Wedge Oldham's Nike Project

Wedge Oldham's
Nike Project

Website Update (11/10/2003)

Check out the Black Brant Project
Flight at LDRS 21 (four M1315, staging to an N2000)
Launch Report including some pictures
Videos
Pictures
Flight at LDRS 20 (four K700, staging to an M1939)
Launch Report
Pictures and videos
My personal favorite
Nike build and launch collage

Click HERE to join the "Nike Project" mailing list

My next project is now well underway. If you thought the Nike was something to see, then you'll really be excited to see the next project.

Project Overview

A 1/3 scale model of the Nike Hercules Missile.
2 Stage Cluster Rocket with 4 M1315s in the booster, staging to an N2000. There will also be four H73 outboards in the sustainer.
Overall length of the rocket will be 173" (14.4 feet)
Sustainer diameter of 11.66 inches, Booster 13.2"
Three Altimeter: two in the sustainer, one in the booster.
Three Timers: Two for sustainer ignition, one for outboard ignition.
R/C Chicken Switch in Sustainer
Named "The Beast", click HERE for details

Booster Section

4 tubes of 6.0" PML tube
75 mm Motor mounts (one per tube)
Fin material 1/2" Birch plywood, with foam lay-ups, and then covered in fiberglass
All motors nozzles will be tilted outward to point the thrust vector at the C/G of the rocket

Sustainer Section

Length 120" (10 feet)
Diameter 11.66" (PML 11.41" tubing)
98 mm Motor mount
Four 38 mm outboards
Fin material 5/16" flywood core, with foam lay-ups, and then covered in fiberglass

Recovery

Booster Recovery: A single 15' chute
Sustainer Recovery: A 15' drogue and a 26' main chute.
The drogue will be deployed at apogee, slowing the descent speed to 27 feet/second.
At 1200' the primary altimeter will fire to deploy the main chute
Descent speed after main deployment will be slowed to 9 feet/second.
At 1000' the backup altimeter will fire, to clear the main if needed.

Flight Configurations

LDRS XX Configuration July 2001	Four K700 motors in the booster section, staging to an M1939 in the Sustainer. Air starting four H73 motors. Total Impulse: 20410 NS (99%"N"), within the California limit of 20,480 NS. Altitude: 7,570 feet, Velocity: 0.54 Mach (see note#1)
LDRS XXI Configuration July 2002	Four M1315 motors in the booster section, staging to an N2000. Air starting four H73 motors. Total impulse 40,953 NS (100% "O"), within the Tripoli limit of 40,960 NS. Altitude: 12,175 feet, Velocity: 0.63 Mach (see note#2)

Note #1: This performance data is based upon the current best estimate of rocket weight.
Note #2: This performance data is based upon previous flight performance.

Launch Schedule

After it's flights at LDRS 20 & 21 there are no future plans to fly the Nike again. The rocket still sits in my garage, and is flyable with some minor booster work, and a rebuild of the nose cone. There were some (temporary) thoughts of destroying the Nike, but on the advice of friends I've decided to keep it. There's also the thought of truly finishing the project complete with all decals and markings, and a beautiful paint job.

Send your comments to: Wedge@BlackBrant2.com

Visitors since
03/10/2000