Originally Posted by MarkB.

Comrades!

Got two more rescue rockets on eBay. And from the look of them, they are serious relics. Both have the early Estes checkerboard parachutes, the dark rubber shock cords and no shock cord mount -- instead the rubber is threaded through two slits in the body tube and knoted below.

Preliminary check revealed an expended Model Products Corporation A3-2 engine in the V-2. The V-2 also had a mixture of insulation and reused wadding still inside. I'd guess the last flight was a lawn dart and it had not been opened since. Of the two rockets, it will be the tougher rebuild as the fins are cracked and will have to be reset. The nose cone shoulder will need a fair amount of work as well.

The Bertha appears to be of the same vintage and also appears to have suffered a lawn dart event. If I replace the upper section of the tube, it'd be flyable. Heck, it's flyable now, just not very pretty.

These two will fly again, possibly before the new year. My youngest has already said he wants to work on the V-2. We just finished rebuilding a similar one togther, so that'll be fun. I will post finish pictures.