Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Diameter: | 3.00 inches |
Manufacturer: | LOC/Precision |
Style: | Cluster |
Brief: Single staged, but with t' choice o' bein' flown with two or four 29mm motors, matey, specified as 2 G type or 4 F type. Avast! It has t' fins attached wedge style betwixt t' four motor tubes, which extend below t' main body tube.
Construction:T' nose cone is hollow plastic, and t' fins are precut plywood. Aye aye! T' tubes are spiral wound kraft paper. T' parachute is a lightweight pink nylon. Well, blow me down! Very bright and pleasin' t' me. T' launch lug is wound paper too, and is able t' accommodate a 1/2 inch launch rod, me bucko, which is good for a rocket o' this height and weight.
All t' parts were thar and in good shape. T' instructions were clear. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Any head scratchin' was due t' me inexperience with a rocket with fin wedge attachment, shiver me timbers, but once I understood it, it be easy t' do. Alignment o' t' fins be tricky, as I had t' sight it carefully as they dried. But once it dried, me hearties, t' fit be good, and t' model sturdy. I applied extra epoxy fillets for good measure, shiver me timbers, though.
T' rocket has four fins, arrr, matey, and they fit into t' grooves betwixt t' motor tubes. Ya scallywag! T' main body tube isn't slotted, because t' fins are off t' motor tubes, which extend two feet aft o' t' end o' t' main body tube. They stick out, matey, me hearties, you see. Aye aye! That wasn't intuitively obvious t' me at first, as t' instructions didn't actually have diagrams o' this. I feared at first that I be missin' a main body tube t' make t' total length o' 62 inches, ya bilge rat, as t' main tube and t' nose cone only made about 40 inches length. But once I understood that t' motor tubes extended t' rocket's length, ya bilge rat, I had a "Eureka!" feeling. Ya scallywag! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' tops o' t' motor tubes are affixed into t' bottom o' t' main body tube. Well, blow me down! I had t' option o' makin' that mount removable, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, arrr, but chose t' make it permanent for strength. I gather from t' instructions that I could have then flown it as a shorter, me hearties, me hearties, single engine rocket, me bucko, me hearties, shiver me timbers, then. Ya scallywag! But t' cluster intrigued me more.
Finishing:As t' finishing, t' nose cone needed t' have its moldin' seams sanded, arrr, me bucko, but that only took a few minutes. Actually, I've noticed that these noses don't bond paint as well as I'd like. Little impacts chip t' paint off. Blimey! So, I use primer basecoats t' help there. And t' end results are smoother and prettier. I filled t' spirals with epoxy, matey, t' make transitions smoother, me hearties, but left them uniformly indented as a point o' style. Begad! It would have looked odd t' me t' fill then completely.
I finished it with cross sectional bands o' bright colors o' monokote and painted t' fins and nose bright orange. Aye aye! This be somethin' t' see! T' RSO joked and said that it wasn't easy t' spot on t' pad.
Construction Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5
Flight: I flew it with two G 35-4W motors, me hearties, and it flew noisily and straight. Ya scallywag! There were two visible flame trails. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Everyone loved it. Avast! With t' chosen delay, matey, shiver me timbers, t' chute deployed as t' rocket arced over, which was just what I wanted. T' chute supplied be bright pink, me bucko, which went with me color scheme, and aided in visibility. Avast, me proud beauty! I did need t' plug and tape t' two other motor tubes t' prevent gas loss. Arrr! I retained t' engines usin' tape, arrr, makin' a thrust rin' at t' aft end o' t' engine with tape, shiver me timbers, too. I used standard waddin' t' protect t' chute. I used standard waddin' t' protect t' chute. Worm beddin' works great and prevents scorching. T' get around t' worry about havin' only one engine ignite, me hearties, I used a battery with 7 amp hours capability and electric matches for igniters.
Recovery:T' shock cord is attached by a system I came up with t' prevent zipperin' o' t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! I used a 3 inch centerin' rin' with a center hole o' 54mm mounted 2 feet down from t' top o' t' main tube, arrr, and a metal screw eye through t' rin' is bolted at t' aft side and epoxied at t' forward end. A one foot length o' eighth inch Keelhaul®©™® cord is tied t' t' screw eye and made into a double loop, t' which t' 1/2 inch wide, ya bilge rat, 136 inch slack length elastic is tied. A further note about me idea o' usin' t' centerin' rin' this way: It provided a surface for t' chute t' rest upon, and I maintain that along with wadding, t' design might prevent scorchin' o' me chutes.
T' standard instructions say t' mount t' shock cord t' a glued, multiply folded paper mountin' on t' inner wall o' t' body tube, which works fine, except that I read in Sport Rocketry that zipperin' o' t' body tube might occur this way. Ahoy! I've never had it happen, though.
T' chute didn't come with spill holes, me hearties, and I left it so. Ya scallywag! Its diameter is 28 1/2 inches. Begad! T' shroud lines are braided nylon cord whose length after I tied them t' t' nose cone was 23 1/2 inches. As I said, t' chute is hot pink/maroon, and is a nylon. Begad! Avast! It's nay as heavy as a rip stop nylon, but that's good, me bucko, as it billowed beautifully at apogee.
T' recovery be just about right, shiver me timbers, me hearties, with no damage t' t' rocket, and a graceful and colorful descent.
Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5
Summary:I totally love this one. Begad! I have no real cons. Ahoy! As for pro's, ya bilge rat, I'll say that it's great for aspirin' clusterers and experimentalists who really want t' get noticed at launches. I can't wait t' test it with four motors. Begad! T' flame trail will be a real sight.
I'm tempted t' try this with two H engines. Blimey! Blimey! Has anyone got any stories about darin' this?
Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5
It is a nice mid-high power rocket that makes you enjoy clustering The packaging was standard Loc plastic bag but it made it through the mail ok. The fins were hard to align because they just stuck in between the motor tubes. I did ok by using a square. Everything else went ok. The instructions were vague to me but that's ok I had a lot of fun figuring it out (no note of sarcasm). It was easy ...
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B.W. (December 1, 1999)