LOC aura

[r1dermon]

i just recieved my LOC aura and was surprised to see that...with one hand i could not crush the body tube. this is HIGH quality. and for 22 dollars this is just insane. KUDOS to LOC. hopefully this bird will take me to a mile!
oh yeah, this is my first LOC kit, so i was extremely surprised(i am used to estes and quest and all that stuff) to see that the tube was like...4 times thicker than any estes. this is crazy. the noze cone too. man, this is a sweet kit if i've ever seen one.

 

[lalligood]

Build it light too. Scuff up the tubes with 220-250 grit sandpaper & use aliphatic resin (yellow wood glue) for the entire construction. Then put the biggest motor you can find in it

 

[r1dermon]

yeah, as the fins come peeling off under the power of an H. lol. i'll use epoxy to be on the safe side. maybe glass if i go with a G or use this for a lvl1 cert. imagine an 8oz(dry) rocket under the power of an H!!

 

[bachsta]

on an h45 i(i think thats the right motor) it goes almost 2 miles

 

[Rick James]

Originally posted by bachsta
on an h45 i(i think thats the right motor) it goes almost 2 miles

You've flown this on an H? Did you have to add nose weight?

The LOC Aura was my first MPR kit and I still love it. If you build it well, you won't need glass for a G. Can't say for an H.

 

[bachsta]

no i havent actually flown it on an h but according to rocksim it would go almost two miles and the aura is also my first mp.
i flew it for the first time at plaster blaster this year and one of the fins tore off. i was using f50-9t and i guess the epoxy wasnt strong enough. so i tore off all the fins and im gonna embed the fins into the body tube.

 

[Tallman]

We used 38mm tube, the Aura nosecone, three basswood fins surface mounted with epoxy for an "Aura-like" roc that weighed about 10oz (with altimeter) and went 9272 feet with an H45 two weeks ago (Plaster Blaster - sea level start). Delay was 14 seconds which was short - it could have gone even higher if chute hadn't opened early (and seriously bent the 175lb snap-swivel).

Basswood is plenty strong enough for short mach flights (a machbuster clone with 1/16" CA -soaked basswood fins did mach 1.6 on an F101). The H45 burn is low thrust and well below mach. You don't need to glass min diameter motor tube models up to 54mm - just use LOC carboard or PML phenolic. Fin shape seems to be the most important criterion in avoiding shredding.

 

[r1dermon]

ok, i just finished the rocket...and i must say, this baby is IMPRESSIVE(though not painted yet...ran out of embery cloth to wet sand) im going with a silver speckled base with gold flaked horizontal lines. its gonna be insane. personally, this rocket goes way too high already, so im throwing on at LEAST 3 clear coats. this puppy is gonna shine like a star. and should be very visible due to the flakes in the paint.
the only build problem i encountered was the shock cord mount...i decided to completely dismiss LOC's suggestion of placing it inside the tube so far, but i never accounted for the long nose cone. so my nose cone ended up being so tight that a decent ejection charge would've turned my aura into a bomb. but, i ripped it out with a hobby knife(carefully) and then placed it WELL back. man, this rocket seriously gets STUFFED with the shock cord and ribbon, there's almost no place to put the wadding! thats the price you pay for high performance i guess. when its through paint i'll post pics, and hopefully i can get ahold of an F20 or G40 for some insane vid action by the oct 23rd CMASS launch.