Del, the Shuttle's external tanks are also brand new as they're destroyed every time, and yet, it's a problem originating from the last one that caused the accident.

The Saturn V liftoffs were very majestuous, slow, powerful while the Shuttle's SRB's give us the impression the shuttle is in a rush to get out there. I remember an interview of Joe Allen (he's got dutch blood) on a dutch TV prior to STS1's liftoff warning us not to be frightened by the speed of the stack.
The common denominator between STS51L and STS107 was the fact that the shuttle rides piggy-back with the ET and the SRB's right next to it. Any new project should take it into account.
I wonder how fast a HLLV with 4 SRB's stacked around an ET would ride into space!

Here are many projects that have appeared in publications over the years!
(I remember the Rombus, Pegasus, Ithacus rockets..)

Raoul