Public Missiles IO

Public Missiles - Io {Kit}

Contributed by John Hattan

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Manufacturer: Public Missiles

Brief:
PML's smallest and simplest kit, this is a simple tried-n-true 3FNC rocket, suitable for F to H motors.

Construction:
Rocket consists of a single body tube, plywood centering rings, and a piece of woven nylon that's epoxied to the motor tube. The piston is attached to the other end of the nylon. The fins are G10, which sands very nicely and is really tough. Includes a fairly small chute with a large spill-hole, so the rocket falls pretty quickly, but not fast enough to hurt it.

The instructions are fairly easy to follow if you've built HPR kits before. They consist of a single sheet with a minimum of illustrations. I'd recommend that you have someone help you out if this is your first HPR kit, as the instructions aren't really designed with the beginner in mind. The components themselves are beautiful. Everything fit together very well, and all of the components are the best you'll find --G10 fins, phenolic motor tube, Quantum Tube airframe, a very sturdy nose cone, and the toughest parachute I've found. This is a kit that has survived a dozen flights.

Finishing:
Well, I've gotta admit. This was one of the old kits with the phenolic airframe. I've heard the new Quantum Tube is even easier to finish, but the old hard phenolic was fairly easy to get a mirror-finish. All it took was a little Elmer's wood filler to fill the groove, and some fine sandpaper and sandable primer. If you take your time, you'll get a rock-hard finish that'll easily last for dozens of flights. I'm subtracting 1/2 point because of that cheesy stick-on decal they include with the kit. If they included some attractive water-slide decals, it'd add some value to the kit. As it stands, though, it's just a waste.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
I originally bought the kit with the 38mm mount, but this is an awfully small kit for most of the 38mm offerings. Since I didn't have any kind of motor retention (hey, I was a beginner), I eventually glued some bolts and a 29mm tube into the rocket. There are plenty of 29mm motors that work beautifully in this rocket --F, G, and H. My personal favorite is the Aerotech G125, which makes this little rocket leap off the pad like nobody's business. As for flights, I have no complaints at all. I've flown my little IO at least 20 times. It's a tough little rocket that loves to fly.

Recovery:
Very little to complain about as far as recovery goes. My only complaint is that the rocket is rather short. Once you've got the piston in place and the chute packed, there's barely any space to get the cone on. If the rocket was 2 inches longer, there'd be a little more elbow room. As it stands, it's a tight fit.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
The Pros are that it's a beautiful little kit that finishes beautifully, loves to fly, is tough as all get-out, and can fly in small fields on F motors. Cons are the cheesy decal and that the recovery system is a bit tough to pack.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Other Reviews
  • Public Missiles IO By Patrick Ryan

    ( Contributed - by Patrick Ryan) Brief: Single stage 29mm with parachute recovery and piston ejection system. Construction: Three (3) G-10 fins, pre-slotted "Quantum Tube" body. Motor Mount is plywood and heavy cardboard type. Monster heavy duty shock cords (one mounts to motor mount and gets a little crusty, but great overall). 20" nylon 2 color parachute with ...

Flights

Comments:

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M.W. (October 1, 2000)
A friend (John) and I got into HPR a few months back, he bought a PML D-region Tomahawk, and I bought a Miranda. Both of these have flown for Level 1 certs. Since we saw that it could get expensive in a hurry to keep flying larger and larger motors, we decided that smaller might be the direction to go. He purchased an Io, and I bought a PML Callisto. John noticed right away that the recovery items were a tight fit. I would suggest the Callisto as a solution for this problem. The Callisto and the Io are identical except for an additional 12 inches of body tube in the Callisto.
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R.C. (October 1, 2000)
I certified NAR L1 with this rocket. Nice kit.
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S.M. (August 1, 2001)
The Io was my first HPR kit. I bought it just after QT was introduced, with a 38mm MMT and PML's motor retention. This is one tough little rocket! When I first built it I couldn't get over how heavy and solid it felt. I have recently added a 9" QT payload section, and flown it on an I161 and an I357. There were some raised eyebrows when I put it up on those motors, I can tell you! Recovered fine from over 5000ft. I have also tried a Rocketman R24D as a main chute and it worked great. At some stage I may remove the piston and use a chute protector for altimeter deployment. One of my favorite rockets!
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J.W.H. (December 19, 2001)
This was actually my first and second HPR kit. Bought this and a LOC Lil' Nuke at the same time. Boy, talk about differences. QT is where it is at. And the G-10 fins are extremely durable. No question in my mind that this kit is tough and ready to roll. Flew it on a couple of F's, thinking it is time to stuff a G in there and see what happens. Our field is not very large though. Speaking of which, the Io is pretty heavy and the drift is pretty minimal, another plus. Definitely worth the money, and fun to build. The decal stinks, and the directions could be beefed up a little. Overall, I am very, very pleased.

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