What Brand / Model do I have here?

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redraindrop

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Hey all you rocket junkies!! Help me out here. I bought this kit on eBay last June. The seller advertised it as an OOP Aardvark kit. If I remember right he had quite a few other similiar kits on auction at the same time. Some of the smaller kits were Aardvark kits with cards inside. This kit had no card or instructions, just the parts.

I was intrigued enough to bid and ended up getting one out of several that I bid on. The one I got had lots of MPR style parts: plywood cr's, big eyebolts, thick-wall 2.6" tube with fin-slots already cut, 36" green nylon chute, at least 12' of heavy-duty shock cord, 1/4" launch lugs, heavy plastic cone, pre-cut TTW 1/8" ply fins and lastly, 29 mm long motor tube.

While it was touted as an OOP kit, since it didn't have any info on it, I decided to build and fly it. I assembled it last summer and am just getting time to start filling and sanding.

Since getting on this forum just a little while ago, I suddenly got the thought that someone might be able to tell me what MFG and model this kit is. I checked out the Aardvark kit specs on https://www.deepsky.i12.com/blackhawk_kit_specs.htm but didn't find any pics or specs that match this.

The finished specs on this are: 2.6" tube and total length is 59.5".

Let me know if you know what this is, please!!
 
Here is a break-down pic so you can see the recovery and the payload and lower sections.

It is one very nice, solid built rocket.

BTW, it weighs in at 24.0 oz w/o engine.

Rack your brains and tell me what this is!! I am dying to know so I can put a name on it when I am finished. In fact, knowing what it is can help me with what color/finish to make it.

Thanks everyone!!
 
Thanks for the info Sandman. It does indeed look like an ASP. I had an old Estes version, so I should have seen the resemblence. The main thing is this one is most definitely LARGER than that one.

I haven't heard of Atlantic Rockets before. The review you found says this is BT-80 Estes tube, and even though my kit has the same 'size' tube, it is most definitely heavier walled stuff than Estes paperwound.

The only other thing I noticed is that the Atlantic kit was a 24 mm motor while mine came with a 29 mm motor tube.

All in all though, I do agree this must be an ASP, but what MFG?

I also do not care for the Red/White color scheme, so unless I find a more suitable one, I guess I will see what the Estes ASP was painted, and match it to that (unless it is Red/White).

Thanks for helping in the search, Sandman.
 
Originally posted by redraindrop
I also do not care for the Red/White color scheme, so unless I find a more suitable one...

Rockets of the World says:

White Sands test round one - black / white
White Sands test round two - black / Fluorescent red-orange
Operational Bikini Atol flights - white body / black strip under the NC / Fluorescent fins & NC

All had a silver tipped NC...

EDIT: here's a B/W pic - https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/asp.html

And an interesting report on the ASP role for Operation Redwing (collecting data on
mushroom clouds). https://worf.eh.doe.gov/data/ihp1c/0873_a.pdf
 
Is it an elastic shock cord or nylon? If it's elastic, I'd say it's a LOC kit, but I don't know which one. Along the same lines, how is the shock cord attached to the body tube? It looks like LOC parts.
 
The shock cord is attached to both the MMT upper cr and the payload bulkhead plate (both of which are 1/4" plywood) via large eyebolts.

As for the shock cord, I haven't seen any other like it before. But I admit I haven't built any MPR kits from anyone but Aerotech and this MFG - whoever it is. This shockcord is dark green and is tubular, not flat. It doesn't have much elasticity, it's not like the elastic types used in Estes or Aeortech.

I agree with others who've answered saying it is an ASP, but still have no idea who made it. I have looked at other websites which sell LOC and other MPR brands, but see none which match. This leads me to think this is indeed an OOP model.

Even though I built this OOP kit, as a rule I don't build any of the OOP Estes, Centuri, Kopter, F.S.I, Custom or CMR kits that I own or have purchased. (Although I am working on an Estes S.W.A.T. that I purchased because the packaging was open and damaged.) But that could be another topic for a different thread.

Thanks for the info so far. Keep it coming!!
 
On LOC kits the shock cord attachment is a piece of nylon twine epoxied to the inside of the body tube. And they use elastic shock cords, what you describe is tubular nylon. I recently bough a Binder Design kit with dark green tubular nylone, but your kit does not look like any of the binder kits.
 
Aardvark Rockets used to make a 2.6 inch diameter Asp kit. Do a search on the Wayback machine at https://www.archive.org/ for https://www.aardvarkrockets.com and look at the web page for March 23, 2002 then click the link under Kits on the right hand side to Mid Power (E-H), the 16th kit listed (the first one under Aardvark Research) looks to be the kit that you have.

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055
 
That sure looks like mine, except does the pic show dowels at the tip of each fin. What are those called? My kit didn't come with any dowels for those tips.

Also, the Aardvark kits say they would come with a 24" chute if ordered. Mine has a 36" chute. Do you suppose someone upgraded this kit?

I also see in the pic that it looks like a Black/White roll pattern with a black nose and black fins. Others gave info that had the nose tip painted silver. I guess I would go with both: have the Black/White roll pattern with a silver-tipped black cone and black fins.

I think the answer is here at last. It actually is what the seller on Ebay listed it as. He said it was an OOP Aardvark, he just didn't know what model name.

Thanks to everyone who looked. I don't know where you guys find some of this info, but I am glad. It sure will help me to finish this kit right.

I will definitely post pics when I get closer to being finished with this one. I also hope to launch it this spring whether it is painted or not, and I will have plenty of pics of that.
 
The dowels on the fins are supposed to simulate "tracking flares".

Then it's definately an ASP.

Do a search or Google ASP and see what you get.
 
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