LAUNCH FLEET

LOC Caliber -ISP

Photograph by Pete Davy
Fuju MX-2700 Digital Camera

LOC Caliber -ISP

The LOC Caliber -ISP rocket, is a rocket kit not surprisingly, manufactured by LOC Precision, and is a 4 finned, 3 inch (75mm) diameter, 4 1/2 feet long rocket, with a motor adaptor fitted to enable motors from 29mm up to 54mm diameter to be used for launches.

Propulsion
The LOC Caliber -ISP rocket is fitted with a 54mm motor section, with adaptors anabling it to accomodate smaller 38mm diameter and 29mm diameter rocket motors. The LOC Caliber -ISP can launch on solid rocket motors ranging from F-class to J-class (40 Newton seconds to 1280 Newton seconds Total Impulse).

With the largest J-class solid rocket motors, altitudes of approximately 8000 feet (2424 metres) are achievable. At the lower end of the motor scale (F-class and G-class), motors with ejection charge delays of 6-7 seconds seem to be appropriate.

Photograph by Pete Davy
Fuju MX-2700 Digital Camera

Payload Bay
The LOC Caliber -ISP rocket is fitted with a payload bay, enabling avionics such as altimeters, timers and flight computers to be carried. At 3 inches (75mm) diameter, the LOC Caliber -ISP payload bay is large enough to accomodate all commercially available High Power Rocketry avionics, with sufficient room for several altimeters and additional payload modules.

Recovery
The LOC Caliber -ISP rocket, is equipped with a single LOC Precision parachute (i.e. single stage recovery) and a Nomex flame shield to protect the parachute and the recovery harness / shock cord from the hot ejection charge gases.

As with a number of other of my rockets obtained as kits rather than scratch builds, rather than tying the parachute to the attachment point on the LOC Caliber -ISP rocket, I have added a Quick-link to the attachment point, which can be unscrewed to allow the parachute shroud lines to be attached to it.

Photograph by Richard Osborne Fuji MX-2700 Digital Camera

This has the advantage of allowing a parachute to be packed before launch, and with the shroud lines placed neatly within the parachute itself - this way, the chance of the parachute deploying successfully is improved. As the photo shows, with a nice long recovery harness, the LOC Caliber -ISP is well laid out during descent under parachute, minimising the chance of the motor section and payload section colliding. Potential Modifications The LOC Caliber -ISP rocket is capable of being modified into a 2-stage recovery rocket, by the additional of a 3" diameter coupler bulkhead assembly. The payload bay would need to be modified by being cut into 2 sections, with a small section for the payload bay with a coupler bulkhead assembly at each end, and a longer section for the main parachute bay. This modification would enable the LOC Caliber -ISP to be recovered closer to a launch pad.

Rocket Comments
The LOC Caliber -ISP rocket kit is ideal for a general purpose rocket all the way from mid power rocketry up to high power rocketry Level-1 and Level-2 class launches. The large payload bay is sufficiently large to accomodate a Compact R-DAS Flight Computer and an R-DAS GPS module, and an R-DAS On screen display module, and an onboard video camera and transmitter. Clearly, this enables some quite sophisticated payloads to be carried. The single stage recovery of the LOC Caliber probably renders it more suitable to launches to altitude under 5000 feet, purely to reduce drift under parachute, however, it is a well recommended rocket.

Where can I buy in the UK?
In order to ensure it is easy for people to know how to easily locate the best High Power Rocketry Suppliers in the UK (and nearby), the individual rocketry pages on this site all detail this information:

Probably the best (and friendliest) High Power Rocketry suppliers in the UK for LOC Precision kits (including the LOC Caliber -ISP), are Rocketstore.co.uk and Rockets and Things (details on the UK Vendors web page on this website). The staff at both Rocketstore.co.uk and at Rockets and Things are experienced rocketeers themselves, and can always draw on their practical rocket launching experience to answer any questions. I say this as a satisfied customer of their kits and components.

For avionics, I can again recommend Rocketstore.co.uk and Rockets and Things, and also Random Solutions - the UK dealer of the G-Wiz range of peak altitude and recording altimeters, and Rebel Rocketry in the Netherlands, all of whom are also exceptionally good (and again very friendly and helpful). Also, for the AED R-DAS flight computer and its modules, it can be ordered direct from the manufacturers (AED) website aswell.

For rocketry tracking with an RF tracking beacon, the favourite, and the unit that recovers rockets time and time again, is the UK manufactured, Traxa RF Tracker, sold via Rocketstore.co.uk, Rockets and Things and online through UK based, Eclipse Engineering. All these suppliers and vendors are detailed on the UK Vendors web page on this website.

See Also

PML AMRAAM 3, PML Patriot, LOC Caliber, LOC IV, PML Phobos, Blitzspear, Hytest, Get Real