Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Vashon Valkyrie II Build, Part 3, Parts




My original 1969 Vashon starter set included a shiny chrome Mylar parachute. This box included a shiny one and this orange and blue printed parachute.
The color chute was 11 3/4" wide from flat to flat. There are eight shroud line attachment points.


"Extra light, extra strong MYLAR Parachute.
The Echo Satellite material."
You could launch the Vashon models by pulling a pin and releasing the plug in the nozzle.
You could also launch it using the "Ignitor Wire". Look close, the wire is sitting on the instruction card. The wire held the plug in place after the pin was carefully slid out. Count down - Touch the other end of the plug leads to a battery. The wire melts and the plug is blown out of the nozzle.

The inset picture shows some timer disks. The disks were placed into the separator segment. More disks, the longer the delay before the parachute tube is released.
That thing that looks like a raisin was a rubber bulb that held contact cement. Cut off the end and squeeze out the glue. Contact cement was used to glue on the launch lug and fin rails to the roughed up aluminum body. Originally these were red, there were two in the kit.

Two fin sheets were included. One sheet was die-cut, the second was screen printed like the some Centuri fin sheets.
It looks like the original owner cut out some fins, not exactly on the printed lines!

6 comments:

  1. Chris, I'm watching this with interest since I never had a cold powered rocket. I'm sure you know this, but YORP has the Valkyrie 2 fin templates and decals here, courtesy of Leo Nutz:

    http://www.oldrocketplans.com/decals/ValkyrieFins.jpg
    http://www.oldrocketplans.com/decals/Valkyrie_Decal.jpg

    (In case your decals are not usable after a few decades in the box). Looks like an easy BP conversion, for those so inclined. Laters.


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    Replies
    1. Hi BAR,
      The fins in the set I just got are different than what my earlier issued kit had. More on that later.
      I did get a decal sheet, but they aren't usable. The decal link you gave shows the same decals that came in this set. I won't be using the decals, I want my version to look like the catalog post in an earlier post.
      I don't think a black powder version would be possible using the aluminum parts. Somebody could do a clone using a 1" tube and some aluminum trim Monokote.

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  2. Oops, meant clone, not conversion. Hmmm..., ST-9 tube, about 10 in. long, BC-9 3:1 ogive nose cone, blow up the catalog picture to get a full size fin template. Replica nozzle for display only, removeable for flight, due to the tiny wasp waist. Red fins and nose cone, aluminum body, black pin stripe livery. Erockets, here I come (again).

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    Replies
    1. Hi BAR,
      A perfect fit body tube is a BT-50H. Main engine body is 8 1/2" long, separator module 1" long and the parachute tube is 4" long. Total tube length is 13 1/2". Nose ocne is 3" long, the tip is rounded.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Chris! Interesting that Vashon had at least 3 different fin patterns for this model.

      Delete
  3. "Extra light, extra strong MYLAR Parachute.
    The Echo Satellite material."

    Love it.

    ReplyDelete