Loc/Precision Legacy

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The Legacy was my first rocket project since my teenage years.  I had been asked by my brother to purchase a "big" rocket for his son in late 1996.  I had seen ads for PML in magazines, and had been thinking about rockets again, so I enthusiastically agreed to pick one out.  I looked around D&J hobby in Campbell, CA, and liked the look of the Legacy....a classic three fin 20:1 that seemed easy to build.  I went back two weeks later and got one for myself so that I would be better positioned to give my nephew some building tips.

The Legacy is a typical cardboard and plywood kit.  I took great care in prepping and filling the fins, using hobby shop materials (house brand 15 minute epoxy, etc.)  I bought Tim Van Milligan's book and used several of his tips, such as perforating the root edge of the fin and body tube for better epoxy bonding.  I bought an aluminum angle for marking the the tube, but my eyeball method of fin attachment resulted in one fin about 5 degrees off.  I spent a lot of time with the finish; using hardware store Krylon paints and primer, and ended up with nice results.  I had seen a photo of Scott Bartell with an Optimal 100 in HPR magazine, and liked his industrial looking white, orange and black paint scheme, so I copied that.

I didn't want to use a standard launch rod, and I initially had thoughts of building a tower for the Legacy.  I ended up deciding to go with a Blacksky rail and rail buttons, so I didn't use the included rod lug.  In the meantime, I joined Tripoli in Feb. 1997 (#5245), then AERO-PAC, and started reading HPR magazine and studying what there was on the web.  I impulse bought the Laser Loc 1.5 as an intended follow-on to the Legacy.

The 5 degree error on one of the fins started to gnaw on my psyche after a while, and I believe that is the reason I never launched this one.  I have a perfectionist streak in me, so I ended up with a well constructed, nicely finished rocket that still sits in my garage.

I think my nephew never built his Legacy, although I did help him with several Estes models that we launched at the Trona Pinnacles, near my old home town and stomping grounds, Trona, CA during this period.

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