The Aerobee Sounding Rockets
The Aerobee 100, 150, and 300 Series Sounding Rockets, by Jon R. Busse and Merrill T. Leffler, Foreword by Charles E. Rogers, High Power Rocketry magazine, Vol. 12, No. 5 & 6, June/July 1997, pages 67-106.
Covers the design, operation, and performance of the Aerobee 150, 150A, 300, and 300A sounding rockets, and some limited information on the Aerobee 100 sounding rocket. Includes altitude and velocity performance data for different payload weights, solid booster and liquid sustainer motor design data, liquid sustainer start sequence information, and in-flight measured nose cone and fin skin temperature data. The Foreword provides historical background on the progression from the use of the V-2 as a sounding rocket to the development of the Aerobee sounding rocket, and using the Ideal Rocket Equation and description of the rocket technology available at the time provides an explanation of the design strategy used by the Aerobee of using a long burn liquid sustainer ignited in the launch tower boosted by a high-thrust solid booster.