[Why is it "the 60s" and not "the 60's"? Because it's a plural, the ten years 1960-69. You're welcome from Professor Pedantic.
]
These things show up occasionally on Ebay which is where I found this one. My favorite toy, along with Estes stuff, in late elementary and junior high. At a time when I had no money except on rare occasions, the fact that it cost nothing but muscle to launch was a big factor. Quercetti was (is) well-known for making educational toys, and this one is pretty intricate. Rocketry and mechanics; what's not to love?
Sorry for the potato quality of some of the photos. Autofocus wasn't very cooperative.
This is the rocket with the capsule. Two fins are broken off and the rubber has rotted, else it would still fly. It also came with a plain ogive that was to stay in place during the flight. The capsule is a somewhat looser fit and gets shaken off by deployment of the main. Yes, it had a main chute and a payload chute....
It's split into clamshell halves, hinged at the base. The main chute and most of the gadgetry are inside during flight.
The rocket was launched by hooking the red tab on the aft end into a slot on the launcher to hold it down. The launcher was a plastic piece that you stood on with one foot. It had teeth on it to keep it from sliding off the shoe. A two-handed sling with two giant rubber bands was hooked onto either side of the rocket; you can see the hooks edge-on in the next image, just aft of the orange tube.
You stretched the sling up as far as possible above your head*** then eased the pressure on your foot. As the launcher tilted upward, the red tab at the aft end of the rocket would slide up the slot and into a gap and whoosh! The sling was powerful and would send it up 600 feet. Well...that was the claim but I suspect that came from a tall adult stretching the thing to its limit. Still, I could pretend that it went 600 feet...
The large red arm swivels up and down (it's on the side of the rocket in the first image). After setting flight angle(!) and delay time(!) internally and inserting the main, the red hook went on a projection (look closely) on the red arm. The fin on the other end of the arm gets pushed down nearly flat by airflow right after launch, disengaging the hook. The arm is elastic-loaded internally, so when the rocket slows enough, the arm pops up, disengaging a tab internally and allowing a tongue to slide down (later image). That forces the clamshell to open, aided by the gray fin you see above the orange tube. The rocket is still moving and airflow past that fin helps open the clamshell.
Next image is the rocket prepared for launch. Okay, it needs a nose cone...
Aaaand...the mysterious innards!
The big red thing at upper right contains the elastic-loaded tab that, when released by the red arm, allows the clamshell to open. The tab is on a tongue that sticks up and inside the orange tube at launch, holding the clamshell closed until tension pulls the tongue down. The two 'buttons' aft of it can be inserted in slots to adjust tension on the elastic. The upper button adjusts the delay---tension on the tongue, changing the airspeed at which the clamshell will open. The lower one adjusts tension on the red arm. More tension means the arm isn't flat against the body, so airflow against that bottom fin causes the rocket to fly at a slight angle.
Next is a better view of the buttons and tongue, as well as a pulley over which the elastic runs. Also, there's a gray arm out-of-focus at foreground left. When the clamshell opens it stays open, because that arm flips out on tension and locks it open.
Even today it amazes me that someone could conceive of such an intricate toy. There is a much more recent and simpler version I've seen. Single sling with no adjustments to make. Too bad...
Hope you enjoyed this little foray into the past! Maybe it'll give somebody a novel idea for today's rocketry. (Mine: make a slingshot attachment at the top of a tall launch tower, or make a tall framework from 2x4s or EMT. Latex tubing or exercise bands for the sling. How high could you send a rocket without a motor?)
***Almost certainly the reason it got taken off the market, and changed to a one-handed sling. With both hands on the handle of the sling, stretching it way up, you had to be careful to keep your head out of the line of fire. It wasn't hard to do but undoubtedly some overenthusiastic kids...weren't paying attention.
]These things show up occasionally on Ebay which is where I found this one. My favorite toy, along with Estes stuff, in late elementary and junior high. At a time when I had no money except on rare occasions, the fact that it cost nothing but muscle to launch was a big factor. Quercetti was (is) well-known for making educational toys, and this one is pretty intricate. Rocketry and mechanics; what's not to love?
Sorry for the potato quality of some of the photos. Autofocus wasn't very cooperative.
This is the rocket with the capsule. Two fins are broken off and the rubber has rotted, else it would still fly. It also came with a plain ogive that was to stay in place during the flight. The capsule is a somewhat looser fit and gets shaken off by deployment of the main. Yes, it had a main chute and a payload chute....
It's split into clamshell halves, hinged at the base. The main chute and most of the gadgetry are inside during flight.
The rocket was launched by hooking the red tab on the aft end into a slot on the launcher to hold it down. The launcher was a plastic piece that you stood on with one foot. It had teeth on it to keep it from sliding off the shoe. A two-handed sling with two giant rubber bands was hooked onto either side of the rocket; you can see the hooks edge-on in the next image, just aft of the orange tube.
You stretched the sling up as far as possible above your head*** then eased the pressure on your foot. As the launcher tilted upward, the red tab at the aft end of the rocket would slide up the slot and into a gap and whoosh! The sling was powerful and would send it up 600 feet. Well...that was the claim but I suspect that came from a tall adult stretching the thing to its limit. Still, I could pretend that it went 600 feet...
The large red arm swivels up and down (it's on the side of the rocket in the first image). After setting flight angle(!) and delay time(!) internally and inserting the main, the red hook went on a projection (look closely) on the red arm. The fin on the other end of the arm gets pushed down nearly flat by airflow right after launch, disengaging the hook. The arm is elastic-loaded internally, so when the rocket slows enough, the arm pops up, disengaging a tab internally and allowing a tongue to slide down (later image). That forces the clamshell to open, aided by the gray fin you see above the orange tube. The rocket is still moving and airflow past that fin helps open the clamshell.
Next image is the rocket prepared for launch. Okay, it needs a nose cone...
Aaaand...the mysterious innards!
The big red thing at upper right contains the elastic-loaded tab that, when released by the red arm, allows the clamshell to open. The tab is on a tongue that sticks up and inside the orange tube at launch, holding the clamshell closed until tension pulls the tongue down. The two 'buttons' aft of it can be inserted in slots to adjust tension on the elastic. The upper button adjusts the delay---tension on the tongue, changing the airspeed at which the clamshell will open. The lower one adjusts tension on the red arm. More tension means the arm isn't flat against the body, so airflow against that bottom fin causes the rocket to fly at a slight angle.
Next is a better view of the buttons and tongue, as well as a pulley over which the elastic runs. Also, there's a gray arm out-of-focus at foreground left. When the clamshell opens it stays open, because that arm flips out on tension and locks it open.
Even today it amazes me that someone could conceive of such an intricate toy. There is a much more recent and simpler version I've seen. Single sling with no adjustments to make. Too bad...
Hope you enjoyed this little foray into the past! Maybe it'll give somebody a novel idea for today's rocketry. (Mine: make a slingshot attachment at the top of a tall launch tower, or make a tall framework from 2x4s or EMT. Latex tubing or exercise bands for the sling. How high could you send a rocket without a motor?)
***Almost certainly the reason it got taken off the market, and changed to a one-handed sling. With both hands on the handle of the sling, stretching it way up, you had to be careful to keep your head out of the line of fire. It wasn't hard to do but undoubtedly some overenthusiastic kids...weren't paying attention.
