The Aerobee rocket was a small 30-foot-tall unguided suborbital sounding rocket used for high atmospheric and cosmic radiation research in the United States in the 1950s. It was built by Aerojet General. The company began work in 1946 and test fired the first complete Aerobee from the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico on November 24, 1947. It reached an altitude of 34.7 miles. Aerobees were launched from 174-foot-tall launch towers to provide the necessary stability until the rockets gained enough speed for their fins to be effective in controlling attitude.

Variants of the Aerobee were launched in 1968 and 1969 for research relating to the Apollo program. The Aerojet engineers also developed the Aerobee-Hi (first launched in 1955). A total of 1,037 Aerobees (including variants) were launched from all locations, the last on January 17, 1985.

The Revell kit of the Aerobee Hi was first released in 1958 and was reissued 1996. The original molds were used, so the builder should be prepared to deal with a kit that is over 60 years old. No scale is listed on this, but based on the height of the included figures (1.75 inch), I’m guessing that it’s pretty close to 1:48.

The styrene parts are molded in white and gray, and have raised surface details. The rocket (in white) is simple, with only 10 total parts. The remainder of the parts are used to build the transport trailer/launch tower and the three figures that accompany the kit (one officer, and two crewmen wearing what appear to be 1950’s-era flameproof asbestos suits). One neat feature of the kit is that the launch tower can be raised into launch position, and then lowered back down to the transport position.

A single sheet of waterslide decals is included, but the review sample decals are yellowed. I will probably end up having to trim the decals as closely as possible to avoid having off-color markings on the rocket. I might have to try the “exposure to sunlight” trick on these before I start assembly.


The rocket is about 9.5 inches long, and the bed transport trailer/launch tower is about 14 inches long.

Review by: Rich “Lonewolf” Dula

Entry created: 08-22-11