Can we talk LaserLOCs?

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LOC seems to really be on the go nowadays with lots of new and revived products.

Maybe they'll do a run of LaserLocs someday. I'd buy one, or maybe all three.
 
Most of the laser locs that were custom made such as the 1.5, 2.1, 2.1EA(extreme altitude), and 3.1 boatail utilized our stock tubing. There was no 2.6 laser loc....reason being the BT2.56 was too thin. Don't forget that the laser loc airframe tubes had partially machined slots into them so that the fin was actually setting into the airframe tube. This could not be done using tubing like the BT-2.56. All bass wood nose cones for these series were specially machined. How I loved working with wood. aeg.

Thinking we had a 1.5 (lost it) and a 3.1 boatail. Todd sold the 3.1 (unbuilt) to Francis Graham with a K2000 he brought home from a BALLS launch when he was getting out of the hobby.
 
The current 75mm HD MMT is indeed 0.095. You can see our stock cone is a bit "skinny". We have a couple of ideas on how to overcome that. We're certainly not going to pretend we can do as good a job as Ron did on the lathe, BUT!!!... Ya'll got the gears turning a bit!!!75mm.jpg75mmcone.jpg
 
The current 75mm HD MMT is indeed 0.095. You can see our stock cone is a bit "skinny". We have a couple of ideas on how to overcome that. We're certainly not going to pretend we can do as good a job as Ron did on the lathe, BUT!!!... Ya'll got the gears turning a bit!!!View attachment 319892View attachment 319893

Watching with interest! :wink: This is going to be fun!
 
Personally I'd pay extra for a hardwood nosecone. I love the feel. I reckon others would too and do not see price as being a big deal...no need to compete against the new style Wildman or MadCow fiberglass high performance stuff, as they are different animals.
 
Personally I'd pay extra for a hardwood nosecone. I love the feel. I reckon others would too and do not see price as being a big deal...no need to compete against the new style Wildman or MadCow fiberglass high performance stuff, as they are different animals.

Should have come to BALLS. I picked up a 3.1 and 1.5 Laser. Wooden nosecones old ones with line drawing and not photo on packaging. They came from Bruce Kelly, likely very early, box was addressed to Steve Buck.
 
Should have come to BALLS. I picked up a 3.1 and 1.5 Laser. Wooden nosecones old ones with line drawing and not photo on packaging. They came from Bruce Kelly, likely very early, box was addressed to Steve Buck.

Sweet find!
 
Good for you Mark. I will admit I'm jealous...

I bought a couple motors from Steve Buck at LDRS X. That was before Gary and Sidney Price took it over. Long time ago.
 
laserloc.jpg Ok gang. Reviving the conversation. We've got some new old prototypes going. We can't pretend to be what Ron was with wood. However, we do have some modernized equipment to help out where his skills excelled. So I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask and gauge responses.
1. Include E-bay and dual deploy gear? They're high flyers... I'm leaning on yes for all sizes.
2. Stability. 4 fins on the 2.1 EA makes it virtually impossible to create an unstable kit. No matter the motor size. I'd like to go with the 4 fin design vs. 3 fin.
3. Plastic cones. Our 1.5/2.1/and 3" cones are a thicker walled vs. the 2.56" as Ron mentioned earlier in the thread. We have full confidence these can handle any motor thrown at them. Not the basswood that Ron did. (although we have some stock and Ron's lathe. His quality is intimidating)
4. Variables. Any and all! Toss your suggestions and ideas in please!
5. Beveled Fins. We'd like to try to incorporate this feature. A big deal? Yes or no...
 
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I love all of this, especially the pre-beveled fins. A humble suggestion, since laser cutters are a thing now: instead of routing through half the tube wall thickness, could you maybe just crenellate the fin root an appropriate number of times with matching through-holes in the BT on the MD birds? Should help with all the things we care about.
 
I love all of this, especially the pre-beveled fins. A humble suggestion, since laser cutters are a thing now: instead of routing through half the tube wall thickness, could you maybe just crenellate the fin root an appropriate number of times? Should help with all the things we care about.
Already done! =)
 
The 3.1 used the heavy wall 3" tube, you would need a special nose cone to fit it. It also had a boattail to the 54mm mount. The last flight of mine was at BALLS 1 in 1991 on a Vulcan K420.
 
Already done! =)
THANK you! I think once a few builds demonstrate this technique you'll see some of the MD FG / CF kits cut over as well.

I strongly believe it will have a very positive effect vs. fin flutter, as well as making both the tube and the fins more rigid.
 
The 3.1 used the heavy wall 3" tube, you would need a special nose cone to fit it. It also had a boattail to the 54mm mount. The last flight of mine was at BALLS 1 in 1991 on a Vulcan K420.
The 3.1 does present this challenge with the cone difference. We have 2 theories on how to correct this. The boat tail will simply be molded plastic. This size will most likely be the last one release due to those issues.
 
View attachment 364876 Ok gang. Reviving the conversation. We've got some new old prototypes going. We can't pretend to be what Ron was with wood. However, we do have some modernized equipment to help out where his skills excelled. So I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask and gauge responses.
1. Include E-bay and dual deploy gear? They're high flyers... I'm leaning on yes for all sizes. YES, no doubt. If it'll go high, it's probably going to be built DD anyway. Why make the builder have to search for other parts?
2. Stability. 4 fins on the 2.1 EA makes it virtually impossible to create an unstable kit. No matter the motor size. I'd like to go with the 4 fin design vs. 3 fin. Fool proofing a design is always a good thing!
3. Plastic cones. Our 1.5/2.1/and 3" cones are a thicker walled vs. the 2.56" as Ron mentioned earlier in the thread. We have full confidence these can handle any motor thrown at them. Not the basswood that Ron did. (although we have some stock and Ron's lathe. His quality is intimidating) Plastic is good, easy to work with, and well known. LOTS of options for building a tracker bay in the nose, especially with cheaper and more effective GPS offerings on the market. (In fact, I'm leaning more and more to kits that have GPS bay options in the nose vice those that would be harder to incorporate).
4. Variables. Any and all! Toss your suggestions and ideas in please! Likely folks building kits to go really high are already going to have most of what they want on hand for attachments, recovery, etc. The fewer parts of a "hardware package" that I have to throw out because I don't like what's included, the happier I am.
5. Beveled Fins. We'd like to try to incorporate this feature. A big deal? Yes or no...Pre beveled fins are a nice touch. Lots of quality fiberglass kits come with beveled fins, and I would pay a few more $$ for properly done bevels that I didn't have to fool with.

Answers added above in PINK
 
My 2.1 (original, from Ron, I think I still have the handwritten note from him somewhere at my parents' house) wouldn't be stable if the basswood cone was any lighter, so adding a fourth fin makes sense if y'all must stick with the plastic up top.

I wrote my college application essay about that rocket. For some reason, they let me in. It's a good luck charm!

yrqzJXC.jpg
 
Ladies and germs, a retro Laser Loc 3.1 boat tail.

I got the kit for Christmas in Dec. 1996. It flew great on K's, but it's last flight in 2006 at Lucerne on an Ellis L330 SU resulted in the loss of the upper section, including that beautiful hardwood nose cone. I remember almost trashing the booster but decided to keep it. It sat in my parents' garage collecting dust until a few months ago when JBlatz offered me a replacement original hardwood cone. A bit of the thick-walled LOC 75mm tubing , shoulder, some Bondo, and we're back in business!

Paint scheme is Duplicolor Hampstead green, ultra silver metallic, Wimbledon white, and two coats of clear. Checker decals were done with Monokote trim and a Fiskars paper trimmer, and some patience. The problem is that it looks too nice to fly. If I leave it sitting in the kitchen, one of the kids will ding it and then I'll feel better about it. Then I think it will need a K250W.

Cheers.

20190216_055655_zps81uieeh3.jpg


20190216_055929_zpsbbo6rlpf.jpg


20190216_060102_zpsv010j18v.jpg
 
Ladies and germs, a retro Laser Loc 3.1 boat tail.

I got the kit for Christmas in Dec. 1996. It flew great on K's, but it's last flight in 2006 at Lucerne on an Ellis L330 SU resulted in the loss of the upper section, including that beautiful hardwood nose cone. I remember almost trashing the booster but decided to keep it. It sat in my parents' garage collecting dust until a few months ago when JBlatz offered me a replacement original hardwood cone. A bit of the thick-walled LOC 75mm tubing , shoulder, some Bondo, and we're back in business!

Paint scheme is Duplicolor Hampstead green, ultra silver metallic, Wimbledon white, and two coats of clear. Checker decals were done with Monokote trim and a Fiskars paper trimmer, and some patience. The problem is that it looks too nice to fly. If I leave it sitting in the kitchen, one of the kids will ding it and then I'll feel better about it. Then I think it will need a K250W.

Cheers.

20190216_055655_zps81uieeh3.jpg


20190216_055929_zpsbbo6rlpf.jpg


20190216_060102_zpsv010j18v.jpg
Friction fit the motor ?
 
Here is my 3.1 at Black Rock, LDRS 10. went to 12,700 ft on a Scott Dixon Vulcan Hellfire L750.

The 3rd photo is Danville, IL, can't remember the date or motor used.

The last photo, can't remember where, just another launch.

Roy
 

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Here is my LasserLoc 223 on an H250R from MDRA in January. 2800 feet and out of sight.
Eggfind GPS mini on board so walked right to it.

This one would be 54mm min dia but I didn't want to deal with md retention and 54mm motor will go too high for
East coast flieds. So build it with a 38mm MMT. Still goes pretty high on an H........
 

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Still have the original nose cone (that last flew at BALLS 1 in 1991).LaserLoc 3 nose cone.jpg
Just took the picture today.
 
Here is my LasserLoc 223 on an H250R from MDRA in January. 2800 feet and out of sight.
Eggfind GPS mini on board so walked right to it.

This one would be 54mm min dia but I didn't want to deal with md retention and 54mm motor will go too high for
East coast flieds. So build it with a 38mm MMT. Still goes pretty high on an H........
Build it for 54mm, and fly it [out East] with a 38mm adapter - you know you'll want to stuff a 54 in it some day further West!
Glad to hear your Eggfinder GPS Mini is so reliable, too.

BTW, waltr, is that really an H250R? Looks to my eye to be a Mojave Green flame (is this what is meant by 'red shift'? 🤣 ).
 
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