The Nike-X: One of my favorite '70s kits. This design was inspired by air defense missiles. The real Nike-X project was begun, but cancelled before it saw the light of day; this is only a suggestion to what the real one would have looked like. The pseudo-second-stage fins and the great Black & White decals are the highlight of the design.
I have modified this kit by adding an altimeter payload bay ("Iris"), which adds 3 inches and 17.5 grams of weight. Of course, now she's just a bit too heavy to fly safely with A8-3 motors. (Iris is named after the Greek god of the rainbow. She is a messenger of the gods, linking the gods with humanity.) This rocket has flown higher than torch of the Statue of Liberty, including 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: | 313.00 Feet |
With very little winds I wanted to see how high the Nike-X would go with the 5 second delay. It didn't weathercock and flew straight up, but the altitude was still disappointing, at only 313 feet. Max speed was only 79 mph, average acceleration only 1.9Gs, but the peak was a respectable 6.6Gs. It reached it's apogee in 3 seconds, then descended 14 feet when the ejection fired a bit early at 4.2 seconds. Descent was at 9 mph and it landed safely within about 200 feet.
Seems it doesn't matter how long I make the shock cord, this time the body tube had a good dent in the top edge about 1/3 around the circumfrence. Need to CA this up a bit. Still, I like this rocket. I'm thinking it's time to make a 24mm-powered clone - maybe even a true 2-stage!
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-5 |
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