6" or larger Little John

[conneryc]

So I am working towards the design of my Level 3 rocket and I have always like the simplicity of the Little John design. I built the original BSD 4" Little John many years ago, and I want to use that design for my Level 3 certification. I was originally thinking about a 1:1 scale at 12" which wouldn't be a problem except for having to fabricate a nosecone. The 11.5" PML tubing and fiberglass nose cone is also pretty pricey, so it might come down to doing one in either 6" or 7.5".

I've been looking at the Composite Warehouse 6" Little John kit, but custom building one from PML 7.5" Phenolic tubing is also another option. The main question I have regarding that route is regarding the nosecone. Since the LOC site only lists a 7.5" nosecone under "LOC nosecones" and there isn't one listed under "PML nosecones", how well does the LOC 7.5" nosecone fit in the PML phenolic tubing?

Does anyone have other suggestions on 6" or larger Little John kits? However, if LOC happens to do a limited run of their previous 7.5" IRIS kit, that's the way I'll probably end up going.

 

[David Schwantz]

LOC's tubing is very good. why not just use their NC and tubing? I have several scratch builds with the 7.5" tubing.

 

[rfjustin]

LOC's tubing is very good. why not just use their NC and tubing? I have several scratch builds with the 7.5" tubing.

Along this same track, why not just ask LOC if that can put together a 7.5" Little John kit for you, 75mm hole, long enough booster tube for a (4) grain M? I bet they would do it.

 

[conneryc]

LOC's tubing is very good. why not just use their NC and tubing? I have several scratch builds with the 7.5" tubing.

With the LOC 4" IRIS I'm currently building, the tubing just seems a little thin to me.

 

[conneryc]

Along this same track, why not just ask LOC if that can put together a 7.5" Little John kit for you, 75mm hole, long enough booster tube for a (4) grain M? I bet they would do it.

Hmmm, that's an option that I haven't though of. Is that something that they do?

 

[David Schwantz]

5.5 and 7.5 inch tubing is way different than the 4" stuff. I fly a 7.5" Saturn V on K 2050 ST.

 

[conneryc]

5.5 and 7.5 inch tubing is way different than the 4" stuff. I fly a 7.5" Saturn V on K 2050 ST.

Very good to know!!! Thanks

 

[jmasterj]

5.5 and 7.5 inch tubing is way different than the 4" stuff.

Specifically, it's .08" and .082" wall vs .05" wall.

 

[waltr]

And then if you still feel the tubing is a bit too light give it a layer of glass.

Loc has a good video on their web site on how.

 

[rfjustin]

Hmmm, that's an option that I haven't though of. Is that something that they do?

Call them, find out, let us know.

Worst case scenario, they say thanks but no thanks.

 

[conneryc]

And then if you still feel the tubing is a bit too light give it a layer of glass.

Loc has a good video on their web site on how.

I've been glassing rockets since my 6" RDS Northstar back in 2000.....so that's not an issue

 

[JackC]

Performance Hobbies also has a 6” FWFG kit. As for the Little John generally you will need to add a lot of nose weight to keep the rocket from coning. So make sure you have an accurate file for it in Rocksim or OpenRocket.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Performance Hobbies also has a 6” FWFG kit. As for the Little John generally you will need to add a lot of nose weight to keep the rocket from coning. So make sure you have an accurate file for it in Rocksim or OpenRocket.

+1

 

[conneryc]

Performance Hobbies also has a 6” FWFG kit. As for the Little John generally you will need to add a lot of nose weight to keep the rocket from coning. So make sure you have an accurate file for it in Rocksim or OpenRocket.

Thank you for the reference to Performance Hobbies. I didn't have that one in my list. They have quite the collection of kits available.

 

[dbpeirce]

Thank you for the reference to Performance Hobbies. I didn't have that one in my list. They have quite the collection available.

Ken at Performance is great to work with.