T' Nike-X: One o' my favorite '70s kits. Arrr! Blimey! This design was inspired by air defense missiles. T' real Nike-X project be begun, 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. O' course, now she's just a bit too heavy t' fly safely with A8-3 motors. Aye aye! (Iris is named after t' Greek god o' t' rainbow. She is a messenger o' t' gods, linkin' t' gods with humanity.) This rocket has flown higher than torch o' t' Statue o' Liberty, includin' its base.
| Flight Date: | 2012-03-18 |
| 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: | 313 Feet |
With very little winds I wanted t' see how high t' Nike-X would go with t' 5 second delay. Ya scallywag! It didn't weathercock and flew straight up, but t' altitude was still disappointing, at only 313 feet. Max speed was only 79 mph, average acceleration only 1.9Gs, but t' peak was a respectable 6.6Gs. Begad! It reached it's apogee in 3 seconds, then descended 14 feet when t' ejection fired a bit early at 4.2 seconds. Descent be at 9 mph and it landed safely within about 200 feet.
Seems it doesn't matter how long I make t' shock cord, this time t' body tube had a good dent in t' top edge about 1/3 around t' circumfrence. Need t' CA this up a bit. Well, blow me down! Still, I like this rocket. I'm thinkin' it's time t' make a 24mm-powered clone - maybe even a true 2-stage!
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-5 |
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