1959 Sicle : Aircraft & Missile Trading Cards

Aircraft & Missile Trading Cards were distributed with Sicle brand frozen treats in Canada. The 25-card series features recolored photographs of U.S. military sounding rockets and experimental aircraft. The Canadian release differs from the Airplane Trading Cards series distributed by Sicle in the U.S. The Canadian card text is printed in both English and French. The American Card Catalog reference is FC47-1.

The series features a U.S. Army V-2 rocket built from captured German components. The Army Ordinance Corps tested 67 of the rockets during Project Hermes. The first object launched into space by the United States was Hermes V-2 No. 3. The rocket was fired from White Sands LC33 to an apogee of 70.9 miles (114.1 km) on May 10, 1946.

The U.S. Navy Viking #11 sounding rocket was launched into suborbital space from White Sands LC33 on May 24, 1954. The Martin RTV-N-12a rocket travelled to a record apogee of 158 miles (254 km) . The experiment package measured nose cone heat during reentry and returned high altitude photos of the Earth.

A concept illustration from Project Vanguard is depicted on card #7. Vanguard TV-3BU was the second failed attempt by the United States to launch a second satellite into orbit. Vanguard TV-3BU was launched on February 5, 1958, traveling to an altitude of about 20,000 feet (6.1 km) before breaking apart. The rocket was then destroyed by remote command.