lstmysock11
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- Joined
- Nov 24, 2021
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Finding a club and mentor's is going to help you a lot. I built a LOC Graduator first, then the LOC IV. The goal was always to get an L1 cert. I didn't rush that. I watched John Coker's videos quite a few times before I even bought the kit. I watched my first launch 10.3.20. I spent the winter building the Graduator and LOC IV. I was going to try to cert on 4.3.21 but something wasn't right with the tracking / flight computers. I don't recall what it was but it caused me to abort. Cert flight was 5.1.21. I chose to build the two rockets for high power. I followed John Coker's methods very closely. As closely as inexperience would let me. The LOC IV was always intended to be for Cert Level 1 and my testing base for as long as it survived. The Graduator always gets a mod first. Both now have redundant dual deploy with a tracker in the nose. One of these days I should launch the Graduator
Here's one of the few build photos that I have. Don't be me and not photograph the build process. I chose this one for a reason. The first fin isn't epoxied yet (I used Bob Smith 30m epoxy on this build) but eventually all three fins were epoxied in. Sharp eyed builders will see the mistake right away. The forward motor tube centering ring wasn't epoxied in this photo but eventually the forward and middle centering ring and fins were epoxied in just like you see here. See that little hole, 1/4" to be exact? The hole is for the eyebolt that the shock cord attaches to. It was easy enough to reach in from the top to install it but attaching the washer and nut was a pita. To add insult to injury, I did the same thing with the Graduator but I didn't catch it until after I built the LOC IV. That took some creative thinking to fix. Thankfully I caught it before epoxied the aft centering ring in, Obviously I caught it in the LOC IV before the middle centering ring was epoxied in. I've since switched to a zipperless coupling arrangement in the sustainer on the LOC IV. The Graduator won't get anymore mods. I think that's an Aeropak retainer on the end.
I launchd a lot of Estes rockets on C and D motors prior to launching high power. I lost a few when I max'd out the motor, flew with too much wind, and made a few other mistakes. I'm fortunate to have a lot of room to "play". Technically I only lost two but I can still see one of them. Itives in the neighbor's tree about 1/2 mile from me. One taught me the valuable lesson of securing the shock cord for the nose cone extremely well. I never have gotten used to the Estes folded paper rubber band shock cord method and when you don't do it right the nose cone drifts gently on the breeze never to be seen again and the sustainer gracefully arcs away. Here's some of the victims The purple rocket on the left is 3D printed parts and a tube. Not a kit.
Here the Graduator and LOC IV are together
Here is the LOC before it's first launch. It has an AV bay and is therefore just a tad longer than the original.
Flight 3. The chute has been changed. The avionics are beefed up. Still sporting gray primer. It took forever to return to earth but it was about 300 feet away when it did
Current version of the avionics bay and tracking bay for the nose cone. I copied one of our L3 guys avionics installations. He's very meticulous and he never has a problem with recovery. Redundant dual deploy per club rules (and the BLM). It's flown twice with no problems. The purple and white circuit boards are some power distribution boards that I had made. On the back side there is a pair of LiPo batteries (redundant power), total of 4 batteries in the large bay. The boards let me plug my switch, batteries, and flight computers in with JST connectors rather than have a kludge of wire twisted together.
Everything about the builds and changes has had some form of mentorship associated with it. The biggest point that I want to make with all this is that you can build and launch or use it as a platform to learn about HP rocketry. Also - don't get in a hurry. Oh! One thing... I certified L1 with motor deploy. Somehow they missed that I didn't have redundant dual deploy, only a tracker. I much prefer dual deploy, To each their own.
Where did you get the Fin alignment jig? That seems like a good idea to help make sure everything is perfect. When in the low powered ones I found the Estes little plastic jig it made a world of difference.