* Chris Gonnerman commented on the Alpha II:
"According to CPMcGraw and BEC on YORF, the Alpha II was an educator-only kit; it had either a balsa or plastic nose cone, fins with the root edge marked by the die cutter, and an extended engine mount to which you attached the shock cord."
* Bernard Cawley posted the Alpha II instruction PDF . . . You can see it HERE
* Lonnie Buchanon commented:
"The Alpha II was an identical kit to the Alpha, except that it had a plastic nose cone instead of balsa."
I found the instructions interesting.
In the Alpha II instructions the elastic shock cord is tied underneath the top bend of the engine hook.
I had never seen this method used before in an Estes kit. Personally I wouldn't want an elastic cord this close to an ejection charge. The rubber would decay very quickly.
This is the same method used in many Semroc kits, except the lower end of the shock cord is flame resistant Kevlar and not rubber.
I wonder if the Alpha II was the inspiration behind the Semroc style Kevlar tie?
As part of my getting ready for the 50th Anniversary Alpha affair I had been collecting (buying off of eBay) various Alpha kits of different vintages mainly so I could see when things changed and look at the instructions to see how they changed.
ReplyDeleteIn the course of that effort I found that not all Alpha IIs had the longer motor mount tube and instructions calling for the attaching of the shock cord to the motor hook. But they did introduce both the die cut fins and the plastic nose cone that would later be seen in “regular” Alpha kits and they did always seem to have the fin locations marked. (What a job that must have been for someone in Penrose...I got pretty tired marking fin lines on 48 Alphas for the two build work shops at the Museum event.)