehicle 31 (featuring self adhesive Mylar foil on payload section), the white and black Vehicle 39 A Enigma, (flown for the first time during this launch), and the black Vehicle 28 A (with white fin and nose cone), a rocket built specifically to fly with Flight Systems E and F black powder motors. The flights of Vehicle 28 A revealed stability deficiencies which subsequently led to a redesign.

Next are the two prototypes of Vehicle 30; #8230 B is on top and #8230 A at bottom. I was about to lose the latter that day. Then the silver/black/red Vehicle 44 Rhea, a payload carrier built from CMR components. To the right of Vehicle 44 are my Estes Bandit (repaired from its previous motor failure) and my trusty Centuri Starfire. Then, the newly completed silver/white/black Vehicle 48 A Heracles (bottom) and the red/white Vehicle 36 B sport model, built from Centuri parts (top).

This is followed by the silver/white/black Vehicle 22 B payload model with its high aspect-ratio fins, my Centuri Excalibur 2, and my Estes Titan II ICBM. The line-up is completed by Vehicle 33, a delta-wing boost glider loosely inspired by Estes' legendary Astron Skydart. Vehicle 33 was scratch-built in 1981, using Flight Systems and Estes components.

In addition to all of these rockets, the top photo also shows one of my Estes Astron Alphas (far right), frequently used to open a launch and determine the wind conditions.

Photography by Martin Kyburz.

[Entry amended October 17, 2016.]

Two Prototypes Of Vehicle 30

I built the first incarnation of Vehicle 30 (8230 A) in July of 1982, using CMR and Estes components. This rocket was designed to be a simple, reliably stable sport model, vaguely resembling Estes' iconic Astron Goblin. Vehicle 30 measured 325 mm in length and 29.5 mm in diameter, and it featured plywood fins and a plastic nose cone.

The top photo, taken in northeast Switzerland on April 16, 1986, shows Vehicle 30 shortly before launch on an Estes D11-9 black powder motor. Unfortunately, the motor disintegrated upon launch, ripping both nose cone and recovery system from the rocket. Unlike the Centuri Nike Smoke sport scale model that was completely destroyed by a similar Estes D12-5 malfunction on the same date, Vehicle 30 remained repairable.

Only ten days later, on April 26, 1986, the rebuilt rocket was lost during a launch held next to the Swiss model rocket competition at Allmend Frauenfeld, Switzerland. Vehicle 30 flew high on an Estes D motor and then experienced so much wind drift that it could no longer be found.

I had built a second, identical prototype of the design, however, and repeatedly flew and recovered this rocket (8230 B) successfully that same day, with the same motor type. Center photo shows the second Vehicle 30 during one such launch, likely powered by an Estes D12-5 or D12-7 motor. Due to its superb flight characteristics, this design thus became one of my most frequently flown rockets.

Lower photo was taken in Zurich, Switzerland, on June 7, 2016, and shows the surviving second version of Vehicle 30 as it looks today.

Top photo by Marco Schenker; centre photo by Martin Kyburz, lower photo by the author of this blog.