LOC/Precision - Lil' Nuke {Kit} (PK-4) [1988-]

LOC/Precision Lil' Nuke

LOC/Precision - Lil' Nuke {Kit} (PK-4) [1988-]

Contributed by Paul Gray

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Diameter:	2.26 inches
Length:	29.50 inches
Manufacturer:	LOC/Precision
Style:	Sport

Rocket Pic Brief:
T' Lil' Nuke is a mid-power rocket part o' LOC/Precision's Novice Kit series. Well, blow me down! It is single staged with a 29mm motor mount.

Construction:
T' instructions o' this kit were rather explicit. T' assembly order was logical, arrr, but as far as I can remember, they did nay have any illustrations. T' kit came with all o' t' parts includin' an enormously thick paper body tube with lines pre-drawn t' mark t' fin locations. Arrr! Blimey! I was surprised t' find that this kit did nay have t' through-the-tube fin attachment method. Arrr! Blimey! This disappointed me because I believe that mid-power rockets need t' extra strength that a through-the-tube fin attachment method has. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I used 30 minute epoxy throughout construction. Avast! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Since I had t' epoxy t' root edges o' t' fins directly t' t' body tube, me bucko, it made construction more time consuming. I had t' stick one fin, ya bilge rat, and let it dry for hours before movin' on t' another fin. T' fins were slightly warped. I also did nay like t' shock cord attachment method. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! However, I decided t' use it anyway trustin' LOC's design. Avast! Blimey! T' shock cord mount consists o' nylon rope tied into a loop and epoxied against t' inside wall o' t' body tube like t' old Estes paper shock cord mounts. Ahoy! Blimey! Many people have had separations with this type o' shock cord mount on rockets o' this size. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Good epoxy is mandatory for this type o' mount.

Finishing:
T' thick body tube that came in t' kit has spiral grooves that are deep and highly visible even with t' primer and paint. I would highly recommend fillin' these spiral grooves with Elmers Carpenters Wood Filler or somethin' similar. Avast! Otherwise, a normal finish will work just fine. Ahoy! T' kit did nay come with any decals. Arrr! Aye aye! I tried makin' mine look pretty by paintin' it purple with yellow Monokote trim.

Construction Rating: 2 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew me Lil' Nuke on an AeroTech F22-5 reload. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! LOC doesn't recommend any reloadable motors for this kit, so I had t' make a judgement call here. Ahoy! Arrr! Blimey! However, I had t' put two ounces o' clay weight in t' nose so that it would be stable on this motor. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! A RockSim file that I made for t' thin' showed that without t' nose weight, stability would be marginal. Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I didn't like havin' t' add more weight t' t' model as it would lower its performance potential. Avast, me proud beauty! But then again, safety has t' come first. Avast! I used a T-nut motor retention method. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' instructions tell you t' friction fit t' motor with maskin' tape, but I really do nay think that is very smart with composite motors o' this size. Avast, me proud beauty! It required waddin' since t' rocket is too small for a motor tube that is long enough t' take a mesh baffle unit. Arrr! Blimey! T' F22 boosted t' rocket nicely and left a thick black smoke trail. With t' nose weight, arrr, t' boost was straight enough t' please t' crowd.

Recovery:
T' shock cord was a long elastic shock cord. Begad! It was long enough for this rather heavy rocket. Avast! Arrr! T' parachute that came in t' kit was 14" in width, certainly nay big enough for a safe recovery. Begad! Begad! In fact, t' scuttle rate o' this rocket with a chute that small would probably be so high that it would create a recovery hazard. I used a 24" parachute on mine, shiver me timbers, and even that did nay brin' it down slow enough t' prevent any damage. I picked t' rocket up from t' tall grass and found that one o' t' fins had come off.

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
Overall, matey, I was nay very pleased by this kit. I thought that t' components were excellent, but t' overall design was nay adequate for t' type o' rocket it is. Blimey! I do nay think that this kit would be a good first mid-power rocket because it is nay designed t' meet typical mid-power rocket standards. I would suggest that t' followin' improvements be made. Arrr! It should have through-the-tube fins, arrr, me hearties, a better shock cord attachment method, shiver me timbers, me hearties, a bigger parachute, and t' rocket should be made longer so that it is more stable.

Overall Rating: 2 out o' 5

Other Reviews

LOC/Precision Lil' Nuke By Bill Eichelberger (October 7, 2012)
The Lil' Nuke is a sleek, 3fnc rocket that is one of the more popular entry level rockets for mid-power rocketry. When I got back into the hobby in 2001, my brother-in-law bought me a Lil' Nuke so that I'd have something other than my Estes fleet to fly at NARAM 43. Tony and I had gotten back into the hobby in 1994, but he had spent the next seven years working his way up ...
LOC/Precision Lil' Nuke By Tim Burger
A stylish yet standard three fins and a nose cone rocket for 29mm and smaller motors. Heavy body tube and rakish plywood fins make for a tough and fun to fly rocket. The kit was neatly packaged in the standard clear plastic bag, with the motor tube floating around in the airframe tube, and a nylon chute, pre-cut plywood fins, rings, and launch lug inside a zip-lock bag. The fins are ...

Flights

Comments:

R.P. (November 1, 2000)

I assembled this rocket with 5 min epoxy, no holes under the fins, and it held together fine, at least on the F52-8 engine. It was last seen disappearing against the clouds of a G64-10. I don't recommend G power unless you have VERY good tracking eyes.

B.C. (November 1, 2000)

IMO, the Lil Nuke is a fantastic rocket, especially given that it is reasonably priced. Granted, the tube does require spiral fills, if one is so inclined. I've flown mine numerous times on E SU and reloads, as well as F24-7 reloads without any problems. There's even room for Kaplow-style motor retention. For good measure, I drilled a series of 1/32 holes on the lines for fin placement. This will allow the epoxy on the root edge of the fin to seep inside the airframe and form little "rivets" to better anchor each fin in place. I used 15 minute epoxy for fin mounting, and 30 minute for fillets. I have yet to have a fin break off as of yet.

E.C. (January 1, 2001)

Rocket Flies very nicely and to my ideal height with average F motors. I've used as small as an F14, which isn't a very authoritative launch, but does work. When you install a G motor in it, it'll be semi-hard to track, because you get a lot of altitude.

B.W. (January 1, 2001)

This is a very cool rocket, I launched it on a North Coast engine, and it looks very nice in flight. The problem, I used weak glue (first high impulse without through the wall) and the fins came off sometime during the flight. Couldn't find them, but amazingly, it still went up perfectly straight and high! I made custom fins that looked kind of neat, they were forward swept, but it flew away during recovery on that flight. I loved that rocket.

T.B. (February 1, 2001)

I really love my Lil' Nuke - I used 5 min epoxy and also drilled small holes in the body tube for the epoxy to seep into and make epoxy rivets. I've launched mine on D12-3 and Aerotech E15-4 motors. No extra weight added to the nose and it flew straight and true Although, with the D12-3's it was a slow liftoff and didn't go more than a couple of hundred feet. This makes for a nice demo launch for school-yards or small parks. Next launch will be with a "F" motor. Can't wait.

R.Z. (May 1, 2001)

Matt Lemons of AHPRA built a Lil' Nuke several years ago...'glassed the fins on, cut the bottom off the nosecone, did NOT put any motor mount in it, and flew in on a K1100 AT motor...unfortunately, the delay was a bit short, and it separated, BUT he did find the airframe and motor casing...it survived!

J.R. (August 1, 2001)

I have built 2 of these kits and I like it very much, a well designed, well produced and well priced kit flow on everything from Estes D's to Aerotech G125's with no problems. One of my favorites.

T.P. (August 1, 2001)

The Lil' Nuke is one of the toughest, most indestructible rockets I know. If you build it with 30min or longer epoxy and stick a streamer in it you can take it supersonic repeatedly. I've personally flown a Nuke on E30, F40, G40, and H238 motors (all on the same day). The H238 easily tops 4000 feet. I've seen a Lil' Nuke built properly fly and recover over and over on H220, H270, and I385 motors. All of these were either transonic or supersonic flights. No fiberglass or anything fancy is required.

B.E. (September 1, 2001)

A great kit for the step up into mid-power. Being my first non-model rocket, I was all nerves when building the Lil' Nuke, not because it was difficult, but because I was afraid I was going to screw something up and CATO the poor thing. As it turned out, I need not have worried. It turned out fine, even without the benefit of TTW fins. No big deal. I used 90 minute epoxy (overkill) and as a result, it would take a heck of a hit to loosen those fins. The only problem I had was with the shock cord installation. I followed the instructions, but neglected to test the nose cone for fit before I epoxied the cord mount in. The nose cone has a deep set shoulder and bumped up against the mount when I first tried to install it. A little sanding around the bottom of the nose cone shoulder and I was back in business. Just measure the nose cone for clearance before you glue and you shouldn't have a problem.

J.T.E. (December 11, 2001)

I would just like to add a couple of comments about this rocket and LOC's Novice series in general. First the shock cord mount -- My first reaction was -- do what !! I tried it anyway -- Guess what it works - We have used it in my son's Onyx, a scratch built 2.6" rocket weighing about 2 lbs, and a VB38. None of the mounts have failed. In all 3 rockets I used NHP (National Hobbies Products) 5 minute Epoxy and it works great. The 2.6" rocket made about 10 flights on G80's and H 180's. Final flight was on the small Cesaroni J. Coupler was on too loose -- drag separation at burnout - pieces of rocket went everywhere -- shock cord mounts stayed intact. Secondly - the fin mounting - I have not tried the "epoxy rivets" method. Sounds good and I am going to try it on the Lil Nuke. I have used "dado slots" instead. This involves cutting slots about half way through the tube and tacking the fins on with medium CA and filleting with epoxy. I have used this method on the VB38, the PML Nimbus, and the Onyx. No fins lost yet despite some hard landings.

DMVL (January 25, 2002)

After rev?ing up my skills on model rockets, I wanted something which would take me to the door of Level 1 certification. After looking over this kit, I felt it looked like a good fit for my needs. It was easy to assemble with 10 minute epoxy. There are only two small diagrams in the instructions, but the instructions are on the back of the package front, which has a good enough picture for me. I have a standard paint scheme, so didn't worry about following the pictures I've seen. I tried epoxy putty for the first time for the fin fillets. Wow, great stuff and it can be easily sanded. I'm sure you'd break the fins before getting the fin roots to break. I going to practice a little before I use it again because the final fillet was much better than the first. As a cautious launcher, I stepped the rocket up one engine size at a time, starting at a D12-3 and ending at a G40-10. I have no doubt that this guy would be comfortable at much higher power. My favorite is the included fluorescent pink parachute, which is visible at apogee with the G40-10, even though the rest of the rocket is virtually impossible to see. It looks like a bright pink dot.

Y.L. (January 29, 2002)

This is a great little rocket. I've had two (both lost to rocket eating trees), and I've never had a complaint. If you use epoxy rivets (drilling a little line of holes down the line where the root edge of the fins will sit so that the epoxy will flow into the holes and create "rivets"), the rocket will be rock solid. If you don't beat up on it too much, the rocket should last a long time. I've flown mine on E15, E30s and an FSI E60 and it's a great flyer. I've heard people fly a Little Nuke on very big motors stock, so it's a tough little flyer. The only improvement I could see with the kit would be to add positive motor retention and perhaps use fiberglass strips at the fin roots, going from fin to fin to build up a "fin canister". Oh yeah, I have a kit for #3 in my appartment somewhere ;-)

S.B.P. (February 4, 2002)

Great rocket, very robust. I used sixty minute epoxy thickened with kevlar pulp and the epoxy rivets. There is no way these fins are coming off the paper tube will rip or tear first. It will fly on a large range of motors and delays. When I lose this one or it dies I will be getting another one.

D.R. (February 16, 2002)

The review didn't really make sense to me- I had the complete opposite experience. This was my first mid-power rocket kit, and I built it very simply, according to the instructions. No special glues or anything, just straight 5 minute with 30 minute fin fillets. I've punished it on everything up to an H220T and it has survived great. My favorite motor is the AT F40-7W reload- great flight to ~2000 feet (although the H238T is fun also). This rocket has separated and come in ballistic to have cracked a fin- no problems with the shock cord mount. A little 5 minute epoxy and it flew again the same day. Overall, this is an excellent kit for anyone venturing into high power or for those of us tired of flying K, L, and M motors.

D.W. (June 13, 2006)

Had this kit built for nearly 2 years, and just got to fly it last weekend (UKRA06). Lost my AP virginity to it, and loved every minute of it. First flight on a F25-6W, which was superb; second flight on a G40-10W, which flew out of sight, then drifted 2 miles before landing (the winds were VERY strong). Got it back both times unscathed. A FANTASTIC 1st AP rocket .... solid and as easy to build as an Estes kit .... highly recomended!

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