Burl Finkelstein's Pershing Missile

It is said that imitiation is the highest form of flattery. We came to understand how that is true when we received the following email from a fellow residing in the beautiful state of Georgia, whom we had never before met:

From: Joanna and Burl
Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2002
To: rtv@vatsaas.org
Subject: You inspired me

I loved your Pershing so much I had to build one myself.
Mine is semi scale I made the longer one as you did but slightly oversized
the fins also.
the solid maple nose cap provides enough weight for a ballast free nose cone
up to a K700.
It will have altimeter dual deploy, the joint is above the second fin set.
I put the chute into a Lexan tub inside the nose cone to shift the weight
forward.

Burl M Finkelstein
TRA 8733 L3

Hats off to Burl! It appears that he has not only done an exemplary job in reproducing the Pershing Missile, he has also made some outstanding improvements to the design we posted on the web!

Burl flew this beauty for the first time in the spring of 2003. The photo is of this maiden flight. Notice it is still without paint. Burl said, "My wife decided she wants it OD with orange bands and with the black and white nose cone." It will be gorgeous.

And so it is. Standing here next to Burl's V2 from Skunkworks Rocketry, the Pershing is missing only the vinyl decals. Spiffy.

At left is a photo of Burl and his children conducting idol worship (his words, not mine). Burl observed some interesting details as he closely examined the missile.

"I noticed the paint was flaking on the fin flanges. You could see that the fin flange shape was just a fiberglass cover. Upon prodding at it further I saw the cover was somewhat thin and flexible. I thought it looked similar to the way we might make a model, another way that modelers duplicate the modelee.

"There were also small pressure gauges near each set of fins apparently for the gas pressure power source for the actuators. Interesting!.. I couldn't sense any Gamma rays coming from the warhead though.

"More useless info for your distraction."

Click [HERE] to view the Pershing Design page!
Click [HERE] to view the Pershing Construction page!

Rate this page

We want your opinion, so make like a Chicago Democrat and vote early, vote often, vote even if you are dead. However, as this is an electronic ballot, West Palm Beach Democrats will need to find a better excuse than hanging or pregnant chads for failing to properly fill out the form.

E-Mail Address: RTV privacy policy
First Name: Last Name: Keep me anonymous
Interesting?
Useful?
Bizzare?
1=Feckless, 5=Benefic 1=Bromidic, 5=Coruscating 1=Quotidian, 5=Pathological




C'mon! Tell us what you really think about this page. We can take it. Really!
(It is only fair to warn you that those who say something truly idiotic may be mocked when Dogbert answers our mail.)

E-Mail Address: RTV privacy policy
First Name: Last Name: Keep me anonymous
Feedback Type



© Copyright 2000-2008, Bradley Vatsaas, Richard Vatsaas, and Mark Vatsaas. All Rights Reserved.