In looking through the scrap book of photos and flight log
records spanning my early years in the wonderful hobby of model rocketry, I
found that a good number of my model fleet consisted of boost gliders or models
with a gliding component. A full 25% of them, in fact!
The majority of these gliding birds were built for NAR
competition events. Many were of my own design. I experimented with nearly all aspects of
boost glider technology prevalent in the day – standard front engine pop pods,
variable geometry rocket/gliders, parasite gliders, ejectable flex wings, you
name it. There were even a couple of
commercial sport glider models thrown into the mix: an Orbital Transport, a Scissorwing Transport,
and an MPC Lunar Patrol. The only
variety of boost/glider I didn’t build was a rear engine Space-Plane-type
model. That design was pretty much passe by the time I started diving into serious
B/G competition.
This collection of gliders ran the gamut of various degrees
of success. Some crashed and burned on
their first flight, while others performed wonderfully. Some glided like streamlined bricks, while
others fluttered like feathers. A couple were lost to engine CATOs right on the
launch pad. There were a few ‘Red
Barons’. The best ones were lost when
they were ‘thermaled’ away into the wild blue beyonder, never to be seen again.
A few even won some meet ribbons and
garnered NAR contest points.For me, this whole collection of balsa, spruce, plywood, and sheet plastic represented one of the most gratifying facets of model rocketry. There is nothing quite like the sight of a well-built glider model climbing straight up, separating, and wheeling in lazy circles.
Today, as a Born Again Rocketeer, I have so far limited my
new model rocket fleet to small, 13mm-powered standard birds, but I have been
certainly eyeballing a lot of boost/glider models, designs both past and
present. Since my first BAR boost/glider
just recently came off the work bench, I
thought I would post a montage of some of my ‘old fleet’ B/Gs and R/Gs. Most likely, some of my future rocket
projects will be re-makes of some of these old glider faves from years ago
(1975-1984).
Oh, and I think it’s high time that I get around to building
that Space Plane, too…..
