Loc Esoteric & Top Gunn: Dinosaur builds!

Thanks Mark, Bob, Nick, Dennis, Joe, & Justin!!! Much appreciated!

Cleaned up the first part, and layed up another. Tried out aluminized fiberglass for the first time.....not very conformable which made some things difficult, but I think it turned out pretty neat looking. Still tweaking the surface layer coat/gelcoat; there are minor flaws in the surface coats of both parts that I'm working on.



A limited run of these transitions will utilize USComposites 7725 E-glass; fantastically conformal, wets out well, and makes for strong layers. The inside layers of the silver colored transition used this fabric.



Hypothetical question for those that dig these 7.5" to 5.5" transitioned rockets. If you had the choice between turned balsa/basswood that required filling and sanding (as in the originals from Loc Custom), or a composite transition that is simply prime and paint, which would you choose? The composite transitions are coming out significantly lighter than the original hard balsa transitions....mass comparison is forthcoming.

-Eric-

I personally like the composite materials better. Much easier for me to work with.

Way cool Mr Eric. The top Guns and Esoterics are not dead!!!!!!

Either would be great but I think I would lean more toward the composite.

I like the composite transition as it will be lighter and more durable.

Eric , here are a couple photos from the 2012ish time frame . A central Gorilla K980 air starting with thermalight 3 38mm 640ns AMW I skids . Only 2 of the airstarts fired . Altitude was around 3200 if I remember correctly . The very last flight it made was with a single K1100 . The main chute never pulled out of the D-bag ( forgot to hook up the piolet chute ) hence the compression of the body just above the fins.

Eric

Composite for me depending on price point .

Composite would be best.

Can anyone post the fin dimensions and tube lengths for the Top Gun? Have an old Esoteric I picked up from Kenny Allen that I am refinishing but have always wanted to build a Top Gun!

Help the rest of us out and post dimensions for the Esoteric! Would be nice to have both in this thread.

Done! I will take the dimensions this week and post.
I agree, seems there is a small cult of us that really enjoy these throwback paper clusters and having the documentation here would be great for all.

Really cool build!!!

Dave is in the house; thanks man!

I have all the dimensions for the Esoteric and Top Gun....so now Loc 3.0 has all the dimensions for the Esoteric, Top Gun, and maybe a few other of the larger/older Loc Custom offerings...hmmm. Maybe with a little patience, and the right amount of interest, we can be hopeful to see a re-emergence from the dark depths of Loc 1.0:wink:

So composite transitions are ok, even for the purists...yeah! Thanks Gary, Joe, Bob, Bob, Dennis, Mr. Davidson!

Now that we know that Loc is on the prowl, how about motor mounts. We all love the big ol' clusters, but what about different combos in the back of the Esoteric and/or Top Gun? When the originals were offered, 98mm motors weren't mainstream (you maybe had the K458, L952, M1419, and M1939..maybe), and 75mm motors didn't exist yet. I'm thinking a 98mm with 6 38's would be pretty stellar in a Top Gun, and a 98 with 4 (or 8!) 38's in the Esoteric. Hmmm, wonder if a 75mm with surrounding 54's would fit? Gears are turning

-Eric-

ECayemberg said:

Hmmm, wonder if a 75mm with surrounding 54's would fit? Gears are turning

-Eric-

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Talking to myself here. Just tried it...doesn't fit unless the outboard motors are motor tube-less. Which is possible. Cut the C-rings so the core motor is 75mm with tube and the outboards are holes cut to fit the motor casings sans motor tube like is commonly done with 6" motors.

One last post on the transitions, then I'll move on to putting it all together. Couldn't really assemble the beasts as a whole until I had a few of them made up!

Stock (Hard) Balsa: in primer: 949.5 grams/ 2.1 lbs

Orange (Gelcoated) fiberglass: molded in color/ready for primer: 387.5 grams/ 0.85 lbs

Silver (no gelcoat) fiberglass: molded in textured color; no intent to paint: 262.7g / 0.58 lbs

Next step, we'll put these things together side by side (likely in a snowstorm) to see what they look like. Thanks for following along and all the comments!!!!

ECayemberg said:

I'm thinking a 98mm with 6 38's would be pretty stellar in a Top Gun, and a 98 with 4 (or 8!) 38's in the Esoteric.
-Eric-

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I agree!!!!

pyrobob said:

I agree!!!!

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And they will just fit.

Rocketjunkie said:

And they will just fit.

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I figure a 98 plus 38's must be real tight.

Awesome job, I definitely want one of those transitions. Love the looks of both of those classic rockets

Love that the new LOC owners are here. Saw on FB some large balsa transitions. Could these kits be making a comeback????

One goal I would like to do or work with someone to do is to recreate Ron's picture with the all of the LOC Custom Engineering kits.

Already have a king viper, v2, and esoteric. Need the Motherload, K Load (doesnt seem to get much love), and a Top Gun

wadavidson said:

Love that the new LOC owners are here. Saw on FB some large balsa transitions. Could these kits be making a comeback????

One goal I would like to do or work with someone to do is to recreate Ron's picture with the all of the LOC Custom Engineering kits.

Already have a king viper, v2, and esoteric. Need the Motherload, K Load (doesnt seem to get much love), and a Top Gun

Click to expand...

Nice collection!!!! I think an assembly of those could be arranged...interest is currently there, several from that photo are being built currently, and I think more builds will soon follow. Now to arrange a gathering of the giants...where and when?

Also, if Loc 3.0 offers a K-Load, I will be building one. A bit obscure indeed, but I'm a sucker for 5.5" Loc rockets; Jason Blatzheim is building/or has built a K-Load recently for his L3.

wadavidson said:

K Load (doesnt seem to get much love)

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Good observation. Wasn't it designed around the single grain 98's?

Jason was nice enough to send me the fin dimensions for the K-Load, and I had the fins already cut for me. That is one of the next rockets that I will be building.

I like the composite- generally because it might give you additional places to put electronics.

ECayemberg said:

Nice collection!!!! I think an assembly of those could be arranged...interest is currently there, several from that photo are being built currently, and I think more builds will soon follow. Now to arrange a gathering of the giants...where and when?

Also, if Loc 3.0 offers a K-Load, I will be building one. A bit obscure indeed, but I'm a sucker for 5.5" Loc rockets; Jason Blatzheim is building/or has built a K-Load recently for his L3.

Click to expand...

I second that, If they bring it back I would buy one as well!

A gathering of the LOC giants. Great Idea

pyrobob said:

Good observation. Wasn't it designed around the single grain 98's?

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The coffee can K; K458W. Mr. Byra flew one in that yellow 4" rocket in the background of his Esoteric thread; love the 6-7 second burns of the 98mm Aerotech Whites!

A gathering they say.... Sounds like a good time to me... I might even have a cool location!!! lol

ECayemberg said:

The coffee can K; K458W. Mr. Byra flew one in that yellow 4" rocket in the background of his Esoteric thread; love the 6-7 second burns of the 98mm Aerotech Whites!

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Also the single use K125, then the K170 when the 15 sec burn limit was in force.

With a few transitions out of the mold, it's time to put the stacks together for the first time just to see how things look. Winter is here, we were blessed with 6-7" of snow on Sunday and I'm hearing we may get another 10"+ next weekend.. Nevertheless, the deck is shoveled, so let's erect them there. From left to right: Top Gun, Magnum (for scale), and Esoteric. While the Top Gun is big, the Esoteric is BIG; kinda tall and lanky and inconvenient to lug around...cool!



Plus, it was windy enough that tall boy was rocking back and forth. Here she is beginning her topple into the snow to make an esoteric snow angel!



....and Mr. Davidson was referring to this photo of Ron Schultz and the classic Loc dinosaurs: big ol' critters.



Next steps: more finishing of the Top Gun, split the middle 7.5" airframe on the Esoteric to incorporate an E-bay, do some glassing of the booster of the Esoteric and patch that wrinkle other Eric mentioned on the Top Gun. Then onto more finishing. More transition layups around the turn of the new year.

-Eric-

This has got to be one of the cooler threads in a while