Hello All,

Looking at the MPC Taurus-1 kit (see: http://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc/m...0/mpc3-0920.htm ), the overall configuration of this model--with its simulated twin boosters and trapezoidal fins--seemed vaguely familiar. Since G. Harry Stine was, I'm pretty sure, the one who designed this kit (in the late 1960s or the early 1970s), it would make sense that he would have patterned it after a full-scale sounding rocket. Now:

Many years ago, I once saw a drawing of an ARC (Atlantic Research Corporation) sounding rocket called the SWIK, which resembled the Taurus-1 (the main difference being that the SWIK's ogive nose cone was shorter--3:1, if memory serves--than the Taurus-1's 5:1 ogive). This large, two-stage vehicle had trapezoidal fins and used a Thiokol Castor rocket motor that was assisted at launch by two booster motors (Thiokol Recruit motors or Recruit variants, I presume). Its finless (spin-stabilized) second stage was an ABL (Allegheny Ballistics Laboratory) X-254 Antares motor. There was a SWIK B as well. Also:

The closest vehicle to the SWIK that I could find was the single-stage Castor 2R (a Castor with two Recruit boosters) sounding rocket (see: http://www.designation-systems.net/...pp4/castor.html ), which has trapezoidal fins (as did the Journeyman, the early Athena re-entry test vehicles, and the Trailblazer II). Does anyone here have any scale and/or historical material on the SWIK and/or the SWIK B? With the new Estes Pro Series II parts, these would make interesting scale parallel-staged models.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

In "The History and Development of Rocket & Missile technology" by D. Baker, these rockets are described as
follows :
Name : Swick B
User : USAF, Army
Weight : 6.169 t; Length : 13.1 m; Span : 3.38 m; Diameter : 79.25 cm

Stage 2; No of motors : 1; Total Thrust : 9.843 t [id. Athena H, Stage 2]
Payload/Altitude : 450 kg / 725 km
Name : Tater
User : ERDA, USAF
Weight : 3.171 t; Length : 12.28 m; Span : 2.56 m; Diameter : 79.2 cm
Stage 1; No of motors : 1; Total Thrust : 51.484 t
Stage 2; No of motors : 1; Total Thrust : 26.309 t [id. Terrier]
Stage 3; No of motors : 1; Total Thrust : 16.330 t
Payload/Altitude : 64 kg / 3.2 (?) km
Comparisons in brackets are from the same source.

Thank you for posting this; I'm not familiar with the Athena series, but I think the Tater may have been a Talos-Terrier combination.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

TATER stands for Talos-Terrier-Recruit.

Sorry for the quality of the picture. It is a print made from an old slide.

Chas

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

A TATER of a different color. Sorry, I do not have the flight numbers.

Chas

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

Thank you for the information and for the pictures! It would make an interesting kit.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR