LOC Warlock kit

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

amiliv

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2018
Messages
124
Reaction score
49
Mostly just curious... Just got the LOC Warlock today, and have two questions...

The kit came with 1515 rail buttons. If I'm only going to fly it on up to I or maybe J (if/when I get L2), are these overkill for the Warlock? 1010 rail buttons would be more practical, unless this rocket is too big for those. My largest builds in the past were 3" and 4" rockets, and not longer than the Warlock is; so this is step up in the size for me.

The instructions for kit mention LOC-N-FIN and go into details how to set them up. But the fins that came in the box are just standard TTW fins. I'd assume LOC changed the design at some point and this is how the kit now ships? I.e. just ignore instructions and assemble like any other classic TTW design?

OK, maybe three questions. Was bit surprised it utilizes just two centering rings, where other LOC kits I built in the past generally used three. I guess me adding the third one wouldn't hurt. But am I overbuilding it already even before I started building it? ;-)
 
Mostly just curious... Just got the LOC Warlock today, and have two questions...

The kit came with 1515 rail buttons. If I'm only going to fly it on up to I or maybe J (if/when I get L2), are these overkill for the Warlock? 1010 rail buttons would be more practical, unless this rocket is too big for those. My largest builds in the past were 3" and 4" rockets, and not longer than the Warlock is; so this is step up in the size for me.

The instructions for kit mention LOC-N-FIN and go into details how to set them up. But the fins that came in the box are just standard TTW fins. I'd assume LOC changed the design at some point and this is how the kit now ships? I.e. just ignore instructions and assemble like any other classic TTW design?

OK, maybe three questions. Was bit surprised it utilizes just two centering rings, where other LOC kits I built in the past generally used three. I guess me adding the third one wouldn't hurt. But am I overbuilding it already even before I started building it? ;-)
I have 1010 buttons on mine and it flies great.

As for the fins, contact LOC, they'll answer your questions real quick .

Depending on how your fins attach, I would suggest putting the forward centering ring high up on the motor tube to reduce the volume you need to account for with your ejection charge. I get away with much less than most people it seems because I only have 9" of open space.
 
Also have 1010 buttons on mine. Mine also has the fin lock tabs & only 2 centering rings. I know they changed back to TTW fin tabs a while ago but don’t remember reasons. I did just the opposite and put my forward CR just above fin but I also use altimeter and can get away with 1.5 grams of BP. Good luck.
 
10 series buttons are great for 85% of applications. We put 1500 just to be safe. And yes, went back to the "to the tube" fin tab as the older "loc-n" design without full tab was resulting in fins breaking right above the slit in the fin. especially on mini maggs so we went back to full tabs. I'll dig into why you got an older set of instructions. Any questions just call the shop!!!
 
And I wouldn’t add a third ring. That is an overbuild that results in a marginally stable rocket to become tail heavy and even more unstable. The required nose weight would only compromise its performance and be less fun to fly on smaller motors.
 
10 series buttons are great for 85% of applications. We put 1500 just to be safe. And yes, went back to the "to the tube" fin tab as the older "loc-n" design without full tab was resulting in fins breaking right above the slit in the fin. especially on mini maggs so we went back to full tabs. I'll dig into why you got an older set of instructions. Any questions just call the shop!!!
Thanks. I think I'll go with 10 series buttons then (I've a box of 'em anyhow). And while at it, replace plain 1/4" eye bolt with M6 lifting bolt. If there was one thing to suggest to kit manufacturers in general, it would be to ship kits with either lifting bolts or U-bolts.

For some reason, there were no printed instructions in the box. No biggie, you have PDF of all of them online. I'd guess the PDF file on the website is the old version.

The https://locprecision.com/downloads-and-instructions/ page links to https://locprecision.com/iq-content/uploads/PK-80-Warlock-Instruction-Sheet.pdf.
 
Oh. And I really like the beefy look of the shock cord mount on the 7.675" nose cone. Pretty please backport that to all of the nose cones you make :)
 
And while at it, replace plain 1/4" eye bolt with M6 lifting bolt. If there was one thing to suggest to kit manufacturers in general, it would be to ship kits with either lifting bolts or U-bolts.

In the fiberglass world maybe. But in the cardboard world they are just fine.

The 1/4" eyebolts are absolutely fine in 95% of applications. Over building, extreme extra weight, construction error, or flight errors are the reasons they won't hold up. We do use U-bolts when necessary on heavier kits.
 
Back
Top