I assembled this rocket according to the instructions except for a few items. I drilled two 1/4" holes in the bottom of the nosecone and ran a loop of 1/8" nylon cord through the holes. This is much sturdier than using the shock cord attachment that is molded into the nosecone.
I also used rail buttons instead of the 1/4" or 1/2" rod guides that came with the kit. The rail buttons are attached to the upper and lower centering rings by 3/4" long #8 machine screws and epoxy.
I didn't install the thrust ring or the motor retention clip so that I can use a variety of motors. I added two #6 blind nuts to the bottom centering ring for motor retention. I use wire to hold the motors in place.
2/3/07 AARG Launch, Hutto Hippodrome Field pictures
1. Maiden launch of the LOC-IV. Total mass was 1,030 grams. Motor was an Aerotech G80-4. The launch was good except for some weather cocking. Landed about 200 yards away. The flight was simulated to 816 feet.
2. Level 1 certification flight. Total mass was 1,205 grams. Motor was an Cesaroni H153 with a 6 second delay. The launch was straight up. However, the rocket landed about 1/2 mile away in a tree. I was able to easily pull it down from the tree. The flight was simulated to 1,525 feet. Note, I have revised my altitude estimate to around 2,000 feet based on the results from flight #6.
4/1/07 Amateur Rocketeers of Texas Launch, Meek Ranch pictures
3. Total mass was 1,030 grams. Motor was a RoadRunner G80-4. The launch and recovery were good. The rocket landed about 1000 feet away.
5/19/07 Amateur Rocketeers of Texas Launch, Meek Ranch pictures
4. This is the first launch after I reinforced the body tube. There was a small crease in the body tube after the last launch. The rocket was launched on a RoadRunner G80-4. The launch was straight up in light winds. The recovery was good. The rocket landed about 300 feet away.
6/2/07 AARG Launch, Granger Lake pictures
5. This is the first launch with the payload section. The total mass was 1275 grams without the motor, and 1410 grams with a Road Runner G80-4. This is my heaviest launch to date. The rocket also carried a PerfectFlite altimeter in the payload section. The launch was straight up in light winds. The parachute ejected at apogee and the recovery was good -- about 400 feet away. The altimeter recorded an altitude of 608 feet.
8/11/2007, Tripoli Houston Launch, Hearne, Texas pictures
6. This launch used a Cesaroni I205, which was my first launch on an I motor. The total mass was 1,645 grams, which is my heaviest launch to date. The launch was good except for a little arching and a slight wiggle as it went up. It reached an altitude of 2,730 feet, which is the my highest flight to date. Over a half mile! The rocket drifted under chute for over two and a half minutes. The wind speed was around five mph, so the rocket landed about a quarter of a mile away. I had a good line on the landing spot, but the grass was waist high, and I did not locate it immediately. The temperature was around 100 degrees, so I gave up looking for it after a half hour. I intended to come back the next morning to recover it, but somebody else found it for me.
My Excel simulation gave an altitude of 1,940 feet. I have since reduced the drag coefficient from 0.75 to 0.44 to more closely match the altimeter data. Rocksim had simulated this flight to 3,300 feet. I had adjusted the delay to 8 seconds to match my original altitude of 1,940 feet. Fortunately, the delay ended up being about 9.5 seconds, which was very close to apogee.
8/30/2008 and 8/31/2008, LDRS Launch, Argonia, Kansas pictures
7. Aerotech G77-4. This is the first LMS motor that I've used. It requires assembly of the delay element like an RMS motor. The forward closure must then be screwed onto the motor with epoxy to keep it from unscrewing. I did this in the field at LDRS, and then found the insulator disk laying on the ground where the wind had blown it. Fortunately, the 5-minute epoxy hadn't fully set, and I was able to unscrew the forward closure and put the insulator disk in the motor. I then had to glue a thrust ring onto the end of the motor using CA. The LOC-IV flew great with ejection at apogee. One of the participants at LDRS, Darwin May, got a nice picture of the launch. This motor uses the Redline propellant, and it produces a nice red flame.
8. Aerotech G77-4. For this flight I assembled the motor in my motel room. This was much easier to do without the wind blowing parts around. I strapped a FlyCamOne2 camera onto the LOC-IV using electrical tape. This was the first flight using this camera, so I was hoping it would stay on OK. The owner of LOC Precision came by while I was prepping the LOC-IV. It was cool meeting him. This flight went as well as the first one. I captured a nice video clip from the flight. I was able to stitch together several frames from the video to make a composite image of the LDRS launch site.
9/20/2008, Amateur Rocketeers of Texas Launch, Meek Ranch, Fredericksburg, Texas pictures
9. Aerotech G77-4. I pre-assembled the motor at home the night before the launch. I strapped a FlyCamOne2 camera onto the LOC-IV using electrical tape like I did at LDRS. This flight went well with a nice bright red flame. The video from this flight turned out well.
