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: | 2013-07-14 |
| 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: | 323 Feet |
This is the Nike-X’s fourth and last C-powered test flight with an accelerometer. Mostly I wanted to determine the best delay in light winds.
The motor fired up and pushed the Nike at 6.9Gs, averaging 1.7Gs for the two second burn. This was the lowest average for this rocket, which reached a top speed of 72 mph. The trajectory was very straight up. The C6-5 delay was only 4.7 seconds, so the ejection charge fired at 254 feet and the rocket continued up for 4/10 seconds, gaining 69 more feet for an apogee of 323 feet.
The 17” nylon parachute opened and then the rocket came back at 8 mph, barely drifting at all, and I was able to catch it before it hit the earth. I forgot to record the flight time but it was probably about 30 seconds. One of the main fins suffered a nasty leading-edge dent from the recoil.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-5 |
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