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WAEC Inventory

Fleet Photos

The seventh of July, 2003, was a day that I would certainly classify as "successful." It was on that day that I started the clock ticking on my self-imposed challenge of "Nine Objectives" for the WAEC, my series of nine goals which will expire after one year after the initiation of the challenge. Once I had written it up in ink (but not blood), and signed the paper, it was official. I needed to begin work on this right away.

The most interesting and immediate of these goals was the fifth such: to convert a static plastic display model into a flying rocket. I knew that I already had a few rockets that might potentially work. AMT/Ertl had released a set of America's "Man in Space" rockets (Mercury through Apollo), which I had built and completed nearly two years earlier. The first three rockets were far too small to be of any use, but the Saturns seemed promising. Perhaps, I reasoned, I could kill two birds with one stone (so to speak) by converting the Saturn V into a flying rocket, since the first of my objectives was to build a flying Saturn V.

But I took a close look at the Saturn V, and I was disappointed with what I saw. Being constructed entirely of injected-molded styrene plastic, it was incredibly heavy. No single engine less than a "D" (which would be overkill) could loft this rocket. I could, perhaps, set up a cluster arrangement, but how? Five mini engines? Not likely. Furthermore, the existing engine bells were not large enough to conceal the existence of a model engine of any type. I would need to build a new setup. I concluded that it would be best to forget about the idea of converting that rocket, at least for the time being.

In the same afternoon of July 7, though, I rediscovered the existence of the Saturn 1B, which normally stood next to the Saturn V. It was a very unstable static model, and it had a chronic problem of falling over and breaking off its escape tower. A few months earlier, I had yanked off its engines and its fins, in an attempt to install some tubes inside for a stable mounting system. The rocket was begging to be converted into a flying model.

Upon a closer inspection, I discovered a fortuitous coincidence: the lower portion of the Saturn 1B (the first stage) fit perfectly a BT-50 tube. With some careful design, I was able to insert a BT-50, and then a rear-ejecting engine mount. This way, the model would not need to separate at ejection: it could deploy the parachute from the rear, yielding a more satisfying scale effect.

After some careful fitting, I managed to squeeze an 18-mm engine mount and a mylar parachute into the back of the rocket. I also installed two launch lugs, which I attempted to blend into the shape of the rocket (with little success). Now, all I had to do was balance the rocket for flight. This, I realized, would make, or break, the rocket's airworthiness. If I were unable to stabilize the rocket with the engine's maximum lift qualifications in mind, the rocket would never be able to fly. Fortunately, I was able to squeeze enough clay into the nose for the rocket to be stable in a swing-test, and still squeak below the weight limit.

Now, I was ready to launch the Saturn 1B, to fulfill the fifth of the Nine Objectives. On July 15, 2003, only eight days after initiating the challenge, I dragged Ted off to the WAEC Space Harbor, with the appropriate launch hardware and camera equipment. Once we had set up the launch pad, the wind began to pick up. No matter, I thought. I was determined to launch with no regard to the weather. But, after a few tries, the rocket would not launch, for no apparent reason. I checked both controller boxes, the ignitor, everything. Perhaps it was the rocket itself which decided against launching. It must have been smarter than we thought. Unwillingly, we scrubbed the launch.

This was my last launch window in July, because the next day, we departed on a 2 1/2 week "grand tour" of Interstate 70 and Route 66.

By the fifth of August, I was again ready to launch. Instead of bringing Ted, I invited Jani and his brother Andrjez, who had attended the last successful launch. For this arrangement, I operated the video camera, and Jani pressed the ignition button.

The Saturn 1B roared aloft on its B6-4 engine. However, it reached apogee well before the engine stopped burning. Instead, it arced over and dove toward the ground! It looped around, and hit the ground more horizontally than vertically. Once the delay charge finished, the ejection charge popped, propelling the rocket forward on the grass, and sending the engine flying across the field.

I ran over there with the camera, but Andrzej beat me. Remarkably, the rocket had survived mostly unscathed. The Apollo spacecraft had merely broken off, and the lunar module shroud was cracked. Beyond that, it was without defect.

The reason for this pathetic performance linked back to the weight I placed in the nose to stabilize it. The weight was just a little too much for the B6-4 engine to handle. The thrust of the engine peaks at the beginning of the burn, because more propellant is lit at the beginning. Later in the burn, when less propellant was burning, it tapered off. With less thrust, there was not enough force to hold the Saturn 1B aloft, and it nosed over. Perhaps, I believe, a more powerful C6-3 might provide satisfactory flight performance. I don't think that I would have the courage to launch the Saturn 1B again.

With this bizarre flight, how would I consider it from then on? I decided, rather hastily, that it was, indeed, a success. It demonstrated two things new to the WAEC: proper aerodynamic stability with a plastic model, and adequate conversion and reinforcing of the plastic model. The undesirable flight profile was caused by improper engine selection, not some poor design decision on my part.

With that finished, I still had eight more objectives to accomplish in this last, triumphant stave of the WAEC.

Saturn 1B plans

Official WAEC plans

Saturn 1B photographs

	The Saturn 1B, repaired after its flight.
	All five [American] Man in Space rockets.
	Closeup of the engines of the Gemini-Titan II, Saturn 1B, and Saturn V.
	Closeup of the rear of the rocket, ready for launch.
	The Saturn 1B launches.
	The rocket after impact.
	The scale CSM, broken free from the rest of the rocket.