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Like the Eye in the Sky rocket series, the Nike

2000 had a few changes along the way but its life was much shorter.Most of the changes were just different paint jobs, but for my level 2 I did re-design the rocket.

I wanted a camera rocket with a SLR camera to take great photographs like Talon had done, but not the expense of flying big motors. The original Nike 2000 had a single 54 mm motor mount in a 6” body tube.

The fins were recycled from the Talon booster and were made from 1/8” fiberglass. Along with the payload and nose weight it was too heavy for anything but a K550. It made a few flights and took fantastic photographs.

The name “Nike 2000” came from its main payload, the Nikon N2000 camera. It looked out the side of the rocket and reflected its view down the side of the booster via a first surface mirror.

Because the N2000 camera lens is not centered in the camera I had to offset the camera in the rocket. This required an extra set of cowlings on the side of the rocket. I also added the Konica A4 to the base of the payload section for general aerial photography.

Because of the weight I had very little motor selection for the original Nike 2000. I decided to build a new booster with a 98 mm motor mount. Since I would have more lifting capability I reduced the 6” diameter payload section to 4” and added a super 8 mm movie camera, the Bell & Howell T10XL.

I achieved my level 2 with this rocket at Behee I in September 1996 on a L950 in Bend Oregon. Because of the cost of flying such a big rocket the Nike 2000 had a limited career and I went back to flying the more affordable Eye in the Sky camera rocket.