T' Nike-X: One o' my favorite '70s kits. This design was inspired by air defense missiles. Aye aye! Blimey! T' real Nike-X project was begun, me hearties, but cancelled before it saw t' light o' day; this is only a suggestion t' what t' real one would have looked like. The pseudo-second-stage fins and t' great Black & White decals are t' highlight o' t' design.
I have modified this kit by addin' an altimeter payload bay ("Iris"), which adds 3 inches and 17.5 grams o' weight. Well, blow me down! O' course, ya bilge rat, now she's just a bit too heavy t' fly safely with A8-3 motors. Begad! (Iris is named after t' Greek god o' t' rainbow. Avast, me proud beauty! She is a messenger o' t' gods, matey, linkin' t' gods with humanity.) This rocket has flown higher than torch o' t' Statue o' Liberty, matey, includin' its base.
| Flight Date: | 2013-07-14 |
| Rocket Name: | Nike-X |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Nike-X {Kit} (1270) [1975-1984] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-5 |
| Launch Site: | Penn Manor School Lancaster PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 323 Feet |
This be t' Nike-X’s fourth and last C-powered test flight with an accelerometer. Mostly I wanted t' determine t' best delay in light winds.
T' motor fired up and pushed t' Nike at 6.9Gs, averagin' 1.7Gs for t' two second burn. This be t' lowest average for this rocket, me bucko, which reached a top speed o' 72 mph. T' trajectory be very straight up. T' C6-5 delay was only 4.7 seconds, me bucko, so the ejection charge fired at 254 feet and t' rocket continued up for 4/10 seconds, gainin' 69 more feet for an apogee o' 323 feet.
T' 17” nylon parachute opened and then t' rocket came back at 8 mph, barely driftin' at all, and I be able t' catch it before it hit t' earth. Begad! I forgot t' record t' flight time but it was probably about 30 seconds. One o' t' main fins suffered a nasty leading-edge dent from t' recoil. Arrr!
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-5 |
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