Centuri LIA-77 Launch pad

[JohnNGA]

I came across an original Centuri igniter/deflector a while back and have been trying to replicate the tripod. I've built a couple by trying to scale from photos, just can't get the look right. Does anyone have one that could post tripod leg tracings or info?

Thanks John

[Carl@Semroc]

John,

Legs are cut from 1/2" x 3" pine and base is from 1/4" masonite. Photo is here (http://www.semroc.com/documents/scans/lia-77p.tif) and pattern is here (http://www.semroc.com/documents/scans/lia-77a.tif).

We were going to produce this last year, but the cost would have been in the $25 -$30 range. We felt that would be too high to continue the project. We have quotes on the blast deflector. I started to order a few just so I could produce a few pads for our use.

I saw an LIA-100 at TARC a few years ago. The student did not know what it was. He said he borrowed it from his Dad's old stuff. It had been well-used, but was still recognizable. I talked him into using the pad supplied by TARC and told him to go back and see if his Dad kept any of his other stuff from the 60's.

[ghrocketman]

Would like to see Carl produce the LIA-100.
Several would be sold surely.
I think the price for that LIA-77 sounded good.

[JohnNGA]

John,

Legs are cut from 1/2" x 3" pine and base is from 1/4" masonite. Photo is here (http://www.semroc.com/documents/scans/lia-77p.tif) and pattern is here (http://www.semroc.com/documents/scans/lia-77a.tif).

We were going to produce this last year, but the cost would have been in the $25 -$30 range. We felt that would be too high to continue the project. We have quotes on the blast deflector. I started to order a few just so I could produce a few pads for our use.

I saw an LIA-100 at TARC a few years ago. The student did not know what it was. He said he borrowed it from his Dad's old stuff. It had been well-used, but was still recognizable. I talked him into using the pad supplied by TARC and told him to go back and see if his Dad kept any of his other stuff from the 60's.

Carl,

Thanks so much for the scans and info, I should have a working LIA-77 in a couple of days. Thanks also for Semroc, great products but most important, the best customer service!


Thanks John

[Doug Sams]

Would like to see Carl produce the LIA-100.
Several would be sold surely.
I think the price for that LIA-77 sounded good.Looking thru the Century catalogs, I don't see much diff between them. The only thing I see is the blast deflectors are different. The LIA-100 has an asbestos deflector while the LIA-77 uses steel.

What else did one get for the extra buck-twenty? Longer leads? 3/16" rod?

Doug


http://www.doug79.com/stuff/LIA77-LIA100-2.jpg

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[ghrocketman]

I'm pretty sure everthing on the 100 is up-scaled. Nothing is mentioned in this catalog page in the deflectors being different.

[Doug Sams]

I'm pretty sure everthing on the 100 is up-scaled. Nothing is mentioned in this catalog page in the deflectors being different.Upscaled makes sense, since the 100 was targeted at Mini-Max rockets. But it's hard to tell from the pics.

The different deflector material is in the second bullet on each page.

Doug

.

[Carl@Semroc]

It was larger in size. I think the legs were longer and the rest was the same, except for the 3/16" launch rod. The asbestos, if present, was a good idea. The blast deflector did not cover the masonite, so even the smaller engines would destroy it in a few launches. The LIA-77 I have does not have the asbestos pad.

The shipping weight was one pound more, 4 pounds for the LIA-100 vs 3 pounds for the LIA-77. I had plans for the LIA-100, but I cannot find them now.

[Royatl]

It was larger in size. I think the legs were longer and the rest was the same, except for the 3/16" launch rod. The asbestos, if present, was a good idea. The blast deflector did not cover the masonite, so even the smaller engines would destroy it in a few launches. The LIA-77 I have does not have the asbestos pad.

The shipping weight was one pound more, 4 pounds for the LIA-100 vs 3 pounds for the LIA-77. I had plans for the LIA-100, but I cannot find them now.

I would think even the asbestos would get blown away by the blast. I was tired of having Estes blast deflectors gunk and rust up, so I decided to paint a few with Hobbypoxy paint. Of course, the first launch simply blew a chunk of paint off! The second launch got under the paint layer and blew even more off. I bought a roll of asbestos paper, intending to glue it to blast deflectors, and to our club's rack launcher, but never did anything with it.

[stefanj]

Skip the steel and the asbestos.

Ceramic is the way to go.

Or buy a few cheap galvanized roofing shingles and replace them as they burn through or get too grungy.

[rocketguy101]

I measured my old Centuri deflector, and made a flat pattern for it from SolidWorks. A buddy at work has sheet metal equipment at home, and he made a few for me...I didn't bother with the wooden block and separate clips. He used whatever gage of metal that was handy, which was thicker than the original.

edit: that "large" deflector is NOT the larger Centuri deflector, it is a replacement for the Aerotech launcher, using a thicker gage of metal. sorry for any confusion. If somebody comes across the dimensions for the LIA-100 deflector, I will get a similar drawing posted.

[Doug Sams]

Skip the steel and the asbestos.

Ceramic is the way to go.

Or buy a few cheap galvanized roofing shingles and replace them as they burn through or get too grungy.No doubt, ceramic is superior w.r.t to heat tolerance, but, you gotta admit, it's heavier and more prone to breaking. Not sure if either of those is a deal killer, but I've heard of guys using clay tiles (ala roofing tiles), and I could see that being a klunky item to have in my range box.

As for using cheap galvanized shingles, you can do the same thing with a sheet of galvanized steel. I have a piece I cut using snips and can get umpteen blast deflectors out of it. And can use it for other stuff as well.

But those are all good suggestions for blast deflector materials.

Doug

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[JamesR]

I have several of these for sale. built and one unbuilt. I have 3 different sizes and believe them to be original. I also have some of the deflectors. If interested I can send pictures, I had these at NSL but know one seemed to know what they were.

[BEC]

I have several of these for sale. built and one unbuilt. ......I had these at NSL but know one seemed to know what they were.

I must have not wandered down to the right place to have seen them.....I would've known what they were :)

[Bazookadale]

[QUOTE=Carl@Semroc] The asbestos, if present, was a good idea. /QUOTE]


The asbestos pad on my LIA-50 is the cause of my medical problems 48 years later - at least that is what my lawyer wants me to claim :chuckle:

[Carl@Semroc]

[QUOTE=Carl@Semroc] The asbestos, if present, was a good idea.

The asbestos pad on my LIA-50 is the cause of my medical problems 48 years later - at least that is what my lawyer wants me to claim :chuckle:

I SHOULD have said good idea for saving the pad, not for humans!

[RWmarlow]

One of these NIB showed up on ebay a little while ago

[Gus]

The asbestos pad on my LIA-50 is the cause of my medical problems 48 years later - at least that is what my lawyer wants me to claim :chuckle:Wow, and here I thought my lawyer, Bombastic Bushkin, was just being nice when he gave me mine. ;) It's not like he wasn't concerned about my welfare, though. He thoughtfully recommended I start smoking filtered cigarettes to keep a barrier between me and the asbestos. :eek:

[stefanj]

That's really cool, Gus! That's an interesting way to pack the "hardware."

Around 73, I bought a Centuri launch outfit, sans rocket as I recall, at a garage sale. It came with that asbestos-topped wooden pad. I remember pinching off little bits of the strange fibrous stuff . . .

In the late 80s, I bought a partial box of those launch lead /deflector assemblies. They were high up on a shelf in the same hardware / variety store where I bought rockets as a little kid. There were three or four of them left in the black and orange box. I had plans to recreate pads with them, but I ended up liquidating them with much of my old rocket stuff when I moved west.

[ghrocketman]

Anything with the word 'best' in the name like AsBESTos cannot be all bad.
Asbestos is a good product for the intended NEED. ANYTHING else should always be secondary.
Just like SmoKING, which has 'king' in the word....it must be partially good.

People are such safety/enviro mamby-pambys nowadays....No asbestos this, no DDT that, no Lead in fuel, get rid of all DECENT pesticides, lower VOC content in paint, gotta have a car safety seat for this, yadda yadda....
Makes me literally want to PUKE with the sissy/nanny state that has been created at an accelerated pace over the last 20 years.
Disgusting.

I will continue to use VOC laden paints and whatever else I darned well please no matter what any enviro-whackos (ALL environmentalists) think.

[Chas Russell]

Gus,Thanks for posting the pictures of the Centuri LAI-50. I bought my first rockets and gear from Centuri in 1967. My much used LAI-50 was in a wooden telescope box stolen out of a friend's storage unit back in 1995. Also in the box was my Mantis launcher, bunch of Apogee Blackshaft tubing, launch rods, and other gear.
The attached picture was from Winter 1967 in a field near my house in Central Ohio. Own designed model from the Centuri parts assortment.

Chas

I also have a LIA-77 that I stained brown. Don't recall if I have the blast deflector anymore.

[Bazookadale]

Anything with the word 'best' in the name like AsBESTos cannot be all bad.
Asbestos is a good product for the intended NEED. ANYTHING else should always be secondary.
Just like SmoKING, which has 'king' in the word....it must be partially good.

People are such safety/enviro mamby-pambys nowadays....No asbestos this, no DDT that, no Lead in fuel, get rid of all DECENT pesticides, lower VOC content in paint, gotta have a car safety seat for this, yadda yadda....
Makes me literally want to PUKE with the sissy/nanny state that has been created at an accelerated pace over the last 20 years.
Disgusting.

I will continue to use VOC laden paints and whatever else I darned well please no matter what any enviro-whackos (ALL environmentalists) think.

This actually explains a lot

[ghrocketman]

Yeah, it does say a LOT.
I'm for individual freedom to choose what one wants to do themselves without constant intrusive gubmint bans on virtually anything.

[Gus]

Gus,Thanks for posting the pictures of the Centuri LAI-50. I bought my first rockets and gear from Centuri in 1967. My much used LAI-50 was in a wooden telescope box stolen out of a friend's storage unit back in 1995. Also in the box was my Mantis launcher, bunch of Apogee Blackshaft tubing, launch rods, and other gear.
The attached picture was from Winter 1967 in a field near my house in Central Ohio. Own designed model from the Centuri parts assortment.

Chas

I also have a LIA-77 that I stained brown. Don't recall if I have the blast deflector anymore.Chas,

Glad you liked it. I bought this one several years ago on Ebay. I grew up in Phoenix so most of what I had was Centuri. After my LIA-50 wore out I replaced it with a wood board with a hole drilled in the middle to hold the launch rod. I punched a hole in a piece of asbestos and slid it down over the launch rod. Worked great and it was easy to strap to the rack on the back of my Schwinn. :)

[Stargate]

It was larger in size. I think the legs were longer and the rest was the same, except for the 3/16" launch rod. The asbestos, if present, was a good idea. The blast deflector did not cover the masonite, so even the smaller engines would destroy it in a few launches. The LIA-77 I have does not have the asbestos pad.

The shipping weight was one pound more, 4 pounds for the LIA-100 vs 3 pounds for the LIA-77. I had plans for the LIA-100, but I cannot find them now.

Carl,
I have the plans for the Centuri LIA-100 , and I still have my LIA-100.

Regards,
Larry Broadbent
Ontario, Canada

[Ez2cDave]

Carl,
I have the plans for the Centuri LIA-100 , and I still have my LIA-100.

Regards,
Larry Broadbent
Ontario, Canada


Larry,

Could you please post those plans here ?

Thanks,

Dave F.

[Faithwalker]

Larry,

Could you please post those plans here ?

Thanks,

Dave F.

Hi Dave,

For reference, instructions for the Centuri LIA-100 launch pad are posted here in post #17:
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=7695&page=2&highlight=LIA-100

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879

[Ez2cDave]

Hi Dave,

For reference, instructions for the Centuri LIA-100 launch pad are posted here in post #17:
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=7695&page=2&highlight=LIA-100

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879

Thanks for the link . . .

I have the instructions but, when he mentioned "plans", I was hoping for something more like a set of templates.

Dave F.

[Faithwalker]

Thanks for the link . . .

I have the instructions but, when he mentioned "plans", I was hoping for something more like a set of templates.

Dave F.

Hi Dave,

Templates for the LIA-77 and LIA-100 legs are in post #91 here:
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=14833&page=10&pp=10&highlight=LIA-100+drawing

Templates for the ID-100 blast deflector are in post #70 of the same thread.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879

[Ez2cDave]

Hi Dave,

Templates for the LIA-77 and LIA-100 legs are in post #91 here:
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=14833&page=10&pp=10&highlight=LIA-100+drawing

Templates for the ID-100 blast deflector are in post #70 of the same thread.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879

Jeff,

Yes, indeed, that certainly does help !

Thanks,

Dave F.