Loc Mini and 1 series

[Cody Webster]

I just got my first purchase from Loc, some minis, series 1, and a Loc IV I plan on using for level 1 cert. I have to say, Im am highly impressed with the quality of these kits. The Loc series 1 kits are the most durable, high quality kits I have seen. They have thick wall air frames, pre slotted body tubes for ttwf, estes style motor hooks. The series 1 have precut PLYWOOD fins that are probably 1/16 inch thick. The minis have balsa fins along the lines of estes etc... The series 1 have streamer recovery, Im assuming because the ttwf look tough as heck and can probably be flown in a small space. The minis have parachute recovery.

I was so impressed with the quality and price I paid for these I got online and got some more ordered asap. I love my estes, fliskits, and other lpr brands, but I can already tell these Loc kits are going to be some real workhorses I can launch over and over without having to worry about anything breaking.

I am just blown away by the quality, and price of these little lpr rocket kits. I must say I am a Loc fan now, Bigtime!
Above are some of the mini series, featuring thick airframes and balsa fins.

Loc Series 1 with thick wall pre slotted airframes, and Plywood fins.

 

[Cody Webster]

If you own one of these series 1 kits, do you know what kind or where to find this thin plywood?

 

[kuririn]

https://www.hobbylinc.com/hobby-and-craft-plywood

I measured, it's 1/16" plywood, don't know what type (maybe birch?).

BTW these are improved versions of the Loc Mini Missiles that they used to sell a few years ago.

 

[Cody Webster]

I do have a question about these kits, the instructions show the use of a bulkhead. I dont see why the kits would need this bulkhead installed, the airframes are small enough that ejection should be no problem and not using the bulkhead would leave more room for laundry?

 

[kuririn]

I do have a question about these kits, the instructions show the use of a bulkhead. I dont see why the kits would need this bulkhead installed, the airframes are small enough that ejection should be no problem and not using the bulkhead would leave more room for laundry?

My Big Nuke doesn't have a bulkhead. I'm guessing it's for a payload section on your model. You can eliminate the bulkhead and make more room for laundry, but you forego a payload section. Also you will still need a coupler to join the two main body tubes.

 

[Cody Webster]

BTW these are improved versions of the Loc Mini Missiles that they used to sell a few years ago.

I just bought 6 minis from Loc this week. And have some more on the way.

Bought these 6 Monday from Loc and they arrived today!

 

[Cody Webster]

My Big Nuke doesn't have a bulkhead. I'm guessing it's for a payload section on your model. You can eliminate the bulkhead and make more room for laundry, but you forego a payload section. Also you will still need a coupler to join the two main body tubes.

All the minis I recieved have bulkheads and couplers, except for the Fantom mini that consists of the single body tube. My big nuke came with a bulkhead.

 

[kuririn]

All the minis I recieved have bulkheads and couplers, except for the Fantom mini that consists of the single body tube. My big nuke came with a bulkhead.

Okay, so I assume that the bulkhead glues inside the end of the coupler and the screw eye attaches to it right? Sure, just leave off the bulkhead for more room. Like I said you forego a payload section, but that is there more for show than utility. And my Big Nuke still doesn't have a bulkhead: Here's a pic.



Maybe you have a later version?

 

[Cody Webster]

Maybe you have a later version?

This must be the case, the Big nuke I just recieved from Loc looks like this
You can see the small bulkhead in the upper right hand corner of the pic in the bag with the cr's, motor tube, and coupler.

 

[kuririn]

This must be the case, the Big nuke I just recieved from Loc looks like this
View attachment 362519 View attachment 362520 You can see the small bulkhead in the upper right hand corner of the pic in the bag with the cr's, motor tube, and coupler.

Ah, your Big Nuke is from the Mini Missile series, mine is from the newer Loc-1 series. So go ahead and leave the bulkhead out if a payload section is not important to you. I have to go, have fun with the builds. Laters.

 

[Cody Webster]

Ah thats what it is, correct you are! The Loc1 and Xeno dont have bulkheads, but the Hi-Tech does have a bulkhead.

 

[Scott_650]

I have a couple of LOC Mini Missile kits - both came with parts for a payload section though one - I forget which - had an advisory notice on a slip of paper saying not to use the bulkhead and not to build it with a payload bay due to stability issues. I added a little nose weight and built the payload section anyway. It flies fine with an altimeter in the bay. Both my kits were from before the move away from Ohio and the name change to LOC 1 Series.

They are solid, great flying LPR kits.

 

[kuririn]

I'm back. I think the reason for the bulkheads is that these were originally intended as mini reproductions of the full size Loc kits, which had working payload sections that could be used for electronics or dual deployment. Note that the Iris can be finished either as the Iris sounding rocket or the Isis fictional rocket (Egyptian goddess). I bought 2 kits (actually, bought one and got another free later on from Loc) and did both! I'm wondering if the Ultimate can take a 7 engine Micro Maxx cluster, to emulate the 7 engine 29mm cluster of the full size Ultimate. Anyway, here's what I have:



The Big Nuke in the picture is from the Mini Missiles series, and the unbuilt one in the earlier picture was a free kit from Loc. There was a thread here a year or two ago where one of the new owners was asking for input on the relaunch of the Mini Missile rockets. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: I amended the text, the free kits were from Loc, not Sirius when I placed a big order with them a while back. They also threw in a few of these:



Great customer service.

 

[kuririn]

Found it! The thread was actually back in Dec. Discussion of the re-release starts at post #7.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/mini-ezi-65-fins.143742/

 

[Bruiser]

I just went to the LOC site and I did not see any mini's. Was that maybe a special run that they are out of now? I wanted to check out the mini Iris.

-Bob

 

[kuririn]

I just went to the LOC site and I did not see any mini's. Was that maybe a special run that they are out of now? I wanted to check out the mini Iris.

-Bob

Bob, the updated minis are now called the Loc-1 series. Find them here:

https://locprecision.com/product-category/rockets/loc-i/

Rocket Garden is still carrying a few of the older Mini Missile series here:

https://therocketgarden.com/LOC_Rockets/loc_index.htm

Great small field flyers.

 

[kuririn]

Bob, I was able to find this page via a search engine. It's not on the current website, so they may be out of stock on these, but I was able to add a Mini Iris to the cart before removing it without it showing out of stock:

https://locprecision.com/product/mini-missiles/

You could try it, what's to lose? Cheers.

 

[Bruiser]

IT does seem to work and is very tempting but I also saw the 1.63 rockets and am considering the Iris or Tomahawk. I'm building a smaller rocket now and I'm just not really digging it. I am thinking I may be going back to the 1.63 sized rockets...

Thanks for finding that link. You're quite the searcher. Maybe you could find paint scheme info for the NASA Nike-Hawk or just the NASA Hawk sounding rocket. It was flown as both a single stage and two stage sounding rocket. I've spent hours looking to no avail

Thanks again,
-Bob

 

[kuririn]

Yeah, I have a few of the park flyers myself. Gives you a taste of mid power from relatively smaller fields.

No luck on the NASA/Nike-Hawk. Only found one B/W picture. It's not even in ROTW. The Nike boosters were from surplus Nike Ajaxes, if that helps. Fins and tail can for the Hawk were developed in house at NASA, looks like they were heavily modified from the original Army fins.



If they didn't repaint the boosters, then it would be 3 fluorescent red-orange fins and one fluorescent yellow. Could be the Hawk fins match the booster. But that is pure speculation.
EDIT: Changed Nike-Tomahawk to Nike-Ajax.

 

[Quixote]

Okay, so I assume that the bulkhead glues inside the end of the coupler and the screw eye attaches to it right? Sure, just leave off the bulkhead for more room. Like I said you forego a payload section, but that is there more for show than utility. And my Big Nuke still doesn't have a bulkhead: Here's a pic.

View attachment 362518

Maybe you have a later version?

Just a quick note, if you compare the original Mini Missile Big Nuke to the new LOC1 version, the original version is 13.75 inch long, while the new version is true to scale at 13 inches, however that small change may be why my LOC1 Mini Nuke was unstable on a B6-4 motor. You might want to do the old swing test on the newer version, or just add a little nose weight. My flight was a hoot, it tumbled wildly in front of a bunch of cheering kids. No damage, those little kits are tough.

 

[kuririn]

Just a quick note, if you compare the original Mini Missile Big Nuke to the new LOC1 version, the original version is 13.75 inch long, while the new version is true to scale at 13 inches, however that small change may be why my LOC1 Mini Nuke was unstable on a B6-4 motor. You might want to do the old swing test on the newer version, or just add a little nose weight. My flight was a hoot, it tumbled wildly in front of a bunch of cheering kids. No damage, those little kits are tough.

Thanks!
Packing in the clay right now. And ordered some mini missiles yesterday that were unavailable the last time. Gotta use the link above though, not listed on the website. Got my shipping confirmation and tracking # last night.

 

[YodaMcFly]

Yeah, I have a few of the park flyers myself. Gives you a taste of mid power from relatively smaller fields.

No luck on the NASA/Nike-Hawk. Only found one B/W picture. It's not even in ROTW. The Nike boosters were from surplus Nike Tomahawks, if that helps. Fins and tail can for the Hawk were developed in house at NASA, looks like they were heavily modified from the original Army fins.

View attachment 362569


If they didn't repaint the boosters, then it would be 3 fluorescent red-orange fins and one fluorescent yellow. Could be the Hawk fins match the booster. But that is pure speculation.

Hopefully not thread-jacking ...

FWIW, one of the ROTW supplements details the Hawk test vehicle and the Orion. I don't recall exactly which one, but I have it at home (posting from work). As a matter of fact, somewhere here on TRF is an OpenRocket ORK of the pre-Orion Hawk that I did based on that ROTW supplement. (I should build that someday).

I'll check and update the thread when I get home.

Edit, 5 minutes later: Actually, as I think about it, I'm 99% certain that the HAWK test vehicle is also listed in Alway's Kit Bash booklet.

 

[Cody Webster]

Bob, I was able to find this page via a search engine. It's not on the current website, so they may be out of stock on these, but I was able to add a Mini Iris to the cart before removing it without it showing out of stock:

https://locprecision.com/product/mini-missiles/

You could try it, what's to lose? Cheers.

Thats how I found them. I had seen them mentioned in another post so I checked the site to no avail. After a quick google search I found the link and clicked it, sure enough there they were. It didnt say they were out of stock or anything so I added some to basket and ordered. 3 days later they were here. Not sure if they can even be found through the website, but for the time being the link works

 

[kuririn]

Cody,

Here's some things to look out for in these builds:

1. The instructions are generic, that is they're the same for each kit. No specific measurements are given except the 1/4" measurement from the motor tube end for the engine hook slot. No measurement for the launch lug location, just a picture.
2. The centering rings may be tight, don't force them on, it may compress the motor tube and make it hard to install an engine. You can peel a THIN layer from the inside of the centering rings. Don't peel off too much. Alternatively, here's a tip I learned from the instructions from a Quest kit. Put a centering ring on a plastic nose cone and push down while twisting. It will expand the ring slightly and burnish the inside edges. Do both sides, it should slip on easier. Do NOT do this with a balsa nose cone.
3. The centering ring locations on the motor tube are not specified, but you should have them spaced apart at least enough to clear the fin slots in the tube. The rear centering ring should not be too close to the end of the motor tube, as it will prevent the hook from flexing and you may permanently bend it. I like to cut a square notch on the inside of the aft centering ring to aid flexion.

These kits give you a taste of working with mid power construction techniques, except for use of epoxy glue. Valuable skills going forward. Cheers.

 

[Cody Webster]

I appreciate the tips, I have built several mid power rockets and a lot of lpr so I wont have any issues that I wont be able to handle (been into rocketry for many years and about to move into hpr). Pretty used to ttw and fitment issues. I am sure those tips may benefit some readers with less experience tho, always appreciated!

 

[kuririn]

Ah, sorry I was reading too much into your posts. I hate it when people do that, and I wind up doing it myself! BTW if you're still interested in an AT 24/40-120 case, I know a small vendor who has some in stock, last time I checked. PM me if still interested. Meanwhile the 24/40 cases are appearing at vendors websites again.