Anyone who has followed the blog knows I've been trying to find a Vashon Valkyrie 2 rocket. I've given up on a few Ebay bids when the price got too high.It was one of the first rockets I ever owned. I ordered it through the Sears 1969 Christmas catalog. I thought I paid $19.99, but this catalog page shows it selling for $14.99.
Enlarge the exploded parts picture - note the fin grain is going the wrong direction.
I first saw a Vashon catalog (shown at right) at a friends house in 1969.To see that catalog: CLICK HERE
We had both built a few Estes rockets, but couldn't get black powder engines in California. Cold Power, Freon propelled rockets were our only choice to get airborne.
These were impressive models. They were larger than the Estes Sky Hook sized models we could afford at the time. The Vashon rockets were metal. Shiny aluminum!
At the recent NARAM I met up again with Doug Frost. In the late 1970s, Doug headed the BAYNAR section near San Jose, California. I participated in many of the club launches.
Doug emailed me and asked if I wanted to share a room to save some money. The host hotel would have run me $1,100 for the week, I welcomed the savings and the chance to catch up with Doug.
We talked about the models we wish we still had. I mentioned the Vashon Valkyrie 2.
Doug said: "I've got one, would you like it?"
It arrived in the mail a few days back. I'll be building it to look like the catalog cover.
He found it! HOORAY!
ReplyDeleteHi Lonnie,
DeleteHooray for me!
I am glad you found the Vashon Rocket you were seeking and talking about on the blog for some years now.
ReplyDeleteWhat has shocked me is the cost of lodging. In one of the last issues of Model Rocketry Magazine from 1972., editor Steven Flynn noted how the cost of lodging for events such as NARAM had gone up so much. People used to stay in other rocketeer's homes to save on lodging costs during the 1960s. Flynn noted that NAR decided to use hotels as an "easy way" to solve the lodging issue.
Flynn may have had a point. Lodging is the most expensive part of the NARAM--more than 1/2 the cost IF your are driving multiple days. It is another reason to shorten the event to 4 days.
Those who are going into the Internat tryouts--shucks, they can afford a European vacation every other year.
Hi Manuel,
DeleteYep, that's why i jumped at the chance to share a room with Doug Frost. In the end, lodging was 1/4 of what it would be at the Marriott host hotel. Driving was also cheaper than flying for me and I knew my models would get there in one piece.
Very cool! I might bring a cold power rocket with me to NEFAR.
ReplyDeleteHi Leo,
DeleteThat would be great! I should have it finished by then, I'll bring it to NEFAR.
We might actually make it next weekend. It will be good to catch up.
DeleteWell, my luck. For the second time in a row I'm in the States and the event gets canceled due to weather again :-( I was so much looking forward to flying my Cold Power rocket.
DeleteHi Leo,
DeleteI was looking forward to catching up. I finished up the Vashon and was going to bring it for you to see. I can't launch mine, I don't have the Separator/Timer section. But it looks cool!
I haven't done any club launches this Summer, soggy fields have cancelled them all!
This is awesome! Very neat that you found an original kit of one of your early rockets. This will be a great build series. Makes me wish I still had my old Estes Cold Power Convertible Yankee 5. Maybe I'll put a clone build on my list as a BP conversion. I'm not sure if I want to hunt down an original cold power engine for that one, even though it was a lot of fun to fly.
ReplyDeleteHi Ed,
DeleteI had an Estes cold power convertible Shark. I tried to launch it in cold weather (the central coast of California is usually cold) and got very poor performance. I did a BP conversion on it. I also didn't like that the ejection spring was always hanging out when the model was on the shelf.
Yep. The cold power stuff only worked really well when outside temps were 80 or above.
DeleteHow many of us would look at the $19.99 (or $14.99) price and think -- "how *expensive* the hobby has become!" and dream of the "good old days"...
ReplyDelete... until we use tools like the CPI Inflation calculator ( https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl ) and enter the amounts to figure out the equivalent today.
Hi Naoto,
DeleteInteresting - by using the calculator, the Vashon starter set is $106.11 in today's money.
With regards to Coldpower rockets... Anybody know if there is a suitable replacement for the propellant?
ReplyDeletesomething that
* isn't environmentally harmful (e.g. doesn't deplete the ozone layer)
* is non-toxic
* is non-flammable
* is readily available
* is relatively inexpensive
Naoto,
DeleteExcellent page on replacements for RP-100 propellant here:http://www.mindspring.com/~vashon/flying.html
Thanks BAR,
DeleteYou beat me to it!
on yet another tangent... Looking at description of the XS-1 Shuttle model, the description of launching it sounds almost like how one might launch a model aeroplane powered by Jetex motor...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/vashon/vashon26.html
Wikipedia entry on Jetex ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetex )
Hi Naoto,
DeleteThe old Jetex engines were slow burning with very little thrust. The Vashon were quick to discharge the "propellant", more like a water rocket.
And that's the very the thing that made me kind of scratch my head with the described launch method -- you hardly have time to launch once the plug is released. Perhaps releasing the model near horizontal would mean that it's not going to spit out as much of the propellant in liquid phase at the beginning? Though I can't see that prolonging the thrust phase by a significant amount.
Delete