Back In The Day, #14 - It''s Deja Vu All Over Again!

As I have been wrapping up the final details of the recent Canopus-2 and FlatCat rocket builds, I took some time to descend the dark, dank staircase that leads to the secret BlastFromThePast rocket la-BOR-atory, activate the hidden secret bookshelf and pull out a large secret notebook labeled  'Old Fleet Model Rocket Inventory'.
This massive loose-leaf tome was put together back in 2016 and contains data sheets, any existing photos, and flight information for every single model in my old timey fleet.
Since I had very few photos of my earliest rockets, and flight data recording was very sporadic in those days, it was quite a task to piece together the history of those first 103 model rockets. 
Much of the information was gleaned from memory, which at my age is...well, you know....

Anyway, I discovered something very interesting  - the model rockets with fleet numbers 8 and 9 were - Canopus 1 and a FlatCat boost/Glider, both built in 1974!

44 years later, I find myself building new versions of the same models in exactly the same sequence.

Fleet #8 - Canopus


I did not have any photographs of this bird, but did, at some point, sit down and make a half-scale drawing of the model which I was able to salvage (peel) from an earlier scrap book and mount in the new notebook. 

This drawing even shows the color scheme of the original rocket.  Looking back, sky-blue and black were probably not the greatest paint choices for a rocket that was expected to reach a considerable altitude.

I have absolutely no flight data on the rocket, other than it was launched five times.

The final flight was dated 15 June, 1974.  It took place at a demonstration launch hosted by a fellow Colorado Springs rocket club, the Rapirhawks, headed by Warren Layfield. 

The only notation I have on this flight is "Model was lost".

I'm reasonably sure that a couple of the Canopus' flights were in cluster configuration.

A rocket engine inventory/usage log for 1974 indicated the use of four 1/2A3-0T engines. 

At the time, there were no other rockets in the fleet that would have used such engines, so I surmise that they were employed to help boost the Canopus on at least two of its flights.






Fleet #9 - FlatCat B/G

Built in 1974 from an original MPC kit, the FlatCat did not see its first launch until 11 June, 1975.
The bird was flown as built using a B6-4 engine.  A flight log states that the flight was somewhat successful, but the engine delay was too long for any lengthy glide phase.

Later on, the model was modified into a sliding pod rocket glider.  The dual vertical stabilizers were removed and replaced by a single center v-stab in the manner of more common glider designs.

The model was flown four more times with varying degrees of success:

4 April, 1976 - B62
13 November, 1977 - B4-2
22 January, 1978  -  B4-2
6 August, 1978  There is no flight data on this one other than the notation that the model "crashed and was destroyed".

This is the only photo I have of this bird, showing it in R/G configuration:

 

CHEERS!