Streamer Duration Rocket Build, Background

In 1975 I tied for second place in Streamer Duration at NARAM 17. It was luck, I really didn't know what I was doing.
If I remember correctly, it was a 13mm, A engine competition. I probably used an MPC Mini-Jet.

I was surprised after seeing the other competitors models. Mine was finished in bright fluorescent paint. Most other rockets were bare tubes! I thought a smooth finish could get you a higher altitude.

My 1975 Streamer Duration model was based on the OOP Competition Model Rockets (CMR) V.I.P. design. The V.I.P. abbreviation stood for Very Impressive Performer. These instructions were saved in one of my three rocket binders.

CMR tubes were actually thinner than the Estes BT-5 and BT-20s. The seams overlapped and only required smooth sanding - no seams to fill! Nose cones were thin vacu-form plastic. Fins were often 1/32" thick plywood. I didn't know plywood was made that thin until I bought a few of Colonel Kuhn's kits.

The V.I.P. was a very simple design. The nose cone and fins are parabolic.






One feature of the kit was the"pop" launch lug.
It guides the rocket up the launch rod then stays on the rod while the rocket continues on.

Pop lugs are a little tricky to make, the hardest part is bending the wire to shape.

I'll be incorporating many features of the V.I.P. in this build.





I hope I get this story right, it was posted on a forum a few years ago.
TRIVIA: Col. Howard Kuhn hired family to bag up his kits. His son and friends would get bored assembling kits. CMR was headquartered in the basement of a shopping center. Just for laughs, dead bugs were sometimes packed into body tubes and hollow nose cones. Once, I did find a bug in one of my kits. It did catch me off guard until I realized it was dead.