Flight Systems, Inc. - Nova Gallery

[MarkII]

Another rocket from my FSI cloning project. This was actually the first one I built, back in December 2006 - January 2007. It was the rocket that kicked off the project. I love using 1/16" birch plywood for fins. They are hard to cut but easy to finish and wow are they ever durable. The upper section in this rocket is not for payloads; it actually houses the recovery system. Just as in the original, I drilled a passage through the solid wood transition (originally hardwood; mine is balsa) so that the ejection charge gases could go from the motor in the lower section into the upper section and push out* the parachute and shock cord. The transition and upper section are bonded to the lower section and do not detach. The separation point is the nose cone.

This rocket is extremely stable and flies like an arrow when it is launched. In it's first flight it went nearly out of sight on a C11-5.

An article on my Nova is here.

(* Yes, that's right, I said push out. If you saw the rocket first hand, you would immediately understand the mechanism. )

 

[Fishhead]

Mine is the real deal. A Gen-Yoo-Wine FSI Nova. I picked it up several years back, but we lost our field before I could get it flying on anything more than a C11-7. I plan to take it with me to NARAM this year to stretch its legs out a bit more. (I think I made it E-capable, so that could be coo-ell.:jaw

 

[MarkII]

A real one? Cool!

 

[Fishhead]

A real one? Cool!

Someone on THAT OTHER BOARD sold it to me a couple of years back. Not sure just when, but I know I built it in this house, so that means it was since August, 2005. My wife had a friend visiting for the weekend and they decided to go to the new Underground Railroad Museum. I was making dinner anyway, so as a bonus I got to stay home and put a couple of hours in on the Nova. I just wish the decals had been a little less "brief".:wink:

 

[MarkII]

Oh yeah, I remember that sale. 2007, I believe, or the first half of 2008. I didn't have any money at the time, or I would have scarfed some up.

 

[StefanJ]

I have an interesting artifact I will post photos of here shortly:

An original NOVA. As in, the first "iteration" of the kit, from the late 1960s. I bought the completed model at auction in 2001. It had the original mimeographed instructions, too!

Most of the analysis will be posted on OldRockets, but I'll certainly put a photo here.

I have a late-version Nova kit I intend to build and fly.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I had an original one back in 1971. A F7 will lift itself but even the 2 oz of the Nova was too much - cruise missile - never seen again. Glued fins on the rest of the F7's - that's how I found they would fly OK without any added weight.

 

[StefanJ]

The F7 was a highly problematical motor.

Well, here is the 1968 / 69 vintage Nova I mentioned. I believe it was bought and built by John Fox of Evanston, IL.:

You can see more pictures of the model and instruction sheet on my Flick site:

Ancient Nova Photos