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Sounding rocket. Country: USA. Status: Retired 1976.

The Recruit motor was usually used as an upper stage, but in this air-launched vehicle was used for re-entry vehicle heat transfer and aerodynamic stability tests.

Manufacturer: WFF. Launches: 18. Failures: 2. Success Rate: 88.89%. First Launch Date: 1956-11-06. Last Launch Date: 1976-01-26. Launch data is: complete.

  • Stage1: 1 x Journeyman-0. Gross Mass: 200 kg (440 lb). Motor: 1 x 1.5KS35000. Thrust (vac): 156.000 kN (35,070 lbf). Burn time: 1.50 sec. Length: 2.60 m (8.50 ft). Diameter: 0.23 m (0.75 ft). Propellants: Solid.
Version:

Recruit T55.

The Recruit motor was the first stage of this larger booster, dropped from a B-57 for re-entry vehicle heat transfer tests.

Launches: 7. First Launch Date: 1957-01-01. Last Launch Date: 1958-09-12. Apogee: 10 km (6 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 0 N ( lbf). Total Mass: 400 kg (880 lb). Core Diameter: 0.23 m (0.75 ft). Total Length: 5.00 m (16.40 ft).

  • Stage1: 1 x Journeyman-0. Gross Mass: 200 kg (440 lb). Motor: 1 x 1.5KS35000. Thrust (vac): 156.000 kN (35,070 lbf). Burn time: 1.50 sec. Length: 2.60 m (8.50 ft). Diameter: 0.23 m (0.75 ft). Propellants: Solid.
  • Stage2: 1 x HJ Nike Nike Recruit T55-5. Empty Mass: 12 kg (26 lb). Motor: 1 x T-55. Thrust (vac): 21.000 kN (4,720 lbf). Burn time: 1.30 sec. Length: 1.50 m (4.90 ft). Diameter: 0.15 m (0.49 ft). Propellants: Solid.
Version:

Pedro Recruit.

Air Launch Probe System (ALPS) and Fighter Launched Advanced Materials Experiment (FLAME) were both vehicles that used a Pedro first stage and a Recruit second stage. They were launched from an F-4 fighter aircraft.

The sight of the F-4 at takeoff would always get a lot of interest because of the size of the vehicle underneath. This launch concept is now used in the 1990s by the Pegasus family of launch vehicles with B-52 or jumbo jet aircraft instead of a fighter aircraft. FLAME and ALPS would climb to high altitude and plunge back into the atmosphere at hypersonic speed to conduct tests of materials, systems and hypersonic phenomena. This provided an inexpensive method of testing reentry bodies at realistic conditions.

Launches: 8. Failures: 2. First Launch Date: 1975-02-04. Last Launch Date: 1976-01-26. Apogee: 20 km (12 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 244.000 kN (54,853 lbf). Core Diameter: 0.71 m (2.32 ft). Total Length: 7.80 m (25.50 ft).

  • Stage1: 1 x Pedro Recruit-1. Motor: 1 x TX-261-3. Thrust (vac): 244.000 kN (54,853 lbf). Burn time: 11 sec. Length: 3.10 m (10.10 ft). Diameter: 0.71 m (2.32 ft). Propellants: Solid.
  • Stage2: 1 x Journeyman-0. Gross Mass: 200 kg (440 lb). Motor: 1 x 1.5KS35000. Thrust (vac): 156.000 kN (35,070 lbf). Burn time: 1.50 sec. Length: 2.60 m (8.50 ft). Diameter: 0.23 m (0.75 ft). Propellants: Solid.
Recruit Chronology

1956 November 6 - Wallops Island -. Heat Transfer Re-entry Vehicle test Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi).

1957 - Wallops Island -. Heat Transfer Re-entry Vehicle test Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi).

1957 August 7 - Wallops Island -. Heat Transfer Re-entry Vehicle test Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi).

1958 January 31 - Wallops Island -. Heat Transfer Re-entry Vehicle test Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi).

1958 March 28 - Wallops Island -. Test mission Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi).

1958 July 15 - Wallops Island -. Test mission Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 14 km (8 mi).

1958 July 24 - Wallops Island -. Test mission Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 14 km (8 mi).

1958 September 12 - Wallops Island -. Test mission Agency: NASA LeRC. Apogee: 12 km (7 mi).

1959 - Wallops Island -. Blunt cone Stab. test Agency: NASA LaRC. Apogee: 6.00 km (3.70 mi).

1959 - Wallops Island -. Ogive Stab. test Agency: NASA LaRC. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi).

1975 February 4 - Wallops Island -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 1 FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1975 February 27 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 2 FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1975 March 28 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 3 FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1975 April 18 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 4 FAILURE: Failure. FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1975 June 3 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 5 FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1975 June 4 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 6 FAILURE: Failure. FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1976 January 22 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 7 FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

1976 January 26 - Tonopah -. Pedro Recruit FLAME 8 FLAME test Apogee: 17 km (10 mi).

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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.