As Trip's account suggests, Harry Stine was feeling the pressure of the Minijet debut. MITCON was one of the largest model rocket conventions in the country and a lot rode on the performance of the new MPC Minijet line in front of one of the most influential audiences in the hobby.

The six new MiniJet kits were Stine's babies, and none more than the Delta Katt. In the April 1971 of his Old Rocketeer column, Stine promised an article on the glider, and in the November issue of Model Rocketry the Delta Katt article would appear.

Stine's article goes into a lot of the technical thought behind the design. Terms like "vortex lift", a discussion of the dihedral on the canard, and the angles of the tip rudders all are bandied about. However, Stine never once acknowledges the real reason behind the overall design of the model.

Here's very clean example of a Delta Katt in the National Collection, carrying an inconspicuous "2" as its only marking.



Here's another view of Stine's Delta Katt.



So what was Stine's unstated design motivation behind Delta Katt? The answer is a completely different flying machine, that like its smaller B/G cousin, looks completely at home in the 21st century.

Here's an example of the unbuilt MPC kit in retail packaging.



Here's the wikipedia entry on the North American XB-70.

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National Collection Images: G. Harry Stine Collection/The Museum of Flight.