This was built from the original 1974 kit, bundled with the starter kit/launcher for about $14 and some change. I ordered it when I was 13 yrs. directly from Estes mail order, sending bills and change in an envelope without telling my parents because I was afraid they might say I couldn't get it. It's always easier to ask forgiveness than get permission!
It was a rugged, good flyer. It has since been moth-balled, the shock cord is rotted, but it might be restored some day when I'm bored.
November 2012: I am finally getting around to restoring this rocket. It needed a good cleaning, and the rubber shock cord was totally hardened, crumbled and disentegrated. To replace the shock cord which was glued in, I had to remove the paper/glue shock cord mount by sanding the whole thing down using sand paper wrapped around a wooden dowel. The new shock cord mount will be made of a small Kevlar loop, strong and heat resistant. From this loop I can add and replace the shock cord without having to go through this process each time. Here is a look at the kevlar loop I made before gluing it in. Notice that I frayed the ends into individual fibers so that there is a lot of gluing surface, therefore a lot of strength. I have successfully used this method on at least five rockets so far.
The old original 12" (which was actually only 11" diameter) parachute had to go. It was old, crinkly with weak shroud attachments and had several burn holes in it. Since this is a relatively strong rocket that can fly very high due to its lightness, I will replace it with a smaller 9 or 10 inch diameter parachute.
I am planning to add a small 2-1/4" payload section to the top of this rocket to allow me to carry an altimeter and accelerometer. This should be fun because it is one of the smallest, lightest rockets in my fleet, so it should show some very impressive speed and altitude numbers.
I have completed restoration of the Alpha and now I present to you the Alpha Iris, ready for flight, and proudly displaying the number "1". The added payload section can be seen here (green tube) between the nosecone and parachute compartment. Not a perfect paint match, but close enough. It was looking a bit too boring, so I added the checkers to the top of the payload. Just below the checkers you can see one of the altimeter's static vent ports, trimmed in gold.
SPECIFICATIONS
Series Number: 1
Number of Stages: 1
Stock Length: 12"
Iris Payload Length: 2.25"
Payload Volume: 1.59 cubic inches
Total Length: 14.25"
Diameter: 0.98"
Fin Circular Span: 3.5" diameter
Stock Weight: 24.1 grams
Iris Payload Weight: 5 grams
Liftoff Weight Range: 52.7 - 60.2 grams
Motor Diameter: 18 mm
Motor Length: 70 mm
Motor Mounting Method: Clip
Altimeter Capable: Yes
Recovery Method: 9.3" Plastic Parachute
Recovery Protection Method: Wadding
Shock Cord Mount: Kevlar
Nosecone Material: Balsa
Number of Fins: 3
Fin Material: Balsa Wood
Launch Lug Size: 1/8"
Paint Used: Pactra Aero Gloss Dope
Kit Brand: Estes
Completed: about 1975
FLIGHT LOGS
(Estimated about 12 flights on this rocket back in the 1970's)2012, November 23: Penn Manor, moderate wind
A8-3: The Alpha has been restored and a small payload bay was attached, to carry an Altimeter 2. As it was getting fairly windy now, I had to limit the initial flight test to the A8 motor.
Upon ignition, it climbed almost perfectly straight up, hardly disturbed by the wind, with a peak G force of 19.3 Gs. For the half second that the motor was burning, it averaged 6.8 Gs. This got the Alpha to a top speed of 71 mph, and it then coasted for 2.8 seconds. The motor ejection fired a bit early at 2.8 seconds while the rocket was at 199 feet. The Alpha continued for an additional 7/10 seconds while turning over to reach an apogee of 210 feet.
The rocket then descended at a slow 6 mph under a new yellow plastic parachute while the wind carried it 350 feet downwind. Flight time was 25 seconds. The Alpha was born again, my first rocket, after sitting and collecting dust for almost two scores, has now touched the sky again in a successful flight.
2012, December 2: Penn Manor, 7 mph wind, no gusts
A8-3: Test flight #2 will use the same A8 motor as last time. This is only the second flight of this rocket in this century. My last rocket surpassed 300 feet and ended up far downwind in a tree, so I double-checked my notes to see that this rocket would not go so high with the A8.
The motor burned for 4/10 second and this rocket took off straight and true, accelerating at 18.1 Gs off the pad and averaging 6.6 while thrusting. It reached a speed of 63 mph then coasted for the next 2.9 seconds before the ejection fired slightly early while the Alpha was at 165 feet. The last 1/10 second brought the model to a stop 4 feet higher at an apogee of 169 feet. The parachute deployed but failed to open fully, so the rocket returned at a fast 16 mph and came to rest in the grass after 10.2 seconds about 50 feet downwind.
This second flight was much slower and lower than the last A8 flight, all numbers being unremarkable. Since my previous rocket ended up in a tree, I scrubbed the next flight which was to test the Alpha with a B6 motor to get somewhere beyond 500 feet. That will have to wait until next year.
2013, August 10: Downingtown MS, 8 mph winds, 80 degrees
B6-4: Today I get the chance to push the restored Alpha beyond 500 feet – or so I hope. Having only flown this with an altimeter using an A8 so far, this was to be all new test data.
2014, March 9: Penn Manor (south field), 10 mph winds, 40 degrees
B6-4: This flight was to be the second B6 motor test for the Alpha Iris. The liftoff was spectacular and seemed very fast, heading skyward without much concern for the stiff breeze.
I
apparently did not concern myself with putting in too much wadding, as three squares
apparently was not enough. Alpha reached a top speed of 122
mph, and a best-yet altitude for the B6 of 530 feet. It came down somewhat fast and with a
spiraling parachute.
Upon recovery I
found three of the six shroud lines separated from the plastic. They were not ripped, but had burned
ends! It landed far downwind about 400
feet away, with no other damage.
Distracted by a strong wind gust that blew a lot of my equipment under the car, I cleared the altimeter before recording the flight data, so I will need to re-fly this mission. Mistakes were made.
No further comment.
2014, May 24: Fort Indiantown Gap, 5-10 mph winds, 70 degrees
B6-4:
Another B6 test flight for the Alpha.
Last time I was distracted and forgot to record the data from the altimeter
before clearing it, so this is a repeat test flight. As the light rocket took off fast and high, I
couldn’t keep it in sight for the camera, and missed all of the apogee and
ejection phases.
She took off with a 19.5 G peak
acceleration, burned for 8/10 seconds and averaged 7.3 Gs the entire time. At
burnout it was going 122 mph, and then coasted up for another 3.8 seconds. A slightly early ejection popped the chute at
468 feet, slowing the rocket in the next 9/10 seconds to an apogee of 488 feet.
A good 10.5” chute opened up and let
it return at a somewhat slow 6 mph, even with a 10% spill hole. The shroud
lines were ½ twisted, but the 1.5X shroud length was able to accommodate that
easily, so we had a nice parachute for the slow descent. Falling from almost
500 feet, it took 54 seconds for the flight to complete – a record for the
Alpha Iris. The landing in the grass marked the end of the day's flying for the club.
The story will continue on the next good flying day...
2018, October 7: Penn Manor West Field, 5 mph winds, 85 degrees
C6-5:
After two years and a month with no flights, I had my first cluster flight and it was a raging success. Therefore, I had the courage to try my first ever built rocket with a powerful C6-5. I didn’t want to loose this, but it was fairly calm and I did not bother to photograph this flight so I could concentrate on keeping this rocket in sight.
I don’t think I ever flew this with a C6 motor ever – so this was another first. Being such a light rocket, I expected over 1000 feet. Actually I predicted 1300 feet as my best guess.
Ignition and launch was uneventful, firing off with an acceleration of 19.9 Gs, about the same as a B6 motor. The flight up was fast and true, with no turning to speak of. It burned for a very long 3.5 seconds, at least that was what was recorded. In that time, the average acceleration was low at about 3.1 Gs.
The 2nd highest initial thrust for this rocket, combined with the long burn time, gave this rocket a push to an incredible 237 mph. That makes this rocket one of the fastest rockets I have flown, bested only by the Vector Force which had to use a D-sized composite motor for that record flight.
After this long burn time, it had to endure a delay of only 3.4 seconds – 1.6 seconds off the mark. So it coasted for only 3.8 seconds to its apogee, with the final 4/10 seconds occurring after an ejection at an altitude of 1120 feet. It climbed an additional 22 feet for a total of 1142 feet above ground.
1142 feet is close to a record. The record being held by the Sprint Iris at 1199 feet, followed by the Black Diamond Iris at 1160 feet. Fortunately I kept it in sight the whole time. Not easy to do since it was outfitted with a tiny 8 inch parachute with a spill hole.
Coming back to earth, it wasted no time and fell at 11 mph. But still, with all that altitude it took a full minute and 11.7 seconds more. It landed about 300 feet downwind, thanks to the light and dying breeze late in the afternoon.
So it didn’t reach the 1300 feet I thought it could, but that was only a guess. It did beat its own altitude and speed record, as well as its duration record. I will be trying this again if the winds are light enough and the visibility clear enough. Two successful flights (this and the Interceptor Swift Iris), both outside my comfort zone makes for an exciting day of flying.
Of note, after my flight with this original 1970’s Alpha, a fellow club member deployed a new 60th anniversary edition Alpha, with metallic red fin can and nosecone, and a 60th logo on the side. Kind of a “Alpha-to-Omega” tribute moment to the Estes Alpha. (no pun intended). These were the last two of 57 flights for the club this day. He said he will also fly a C6 because he saw that mine worked OK. I warned him that I used a tiny 8 inch parachute with a 10% spill. His was also successful, but drifted quite a bit farther with its stock ‘chute.
I don’t think I ever flew this with a C6 motor ever – so this was another first. Being such a light rocket, I expected over 1000 feet. Actually I predicted 1300 feet as my best guess.
Ignition and launch was uneventful, firing off with an acceleration of 19.9 Gs, about the same as a B6 motor. The flight up was fast and true, with no turning to speak of. It burned for a very long 3.5 seconds, at least that was what was recorded. In that time, the average acceleration was low at about 3.1 Gs.
The 2nd highest initial thrust for this rocket, combined with the long burn time, gave this rocket a push to an incredible 237 mph. That makes this rocket one of the fastest rockets I have flown, bested only by the Vector Force which had to use a D-sized composite motor for that record flight.
After this long burn time, it had to endure a delay of only 3.4 seconds – 1.6 seconds off the mark. So it coasted for only 3.8 seconds to its apogee, with the final 4/10 seconds occurring after an ejection at an altitude of 1120 feet. It climbed an additional 22 feet for a total of 1142 feet above ground.
1142 feet is close to a record. The record being held by the Sprint Iris at 1199 feet, followed by the Black Diamond Iris at 1160 feet. Fortunately I kept it in sight the whole time. Not easy to do since it was outfitted with a tiny 8 inch parachute with a spill hole.
Coming back to earth, it wasted no time and fell at 11 mph. But still, with all that altitude it took a full minute and 11.7 seconds more. It landed about 300 feet downwind, thanks to the light and dying breeze late in the afternoon.
So it didn’t reach the 1300 feet I thought it could, but that was only a guess. It did beat its own altitude and speed record, as well as its duration record. I will be trying this again if the winds are light enough and the visibility clear enough. Two successful flights (this and the Interceptor Swift Iris), both outside my comfort zone makes for an exciting day of flying.
Of note, after my flight with this original 1970’s Alpha, a fellow club member deployed a new 60th anniversary edition Alpha, with metallic red fin can and nosecone, and a 60th logo on the side. Kind of a “Alpha-to-Omega” tribute moment to the Estes Alpha. (no pun intended). These were the last two of 57 flights for the club this day. He said he will also fly a C6 because he saw that mine worked OK. I warned him that I used a tiny 8 inch parachute with a 10% spill. His was also successful, but drifted quite a bit farther with its stock ‘chute.
Also of note, with this flight, this Alpha rocket ranks 10th highest in total flights.
end.
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