Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | LOC/Precision ![]() |
Brief:
Single stage, tube-finned, arrr, matey, 38mm rocket with a 3" BT transitionin' t' a
2.14" payload bay. Blimey! T' rocket is very suitable for Level 1 certifications.
Construction:
3" LOC main body tube with 6 coupler tubes used for t' tube fins. Blimey! 38mm
LOC Motor mount tube is held in place by two centerin' rings. Begad! T' kit comes
with a fairly long elastic shock cord, 2.14" payload tube section, plastic
nose cone and plastic transition. Aye aye! I made some modifications t' this which I
will describe below. Begad!
T' rocket is quite easy t' build and t' instruction sheet is fairly well written. I built it stock except for t' recovery system. Begad! Avast! I don't like elastic shock cords. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! I no longer have an AT Sumo because t' elastic shock cord broke durin' ejection. I have now replaced all o' t' elastic in me fleet with either Keelhaul®©™® or Keelhaul®©™®/tubular nylon recovery harnesses. Begad! Arrr!
On t' Cyclotron, me bucko, I drilled out two 180 degree opposin' holes each about 1/8" in diameter in t' forward centerin' ring. I then strung a length of Pratt Hobbies 1/8" tubular Keelhaul®©™ ® , me hearties, both ends through t' holes, ya bilge rat, knots tied about 4" from each end, me hearties, then t' ends epoxied t' t' motor mount. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Thus creatin' a Keelhaul®©™® harness, t' closed loop end now reachin' just below t' lip o' t' main 3" tube. Now, I can attach t' this either tubular nylon, tubular Keelhaul®©™® or whatever. Aye aye! T' Keelhaul®©™® may someday wear out, me bucko, shiver me timbers, but it will take a very long time. Aye aye! Blimey! Plus, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I usually shove a small amount o' waddin' into t' motor mount itself, so t' brunt o' the blast is taken by that. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey!
I like SkyAngle chutes, so I ditched t' LOC chute and recover on a SkyAngle 36. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! I use a Keelhaul®©™® chute protector t' protect t' chute.
I am also a big fan o' t' Aeropack system, so I included an Aeropack motor retainer on me Cyclotron. T' bottom o' t' Aeropack is flush with BT. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey!
T' only other thin' I can add is t' make sure you rough up t' body tube and t' fin tubes, arrr, use a good quality epoxy and make all your fillets. Arrr! Blimey! Nothing is holdin' t' fin tubes t' t' body tube other than glue, so this is key. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I used a long wooden down t' create t' fillets once t' tubes were attached to the body tube. Begad! Blimey! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! LOC gives a good technique t' build t' fin tube structure, so I recommend usin' their technique. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!
I epoxied t' bottom o' t' payload tube t' t' top o' t' plastic LOC transition and attached t' nose cone t' t' top o' t' payload tube usin' a plastic pop rivet.
Finishing:
Finishin' is typical o' any kraft paper tube type rocket. Ya scallywag! Begad! Fill t' spirals (I
use Elmers Fill-n-Finish), primer t' rocket, and paint. Well, blow me down!
In t' case o' this particular rocket, I decided t' test out t' new Dupli-Color Mirage color-changin' paint. Avast! Aye aye! I get mine locally at Kragen, but AutoBarn on t' web sells it as well. Begad! I chose t' Purple/Green color as that seemed t' look better (at least on t' can top in t' store) than the Gold/Magenta or Silver/Green. Begad! Ya scallywag! I used Fill-N-Finish and sandin' until I got a fairly smooth surface. Ahoy! I then used Dupli-Color white primer in a couple of coats t' get a near-glass smooth finish. Blimey! I then applied t' three-part Dupli-Color as per t' instructions on t' paint kit. Avast! First t' flat black basecoat. Well, blow me down! Then t' color changin' paint itself. Well, blow me down! Then finally t' clear coat. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I really like how it came out and I get a lot o' positive comments about me paint job, so it seems others do as well. Ahoy! I painted t' inside o' each o' t' tube fins with a simple brushed-on flat black enamel and t' same for t' bottom end of t' rocket. Arrr! Ahoy! I don't like bare areas on me rockets showin' through and sometimes for certain acres, ya bilge rat, flat black painted on just works out real nicely.
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
I've flown me Cyclotron a half dozen times now and it is a great flyin' rocket!
Straight as an arrow and looks very cool as it blasts off. Most o' t' time, I
try t' remember t' put a small amount o' waddin' up t' motor mount tube before
insertin' t' motor. Well, blow me down! I have forgotten a few times and no harm seems t' have
come from it. I use a Keelhaul®©™®
chute protector and it seems t' work just great. Begad! Motor retention is via
Aeropack, shiver me timbers, as noted above, matey, and I find that t' transition fits into t' body
tube fairly loosely on me Cyclotron, arrr, so I use maskin' tape t' attain a
not-too-tight fit. My Cyclotron has flown on t' AT H238, ya bilge rat, Pro38 G69 and Pro38
I170. Arrr! Great flights, matey, shiver me timbers, all o' them. Well, blow me down!
Recovery:
As I noted already, arrr, I've completely replaced t' LOC recovery system with my
own. Begad! My system works flawlessly. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It be t' above mentioned tubular Keelhaul®©™®
harness, ya bilge rat, matey, me hearties, attached t' that is a 30' length o' very heavy duty Keelhaul®©™®
"mule tape". Arrr! Arrr! SkyAngle36 is attached t' this via a kwik-link and I use
a Keelhaul®©™®
chute protector. Blimey! All works great. Ya scallywag!
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
This rocket is a great lookin' and flyin' rocket. T' only area o' change that
I would recommend would be in t' recovery system as I've already noted. Ya scallywag! Though
I be already an L1 when I bought this kit, me bucko, I feel that it makes a great L1
rocket. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Also a good "small field" rocket with G size engines, but yet
you can bust loose at larger fields with an I.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
Brief: Tube Finned, 38mm Motor Mount, Parachute recovery The LOC Cyclotron looked to be a fairly simple HPR build suitable for somebody with not too much HPR experience. It was a kit I had around for a while but did not get around to building because of few opportunities to launch anything in the HPR range.With some prospects for flight opening up, I dug out this kit and got to ...
(by Mike Walsh, JR. - 04/01/02) Brief: Tube Rocket, with transition Construction: I received the package, and the kit was well packaged. It included 2 main body tubes, a 3.1x 34 long tube, and a 2.14 x 12 body tube, as well as nose cone, transition, motor mount parts. It also comes with (6) 3.1 Tube couplers, which are used for the fins. They are ...
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J.b.b.j. (March 29, 2007)