Thread: Alpha VI
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Old 07-12-2018, 11:23 AM
Fuse Eh!'s Avatar
Fuse Eh! Fuse Eh! is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Having been born in 1958 I have celebrated that same 60th Anniversary milestone this year, so this kit is of particular interest to me.

I would however note one possible disagreement with a portion of the kit's description on the Estes web site, which states in part:
"Young and not so young Rocketeers will want to add this rocket to their collection for sure! And you just might want to buy two - one to launch and one to build and proudly display on that shelf of yours."

My question is, why settle for only two? Not only is the Alpha such a classic 3FNC design, but the relative low cost, ease of construction and durability of the plastic components of the Alpha III version (and its derivatives) makes it an ideal rocket to sacrifice to the rocket gods.

I composed a poem a few years ago to eulogise the loss of an Alpha III on just such an occassion. IIRC, the poem went something like this:
I launched a weather-check Alpha
On an A8-3
And watched as it swiftly streamered
Into a nearby tree.

It took weeks of rain and wind before that tree eventually released its captive. The body tube of course was structurally compromised, as was the engine retainer assembly; but that plastic nose cone and fin can were as reuseable as a Falcon thruster is today. And I must say that the "Hallowe'en" colours of the stock Alpha III made seeing and recovering those "pre-colored" orange parts so much easier when they finally hit the ground. I suspect the same could be said of the metallic red sheen of the new Alpha VI components.

It's just too bad that this new Alpha isn't being sold for the same price as the Cat. No. 671-K-25 Alpha was back in the day... "Only $1.50" !!
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