Mycroft's Flock o' Rockets
"Taz-Roc" - LOC I-Roc
 I
wanted a "big dumb rocket" for the express purpose of
eating J350's. At 5.5" diameter and 4' 7" tall, the
LOC I-Roc seemed to fit the bill.
Of course, I decided to make substantial
changes to the kit. The kit fins go through the body tube but
not all the way to the motor mount. I cut new fins out of
slightly thicker birch aircraft plywood with tabs that would extend
to the motor mount tube. I also enlarged the fins to provide
about 20% more area. A longer 38mm motor mount tube was used
along with a third centering ring. For extra stiffness, a
5.5" tube coupler was glued between the top two centering rings
and another coupler above the top centering ring. A single
layer of fiberglass was used to reinforce the fin fillets. Two
1/2" launch lugs were used instead of just one.
This rocket uses a 1" tubular nylon
recovery harness with a Nomex cord shield. This harness
attaches to a U-bolt in the upper centering ring. A Rocketman
heatshield and R7 parachute are used for recovery. Another
U-bolt was installed in the nosecone to replace the plastic
attachment loop. PML's PMR plate serves to retain the motor.
The rocket sports a "Taz" decal that
I found at a local gas station. It also has the NASA
"meatball" logo, a NASA NTR (Nuclear Thermal Rocket)
decal, a black checkerboard (Trim Monokote) and various bits of pin
striping. It was painted with Rustoleum spray paints
(metallic silver, gloss white, metallic black).
All flights of this rocket have been very
good. Its first flight was on an I357 in October 2000, and it
flew twice in 2001 on J350's. As I hoped, it flies perfectly
on a J350-M.
I357 flight (left) and a J350 flight (center).
Flight History
|
Date
|
Motor
|
| 10/14/2000 |
I357-S |
| 5/12/2001 |
J350-M |
| 7/14/2001 |
J350-M |
| 5/17/2003 |
J420-M |
Links
|
