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The Aerobee 350 project began in 1989 a few months after I joined the
NAR. My interest was sparked by an article by Peter Alway on building
an Aerobee Hi model. I ordered the NARTS Aerobee 350 data packet
shortly thereafter.
My first Aerobee model was a non-detailed 2-stage sport model in 1:22.5 (BT-50) scale. It used a length of thermalite running from the booster nozzle to ignite the upperstage. Its only flight had a longer than ideal delay before staging, although recovery was still successful. The second model was to be 1:13.439 (BT-60) scale, and a contest-quality effort. I was fortunate to have met Bob Biedron while working on this model. His scale modeling expertise aided me in modeling the prototype's details and complex fin shapes. My attention to detail also alerted me to some discrepancies between the NARTS drawings and NASA photos. The inconsistencies in the data and frustration over the building/planning process led to putting the effort on hold. It was never really completed, but I was able to use the unassembled parts in 2001 to make a fun scale model to test a staging and recovery system for future models. Following a successful flight of the sustainer alone, the heavy two-stage model crashed. |
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