Need Help Identifying Aerobee Kit Maker

[SecondRow]

I got this semi-scale Aerobee Hi 2-stage kit from a fellow club member who had to leave the hobby. I’m trying to find out who the original kit maker was (I’m assuming this isn’t a scratch). I’m at least the third owner of this rocket - maybe more I don’t know. The previous owner think it’s the Cosmodrome Aerobee, but research tells me this kit is bigger than the Cosmodrome one.

Here’s what I got:
Booster:
Diameter - 3”
MMT - 38mm
Length - 21” from the bottom of the nozzle to the bottom of the coupler. The tube is 14” long.
Coupler Length - 3”
Weight - 1.8 lbs (810 g)

Sustainer:
1/2” launch lugs
Diameter - 4”
MMT - 54”
Drogue section length - 34”
Main section length - 25” with another 3” of coupler glued in.
Nose cone length - 16” with a 2” shoulder.
Total sustainer weight - 5.8 lbs (2630 g)
The nose cone has weight added to it. I can hear something rattling around in there.
Total sustainer length - 75”

The kit is paper tubes and a plastic nose cone. The fins feel like plywood. The total length is 106” and weight is 7.6 lbs. With the various diameters and length, the scale is in the range of 1:3.5 to 1:4.

Here is a pic against the door for scale. Close up pics to follow, along with what little info I’ve come up with so far. Any help would be appreciated. I get the feeling this is an old kit.

 

[SecondRow]

Separated view and booster first.

 

[SecondRow]

The lower portion of the sustainer has an access hatch which I assume is for the staging altimeter. The upper portion houses the coupler and av bay for dual deploy of the sustainer.

 

[SecondRow]

The nose cone is stamped ACE PNC-39, which led me to a company called Ace Rocket Manufacturing. I found maybe one or two posts about them. It seems they haven’t been around for a long time, and I can’t tell if they made an Aerobee. It also appears that Aerotech may have shipped some of their kits at one time and then used that nose cone also? I’m not clear about that.

 

[SecondRow]

Other than the dead end for Ace, the only other clue I’ve found is that a company called Rocket R&D made a 4” 54mm Aerobee, 75” long. But in all the info I’ve gathered on that, there’s nothing about a booster. All the pictures I’ve found (mostly on TRF) have been sustainer only.

So, those of you with the historical knowledge - could this be the Rocket R&D kit? Is there another possibility I haven’t found?

Appreciate any help or ideas. Thanks.

 

[Rob Campbell]

The nose cone is stamped ACE PNC-39, which led me to a company called Ace Rocket Manufacturing. I found maybe one or two posts about them. It seems they haven’t been around for a long time, and I can’t tell if they made an Aerobee. It also appears that Aerotech may have shipped some of their kits at one time and then used that nose cone also? I’m not clear about that.

ACE was a brand of nose cone used by several manufacturers, namely T.H.O.Y. and older Binder Design. I'm not sure what else they made. Also, that Aerobee is too big to be a Cosmodrome. The Cosmodrome kit is mid power, 29mm mounts and IIRC, 2.6 inch upper stage diameter.

 

[SecondRow]

ACE was a brand of nose cone used by several manufacturers, namely T.H.O.Y. and older Binder Design. I'm not sure what else they made.

Thanks, that’s helpful. ACE probably didn’t make this kit, then? I’ll move on to some other avenues of research.

Also, that Aerobee is too big to be a Cosmodrome. The Cosmodrome kit is mid power, 29mm mounts and IIRC, 2.6 inch upper stage diameter.

100% agree. This is definitely not the Cosmodrome kit. If anything else comes to mind, please let me know.

 

[aerostadt]

There is a little bit in this thread. Go to post #24.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/scale-aerobee-gallery.19227/

 

[SecondRow]

There is a little bit in this thread. Go to post #24.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/scale-aerobee-gallery.19227/

Yeah, that’s where I originally found out about Rocket R&D. The specs match, except no booster. I also found an old thread started by @rfjustin about Rocket R&D that had pictures and an old catalog. But all the Aerobee pictures are without a booster. And the catalog doesn’t mention the kit.

 

[tsmith1315]

Maybe the booster was scratch-built?

It looks great, I'm jealous!

 

[SecondRow]

Maybe the booster was scratch-built?

It looks great, I'm jealous!

Could be. Whoever built this did a really good finishing job. All the transitions and conduit attachments are very smooth.

If I learn how to stage, you might see the full stack at GRITS next year. I can’t make it this year, otherwise I’d probably fly it as a single stage.

 

[Rob Campbell]

Could be. Whoever built this did a really good finishing job. All the transitions and conduit attachments are very smooth.

If I learn how to stage, you might see the full stack at GRITS next year. I can’t make it this year, otherwise I’d probably fly it as a single stage.

Bummer you can't make GRTS this year. I'd love to see that Aerobee fly, even single stage.

 

[SecondRow]

Bummer you can't make GRTS this year. I'd love to see that Aerobee fly, even single stage.

My sister and BIL moved down this summer to South Carolina to retire in one of those Jimmy Buffett retirement communities (like the Villages, but with more drinking I guess). Thanksgiving‘s gonna be at her house. I don’t think I’m up for a 4 hour drive to her place, 3.5 hour drive to Tifton, and then 3.5 hour drive back home to ATL. And that’s if the family comes with me to GRITS. Otherwise, it’s back to SC, and then home.

Hmm, maybe I can convince my BIL to come fly rockets. He used to like flying the little ones when I brought a couple around for my nieces. He’s never seen just how big they can get. Plus he drove trucks for a living. I‘ll make him drive. It’s not like he’s doing anything else.

 

[Rob Campbell]

Hmm, maybe I can convince my BIL to come fly rockets. He used to like flying the little ones when I brought a couple around for my nieces. He’s never seen just how big they can get. Plus he drove trucks for a living. I‘ll make him drive. It’s not like he’s doing anything else.

Now that's a good plan!

 

[tsmith1315]

If I learn how to stage, you might see the full stack at GRITS next year. I can’t make it this year, otherwise I’d probably fly it as a single stage.

I sure was hoping to see it, even if it didn't fly! Maybe your BIL will want to get out of the house for a while!

 

[cosmodrome]

Defiantly not mine...

 

[mitchboese]

I got this semi-scale Aerobee Hi 2-stage kit from a fellow club member who had to leave the hobby. I’m trying to find out who the original kit maker was (I’m assuming this isn’t a scratch). I’m at least the third owner of this rocket - maybe more I don’t know. The previous owner think it’s the Cosmodrome Aerobee, but research tells me this kit is bigger than the Cosmodrome one.

Here’s what I got:
Booster:
Diameter - 3”
MMT - 38mm
Length - 21” from the bottom of the nozzle to the bottom of the coupler. The tube is 14” long.
Coupler Length - 3”
Weight - 1.8 lbs (810 g)

Sustainer:
1/2” launch lugs
Diameter - 4”
MMT - 54”
Drogue section length - 34”
Main section length - 25” with another 3” of coupler glued in.
Nose cone length - 16” with a 2” shoulder.
Total sustainer weight - 5.8 lbs (2630 g)
The nose cone has weight added to it. I can hear something rattling around in there.
Total sustainer length - 75”

The kit is paper tubes and a plastic nose cone. The fins feel like plywood. The total length is 106” and weight is 7.6 lbs. With the various diameters and length, the scale is in the range of 1:3.5 to 1:4.

Here is a pic against the door for scale. Close up pics to follow, along with what little info I’ve come up with so far. Any help would be appreciated. I get the feeling this is an old kit.

I bet Cosmodrome.

 

[jmasterj]

Defiantly not mine...

I bet Cosmodrome.

Negative.

Awesome-looking rocket. I would be personally interested in a kit of it should some manufacturer decide to make a 4" one in the future.

 

[tsmith1315]

Separated view and booster first.

Eye candy for an Aerobee fan!

Its hard to tell with the nozzle, is that a 38mm MMT in the booster?

And wooden dowels in the interstage coupler?

 

[SecondRow]

Eye candy for an Aerobee fan!

Its hard to tell with the nozzle, is that a 38mm MMT in the booster?

And wooden dowels in the interstage coupler?

Yep. 38 in the booster. And 3/8” wooden dowels that extend all through both ends of the interstage.

The internal portion of the top coupler is covered with some kind of flexible metal mesh and then coated in epoxy. You can see it in the base and around the dowels. I assume this is for heat protection from the sustainer motor. It looks like that mesh might also be around the dowels in the lower portion. I‘m not sure because the epoxy is so thick. Look at the fillets on this section!

 

[tsmith1315]

Interesting. And stout! Because of the angle on the open portion, the dowels would have to be in 3 pieces to run parallel to the upper and lower couplers. Do you think there's an advantage to that vs only using the angled portion? Mostly depends on whether there is a solid connection in those dowel joints, I assume.

I like the idea of adapting metal mesh like fabric in the hot area.

Thanks for posting the extra photos!

 

[SecondRow]

For the lower section, I can’t tell whether the dowels are one piece each through to the angled portion. But the upper portion is definitely just one dowel per. I can see it go from the angled portion through to the upper portion. The holes are big enough in the upper section that I can see the dowel through and it’s one piece.

Another slightly interesting thing is that the builder sanded the outside of the couplers right along the vertical lines where the dowels are located. And also scratched it up along the lines. Probably for fit?

The more I really look at it, the more I think you might be right about the booster being a scratch.

 

[SecondRow]

Oh, and just let me know if there’s anything else you want to see. It’s right next to me. So taking pics is no big deal.

If I keep bumping this thread, maybe a veteran with institutional memory will recognize it.

 

[heada]

Looks like a upscale scratch of the Cosmodrome. Alot of the same features. Obviously not them but looks very inspired by them.