Thread: Alpha-1
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Old 06-17-2010, 03:23 PM
Richard Hull Richard Hull is offline
Junior Rocketeer
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 4
Default history of alpha-1

The Alpha-1 was a product of Texaco Experiment Inc. based in Richmond Virginia.

I was an amateur rocketeer (zinc and sulfur / nitrate and sugar - metal missles, etc.) from 1957 until 1966 and was a member and president of the (RARA) Richmond Amateur Rocket Association. One of our mentors and advisors was Dr. Jerry Burke, a scientist at Experiment Inc. That company produced this little alpha-1 missle not so much for money but to advance a safer venue to amateur rocketry.

The company specialized in low altitude sounding rockets and designed the pressurized CO2 "cricket" to indicate low altitude wind patterns for meterologists.

I had several of these alpha rockets in slight variants. All of them used sodium carbonate and Citric acid. Later, the cheaper bi-carbonate was used.

As near as I can recall, the rocket appeared first in the 1959 time frame and had a rather short sales life, perhaps two good years. It was a great performer going up 100-200 feet or so. I am not sure if any other company bought the rights to the missle and continued its sale beyond 1961.

Today it would be classed as extremely hazardous as the missle streamlined back to earth like a lawn dart. The missle was not a featherweight, either. It had a special rubber nose point that was carefully chosen, according to Dr. Burke. I know that I was stunned when on a few occasions our missle dove straight into the paved street near my home. It would hit nose first and rebound or bounce back up in the air fully 20 feet or more! The rocket would, often, on a soft grassy lawn, embed itself up to its fins!

This is a rather rare item today, especially if the entire kit is found intact.
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