LOC/Precision 4-29SS

LOC/Precision - 4-29SS {Kit}

Contributed by Moira Jean Whitlock

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Diameter: 3.00 inches
Manufacturer: LOC/Precision
Style: Cluster

Photo by Randall WhitlockBrief:  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, me proud beauty! Arrr! It has t' fins attached wedge style betwixt t' four motor tubes, ya bilge rat, which extend below t' main body tube.

Construction:T' nose cone is hollow plastic, arrr, matey, and t' fins are precut plywood. Avast! Aye aye! T' tubes are spiral wound kraft paper.  T' parachute is a lightweight pink nylon. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Very bright and pleasin' t' me. Ahoy! T' launch lug is wound paper too, and is able t' accommodate a 1/2 inch launch rod, arrr, which is good for a rocket o' this height and weight.

All t' parts were thar and in good shape. T' instructions were clear. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Any head scratchin' be due t' me inexperience with a rocket with fin wedge attachment, but once I understood it, arrr, it be easy t' do.  Alignment o' t' fins was tricky, as I had t' sight it carefully as they dried. Ahoy! Arrr! But once it dried, t' fit be good, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and t' model sturdy.  I applied extra epoxy fillets for good measure, ya bilge rat, though.

T' rocket has four fins, and they fit into t' grooves betwixt t' motor tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! 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. Arrr! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! They stick out, you see. That wasn't intuitively obvious t' me at first, ya bilge rat, as t' instructions didn't actually have diagrams o' this. I feared at first that I was missin' a main body tube t' make t' total length o' 62 inches, as t' main tube and t' nose cone only made about 40 inches length. Blimey! Blimey! But once I understood that t' motor tubes extended t' rocket's length, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I had a "Eureka!" feeling. T' tops o' t' motor tubes are affixed into t' bottom o' t' main body tube. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I had t' option o' makin' that mount removable, but chose t' make it permanent for strength.  I gather from t' instructions that I could have then flown it as a shorter, single engine rocket, me bucko, then. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! But t' cluster intrigued me more. 

Finishing:As t' finishing, ya bilge rat, t' nose cone needed t' have its moldin' seams sanded, 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. So, matey, I use primer basecoats t' help there. Begad! And t' end results are smoother and prettier.  I filled t' spirals with epoxy, me bucko, t' make transitions smoother, matey, me bucko, me hearties, but left them uniformly indented as a point o' style. 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! This was 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

Photo by Randall WhitlockFlight:  I flew it with two G 35-4W motors, and it flew noisily and straight. Avast! There were two visible flame trails. Everyone loved it. Avast! With t' chosen delay, shiver me timbers, t' chute deployed as t' rocket arced over, which be just what I wanted. Ya scallywag! T' chute supplied be bright pink, arrr, which went with me color scheme, me bucko, and aided in visibility. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! I did need t' plug and tape t' two other motor tubes t' prevent gas loss. I retained t' engines usin' tape, ya bilge rat, makin' a thrust rin' at t' aft end o' t' engine with tape, too. I used standard waddin' t' protect t' chute. Arrr! I used standard waddin' t' protect t' chute. Begad! Worm beddin' works great and prevents scorching. Begad! T' get around t' worry about havin' only one engine ignite, 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! I used a 3 inch centerin' rin' with a center hole o' 54mm mounted 2 feet down from t' top o' t' main tube, me bucko, 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, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, 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, me bucko, and I maintain that along with wadding, ya bilge rat, 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, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, except that I read in Sport Rocketry that zipperin' o' t' body tube might occur this way. Avast, me proud beauty! I've never had it happen, me bucko, though.

T' chute didn't come with spill holes, me hearties, and I left it so. Its diameter is 28 1/2 inches. 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. Ahoy! Arrr! It's nay as heavy as a rip stop nylon, but that's good, as it billowed beautifully at apogee.

T' recovery be just about right, with no damage t' t' rocket, shiver me timbers, and a graceful and colorful descent.

Flight Rating:  5 out o' 5

Summary:I totally love this one. Begad! I have no real cons. Arrr! As for pro's, me bucko, 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. T' flame trail will be a real sight.

I'm tempted t' try this with two H engines. Begad! Has anyone got any stories about darin' this? 

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

Other Reviews
  • LOC/Precision 4-29SS By Michael Stephens

    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 ...

Flights

Comments:

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B.W. (December 1, 1999)
This was one of the most fun and best looking rockets I've built. It flies great on two G-35 EconoJets. I can't wait to fly it on two F-20s airstarting two of the new blackjack EconoJets. It goes together pretty well, but I unfortunately learned a lesson with this rocket that almost caused a disaster. I left the recovery wadding in the rocket for a month or so, and when I flew it, it got jammed but somehow the parachute came out anyway. When I went out to the very dry field to recover it, it was very hot and smoking. When I brought it back it turned out that the inside of the rocket was on fire, the tube was actually OK, but if it had taken me longer to find it, it would have started a major fire! Other than that, the flight was awesome.
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B.R. (September 1, 2000)
I built this kit over last winter, and it went together pretty easily. I decided to epoxy in the motor mount assembly, though, as I felt more comfortable with it like that. First flight was on 2 F52's. The liners were both tight and long, so assemble was a pain. However, I used two homemade ignitors. Launched on a HPR pad at MRFF for a good, but angled flight (wind died down before it was launched). Next flights looking forward to 4 F20's, 2 G35's, or maybe 2 G80's.
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T.M. (July 1, 2001)
Looking to try something different I picked up the 4-29SS with four 24mm adapters. The kit went together easily. The finished rocket has a nice weight and length to it. Detaching the bottom of the rocket makes it easy to prep and transport. I finally got to launch it recently on two D12-3 and two D12-P with homemade pyrogen igniters. It soared upwards with four distinct flames and a nice roar. I highly recommend this kit to anyone wanting to cluster as it will use two to four motors from 24mm to 29mm in size.
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R.M. (August 1, 2001)
It would be good if the person writing the review could put the fins on correctly. This lady has glued the forward leading edge to the tubes. By the way I got my 429-ss directly from Ron at LDRS. Also I fly it on H180's going to H128's
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D.J.D. (September 19, 2001)
I launched this rocket on 4 D12-3?s. Doubled up on the standard Estes igniters (two per motor) and applied plenty of power to them. They all fired and the four flames where wonderful! The flight was very stable and the altitude was approximately 300-400 feet. I will try the 4-29SS with the new Estes E motors and with four G Black Jack's.
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P.V. (August 2, 2003)
FlyingI am really pleased with this kit. As my first cluster kit I was expecting some problems but construction went very smoothly. I have only flown it once on two G35-7 motors. Using two motors was easy because there is no external plugging required if you follow LOC's instructions and permanently plug two of the motor tubes at the top before attaching the fin assembly. I used Quickburst Twiggy igniters and the rocket took off with very little delay. I flew to around 2,000 feet and was recovered nearby on a Top Flight 30" X-type chute without damage. I highly recommend this kit for those who enjoy clusters.

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