The FlatCat Boost Glider was
designed by G. Harry Stine back in the earlier days of model rocketry. It is arguably the quintessential example of
a standard front engine pop-pod boost glider, designed to be easily built and
flown by model rocketeers who had no previous experience with gliding models.
The design was originally published in the August 1969
issue of Model Rocketry Magazine in
the ‘Old Rocketeer’ column. In 1970, the
glider was produced in kit form by Model Products Corp. The FlatCat was also featured in the 4th
edition of The Handbook of Model Rocketry.
Though the basic design appears rather clunky by today’s competition-grade
standards, the FlatCat proved to be quite popular for use in NAR sanctioned
contests in the late 60s through the early 70’s. Mr. Stine himself flew one to take top Senior
Division honors in the Sparrow (A-engine) Boost/Glide event at NARAM-11 in 1969.
Stine made the comment in the Old Rocketeer article that
the FlatCat was a good solid design which could be used as a ‘test-bed’ for
experimenting with boost/glider modifications.
As for me, I built two of these
birds back in 1973, and remember how much fun they were to fly. One of them was modified to fly as a variable
geometry rocket/glider by utilizing a sliding engine pod. I’ll describe these models in greater detail
in a future post.
Anyhow, for a little more insight
on the history of the FlatCat, here are a couple of interesting links:
One addition point. After posting this, I looked at both of the attached links to see if they worked Ok. On the one from the Air and Space Museum, I noticed that they had erroneously stated in their short write-up that Stine had designed this model in the 1950s. The FlatCat wasn't designed until the mid 60s.
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