Vintage Vashon Cold Power Valkerie-2 Rocket w/ Liquid Propellant

[Vintage Rocket]

Many moons ago (it must have been the late 60s or 70s) I had been building and launching Estes stuff and I got one of these for Christmas or my birthday.
That one was a Valkerie, I'm guessing a model "1". I remember loving it, but somehow after a couple launches I lost the nozzle plug. I searched everywhere for that thing and tried to come up with some kind of substitute but failed.
I don't know why it never occurred to me to order a replacement nozzle plug!

At any rate, now 58, I decided I had to have one again and just bought a Valkerie 2 on eBay.
(I do know that these were powered by Freon, and that propellants like those are now banned. Don't worry, I won't use a propellant that is harmful to the environment.)

I received this kit, and it was remarkably complete, untouched and original.
The plastic bag containing the nose cone, parachute tube and separator had never even been opened!

I thought I should post some pictures and documentation in a public place (here!) so that there is a record of it in case anyone wants it in the future.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

Here is a high quality PDF scan of the directions.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

And here are pictures of all of the sides of the box.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

And don't worry, I've already started work on it. I won't sit in the box!
I've done some reading on environment safe propellants, and I'll test some of those. I want to fly it at least once.
Work has started on the nose cone finishing.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

Test fired the engine using some "Dust Off" compressed air. Seemed to work fine after oiling the filler seal. Will try and video that next time I test it, but I'm not sure I have enough hands...

 

[tsmith1315]

I remember every piece when new, exactly as you have it, except for that RP-100 trigger thing. I have absolutely no recollection of that. Thanks for posting pics of the time capsule!

What are the chances you'd scan that Vashon catalog, too?

 

[cerving]

Very nice! That was my first model rocket, because in CA you can't launch them without jumping through hoops. This one looks amazingly complete.

 

[kuririn]

Picked up one on Ebay a couple of years ago dirt cheap cuz it was missing the nose cone. Got a balsa nose cone from erockets and was going to do a static test of the motor using Propel (airbrush propellant).
Looks like you beat me to it.
Following with interest.
(Check out this old commercial with the kid holding the rocket and the motor going off. OK with non pyro, I guess.)

 

[BEC]

Wow. I had a Valkyrie-2 and lost it flying out of a park in Santa Fe on a hot day. I've wanted to get another but the eBay prices have been outrageous every time I've looked.

Mine had the "RP-100 trigger thing".

It looks like the one you got is absolutely pristine and complete. Again, wow!

 

[Vintage Rocket]

What are the chances you'd scan that Vashon catalog, too?

I'll try and get to that soon!

 

[Cape Byron]

Everyone has a Holy Grail of model rocketry. You found mine. Congratulations!

 

[Vintage Rocket]

Quick engine test with just a burst small of "Dust Off" fuel in the tank.

 

[cerving]

"Canned air" (difluoroethane, actually) is pretty close in physical properties to the R12 Freon originally used in the Vashon rockets. Similar vapor pressure, same issues... you don't want it to get either too cold or too warm, or your performance will suffer greatly. If you can keep it around 70F, that would be ideal. If it's warm outside, keep the cans in a cooler with water in it, and maybe a little bit of ice... don't chill it, though.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

"Canned air" (difluoroethane, actually) is pretty close in physical properties to the R12 Freon originally used in the Vashon rockets. Similar vapor pressure, same issues... you don't want it to get either too cold or too warm, or your performance will suffer greatly. If you can keep it around 70F, that would be ideal. If it's warm outside, keep the cans in a cooler with water in it, and maybe a little bit of ice... don't chill it, though.

I'm not shooting for max performance, but those are great comments. My goal is to build it very nicely and the launch it at least once, and then put it on display.
It took a bit of searching... many of the airbrush propellants and other things contain butane and other more flammable ingredients. Note even difluoroethane is flammable too... not sure about freon.

 

[aerostadt]

I also bought one of these Vashon rockets several years ago on e-bay. It is just sitting in my closet. Let us know if you find out anything more about propellant.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

What are the chances you'd scan that Vashon catalog, too?

And here is the Vashon Rockets and Accessories Catalog No. 3
It was too larger to upload here, but you can download it from google here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BbVanJuNCbDuzCnNvJW62S4eztnmF7yA/view?usp=sharing

 

[tsmith1315]

And here is the Vashon Rockets and Accessories Catalog No. 3

Thank you, kind sir for restoring that image from youth!!!

I still have most of my Valkyrie 2, including the box and launch pad, but the cool catalog was only partial memory. It never flew high, fast or more than a few times. But my favorite childhood flights were this rocket.

 

[Vintage Rocket]

Assembly Complete!


I painted and pinstriped to match the picture. When I was a kid I had a gold nose cone and fins, but this time around I justed wanted to go for an "as advertised" appearance. Hopefully this week I can do a test firing and then start looking for a launch site...