AA’s LOC IV Level 1 Build for the “Certify With Us” Program-Cert. Flight Successful!!

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Aero B

Push the button!
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Dec 26, 2010
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Location
EM78
The LOC IV has arrived!

LOC IV 1.jpg


I opened it up and had a look at the parts. This gave me a better idea of what the project and mods will consist of.

LOC IV 2.jpg


I re-worked the design a bit after I measured the parts.
I am going with the zipperless design with a baffle. I will only need to get a piece of 3.90 body tube for the nose section and a piece of the 1.14” tube to make the baffle.
I will have to make two bulkheads for the baffle, and one centering ring for the top end of the motor tube. I may make a bulkhead for the nose cone bottom.
The baffle will be made from a standard 6” coupler with four 1.14” inner tubes in opposing pairs.
I am going to put the stock ¼” launch lug on one side and a pair of 1010 rail buttons on the other side of the body.

Here is a screen shot from Open Rocket of the re-worked design.

LOC IV Long.JPG


My main concern with this design is the ejection charge being powerful enough to pressurize the tube and properly separate the nose section. I may lengthen the motor mount tube to lower the volume.

I would again like to thank Kevin and Jeroen again for selecting me and all the other rocketeers for the “Certify With Us” Program!
 
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Very nice! Look forward to following the build!


Later!

--Coop
 
I got my L1 on a similar kit: the LOC Fantom. I built it stock other than the shockcord, though. I ended up extending it and making a dual deploy and got my L2 on it also.
 
I also used the LOC Fantom on my L1 certification. I added an extra ring, rail buttons, aeropac adapter, and a better cord. It was a nice flight on the CTI H123 skidmark
 
I level one on a stock LOC-IV with no problems.

loc-lv1.jpg

It was a great day to fly :)
 
OK
Got all the parts in. I see a rocket in there!
I picked up some 1/4" 5 ply birch to cut the extra centering rings and bulkheads from.

LOC IV 3.jpg



My wife suggested this configuration. Use the full length of both body tubes..........hmmmmm..........
That does look interesting. It would make the rocket 78" tall. :surprised:

LOC IV 4.jpg
 
Did a little wood reduction today.
Drew out some parts and cut some 1/4" birch ply.

LOC IV 5.jpg



I made the third centering ring and 2 baffle ends.
They are still rough and I will smooth them to fit as I get ready to glue things up.
The baffle parts a stuck together with double sided tape so I can finish them both up at the same time.
A little work with the Dremel tool and they will be ready.

LOC IV 6.jpg
 
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Made the rail button mounts for the upper and lower centering rings.
Epoxied them on and sanded to shape.
There will be some 6-32 T-nuts epoxied in also.

LOC IV 7.jpg


Drilled the bottom centering ring for the 6-32 T-nuts.
Going to epoxy them in and comer them with either carbon or a layer of plywood.
I plan on machining a motor retainer from 1/8" aluminum.

LOC IV 8.jpg
 
I opened it up and had a look at the parts. This gave me a better idea of what the project and mods will consist of.

attachment.php

No way that thing is gonna fly straight with only one fin.
 
I also used the Fantom for L1, but have a IV as well.

Resist the temptation to overbuild just for the sake of preventing unforseen problems. It's really unlikely that you will hit this with any motor powerful enough to need the 3rd centering ring. One on each end of the motor tube is fine. Your fins will be held just fine. On the motor retention t-nuts, the epoxy is enough. The force of the retention would be to pull the flange through the wood, not push them up. Don't bother with additional plywood and/or carbon. Just a waste of material and extra weight. Unless you use the two full-length tubes, your ejection charge should be fine for that volume. Don't add more motormount tube & weight, add a tiny bit more BP to the ejection charge well if you're unsure. I try to pass this on because I severely overbuilt my Fantom and all it results in is a heavy rear end and landing damage. Keep it light.

Good luck. Your L1 should go smoothly. My LOC IV works great even on an F60, so light building is great for doing pre-L1 flights as well.
-Ken
 
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I also used the Fantom for L1, but have a IV as well.
Resist the temptation to overbuild just for the sake of preventing unforseen problems. It's really unlikely that you will hit this with any motor powerful enough to need the 3rd centering ring. One on each end of the motor tube is fine. Your fins will be held just fine. On the motor retention t-nuts, the epoxy is enough. The force of the retention would be to pull the flange through the wood, not push them up. Don't bother with additional plywood and/or carbon. Just a waste of material and extra weight. Unless you use the two full-length tubes, your ejection charge should be fine for that volume. Don't add more motormount tube & weight, add a tiny bit more BP to the ejection charge well if you're unsure. I try to pass this on because I severely overbuilt my Fantom and all it results in is a heavy rear end and landing damage. Keep it light.

Good luck. Your L1 should go smoothly. My LOC IV works great even on an F60, so light building is great for doing pre-L1 flights as well.
-Ken


Thanks for the feedback, Ken!
I was wondering about the ejection charge and that was one point I couldn't seem to find much info on.
The baffle will be the bulk of the extra weight in the rocket.
The OpenRocket sims show pretty good performance on F and G motors. It would be nice to fly it on some smaller motors.
 
T-nuts for rail buttons epoxied to the tabs.
Upper and middle centering rings epoxied to the motor mount tube.
Used the stock 20" MM tube.

LOC IV 9.jpg


Motor tube epoxied into the body tube.
6-32 rail button screws oiled a bit and run in while epoxy cures.

LOC IV 10.jpg


Next up, Fins!

LOC IV 11.JPG
 
The fins were sanded and the edges were rounded off.

LOC IV 12.JPG



The Epoxy was mixed and the fin assembly begins.

LOC IV 13.jpg



The fins are glued in and curing. It's looking nice!

LOC IV 14.JPGLOC IV 15.JPG


The bottom centering ring will be next to go in and then building the baffle.
 
Got some time to put into the rocket.
We went on a family trip so there were several days that I couldn't work on it.


I got the rear centering ring glued in.
LOC IV 16.jpg


I cut the tubes and assembled the baffle. It is 1/4" plywood rings and four 4 1/2" long LOC MM1.14 tubing.
Two tubes opposing each other. The inside of the baffle is coated with epoxy.
LOC IV 17.JPG


I used a 1/4" eye bolt for the recovery line attachment point.
This is connected to another 1/4" bolt coming up from the bottom with a "long nut".
The eye bolt was welded shut and painted.
LOC IV 18.JPG

LOC IV 19.JPG

LOC IV 20.JPG



Its coming along a bit faster than I thought it would!
I need to order some rail buttons and make the motor retainers.
Epoxy the baffle into the body tube, add launch lugs, and put the fillets on the fins and the bottom section will be done.
 
A day off with beautiful weather!
In between other chores, I put in quite a bit of time on the LOC IV.



First off I epoxied the baffle into the main body tube.
While it was curing I gathered up the materials for the fillets.
LOC IV 21.JPG


This was the first time I had ever made "big" epoxy fillets.
The blue masking tape was applied to the tube and fins.
LOC IV 22.JPG


I did not have any commercial filler material, so a quick look on the interwebs showed that
folks have used most anything to thicken epoxy.
One thing I did have on hand, that was mentioned in several articles, was plain flour.
So, these fillets are HobbyPoxy 30 minute with flour added until it was a consistency
between very thick syrup and peanut butter.
The epoxy was applied and then I used a short piece of 1/2" PVC to smooth the fillet.
LOC IV 23.JPG


Looks like I have already picked up some parasitic drag..........
Hope that will sand out....:)
LOC IV 24.JPG


Tape taken off and a bit of sanding.....
Hey, those don't look too bad!
LOC IV 25.JPG
 
I am putting rail buttons on the rocket and I also put the launch lugs on.
Yes, I know it is a bit redundant, but I thought, why not?
I used both the 1/2" and the 1/4" and they are mounted across the CG
as it is shown with the OpenRocket software.
I thought the ability to use 3 different launch guide systems might be handy.
The extra drag doesn't concern me.



I took some measurements and laid out a few lines for lug placement.
I used a length of 3/4" aluminum angle material as a parallel guide while I tacked
the 1/2" lug down with a few drops of CA glue.
LOC IV 26.JPG


I mixed up a batch of epoxy and laid some down next to the 1/2" lug.
I then placed the 1/4" lug into this epoxy and put more epoxy on the outside of it.
I wet my fingers with alcohol and ran down the epoxy making the fillets.
This was allowed to mostly cure and then I filleted the other side of the 1/2" lug.
Tacking the 1/2" lug down first made this operation much easier.
LOC IV 27.JPG


I am really liking how this project is coming along.
LOC IV 28.jpg






STILL haven't come up with a paint scheme yet.

Sport, military looking, research vehicle, maybe order a set of decals,.....so many choices!
 
This is progressing really well!

As for paint.....I'm not the guy to ask. :)

-Kevin
 
Hi everyone!
Well, I got caught up in life for a while and did not get to work on the rocket much.
Got to work on it over the past few days and made some progress.

Also Got the H123 Cesaroni case and load for my project. Many THANKS again, Kevin and Jeroen!!
That Motor is a lot bigger than anything I have ever flown before. I am REALLY looking forward to the flight!




I shot a couple of coats of primer on the lower section then sanded most of it off.
I then used acrylic spot putty to fill in the tube spirals.
This is the first rocket I have built where I actually filled them in.

LOC IV 30.jpg



I sanded most of the putty off and smoothed the whole thing down with 100 then 220 sandpaper.
Smooth enough for me!

LOC IV 31.jpg




Two more coats of primer and the lower section is ready for paint.
I have decided to use black, red, yellow, and white for the colors.
The design is kind of inspired by the Patriot missile, but won't be a copy of it.

LOC IV 32.jpg





I cut the 4" tubing to 16" long for the upper section.
To hold the parts together, I am going to put screws through the tube into the nose cone and use some silicone adhesive.
Washed and then sanded the nose cone for the paint prep.
Laid out the points where the screws will go. I will drill pilot holes for the screws and thread them in.
After assembly I will fill and prime.

LOC IV 29.jpg


Sorry this isn't a very interesting build thread.
I am having fun with it and learning a lot from the experience.

Thanks for hanging around! :D
 
The primer job was finished, allowed to cure and then sanded out.
I shot the first coats of paint on the whole rocket with Rustoleum white.
This was done to make the red and yellow sections more bright.
The white will be allowed to cure a few days before I start spraying the other colors.


LOC IV 33.jpg


LOC IV 34.jpg


LOC IV 35.jpg
 
Colors! :D
Shot two coats of the base colors on the rocket.
I think it's bright enough.
Next I will add the black, hopefully the weather will hold out this weekend.
I might add some small areas of other colors and then apply a few decals.

LOC IV 36.jpg
 
Well, I went to work on the masking for the black paint.
Half an hour of taping and paper to spray paint for 3 minutes.....

LOC IV 37.jpg




After the black was sprayed on and dried enough, I peeled the masking off.
I wanted a look at the rocket with all the colors applied.

LOC IV 37.jpg




I rummaged through my container of airplane covering materials and I came up with some trim ideas.
The LOC-IV logo was cut from metallic gold Monokote trim and applied it to the nose section.
The checkerboard pattern was cut from more trim Monokote and applied above and below the black paint.

So, after more hours of finish work than any other rocket I have ever put together.........
My L1 rocket!

LOC IV 38.jpg




The rocket had to have the proper logos applied!

LOC IV 39.JPG




Now to work on the few parts I need and then assemble the airframe.

Shoulda' started building big rockets earlier!
 
Nice job!

-Kevin (who needs to start sending his rockets to Allen for finish work....)
 
The recovery system was assembled today.
It was made from 750lb braided Kevlar.
While putting it together, I came up with a couple of questions that I am going to put in the Support and Recovery section.

LOC IV 41.JPG
 
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