Rockets in Flight

Today we had our test flights with the new rockets and well they went pretty high, but they never released the parachute.  I guess its back to the drawing board with these rockets.  One of the good things though is since it had a "payload" section that was the part of the rocket that got the most damage. 

I think I have to lighten up the nose cone a bit, and also make the parachute smaller and have the nose cone release easier, but overall it was still a blast to watch the rockets go off.  I also purchased Estes rocket for about 6 dollars that fit over 1/2 PVC that went about 10 feet in the air and then it dropped and opened the chute.

I think I can modify that rocket to be able to be shot off the my rocket launcher, so  I will also make some changes to that rocket.  Next will be to add the LED light to one of the rockets and have them shot off at night, probally in about a week or so. 

Till next time.

Rocket building in progress!

Rocket Building

I have been searching the web, and designing my next compressed air rockets for the past week.  Currently I have 2 almost built rockets with payloads (parachutes).  Once I have them completed I will post pictures of all the pieces.  Here are some of the current parts to the rockets :

Thats the basic body of the rocket.  

Followed by the payload section

Next up is the is the shock cord

I have almost finished the fins and the nose cones, once they are completed I will post an update.

Rocket Design

This was my initial design for the compressed air rockets.  I used duct tape to provide extra strength because they kept blowing out from the air.   The rockets are made with the front and back of a magazine wrapped around a pvc pipe and then taped with duct tape.  After that I put a cardboard circle on the top (before the nose cone), and add tape to cover it.   The fins are made out of cereal box cardboard, and the nose is also.  

They take about 15 minutes to create and so far they last pretty long before getting to damaged (one reason is crashing on landing, which I hope to fix with a payload type rocket).  

Compressed Air Rocket

After the initial excitement was over from the stomp rocket, I wanted something that reached greater heights, I called my brother who in turn showed me a few issues of MAKE magazine with a description on how to build a compressed air rocket launcher using a bike pump.

The directions seemed pretty strait forward so I headed over to Home Depot to pick up the required parts. This turned out to be a little bit of a problem as they didn't have the exact pieces I needed, but after talking to one of the knowledgeable staff members they showed me how I can create the required pieces with other PVC parts.  Next I had to run over to Radio shack to get the battery, wire, and switch.  I am sure that I probably could have gotten everything from Home Depot but I wanted to try and stay close to the parts list.

Makezine article

PARTS:  (I dont want to copy strait from the article since its the steps I took, and the parts I used)

PVC Pipes (alot)
RC Battery
Speaker Wire
Manual Inline Sprinkler
Push button trigger

The basic building of the compressed air rocket only took about 30 minutes probably.  It was a real simple task, and was glad on initial test that it provided a nice whoosh sound on ignition.

Stomp Rocket

Another DIY project that I wanted to tackle with my daughters was rockets.  I wanted to be able to show them every thing there is to know about rockets:  acceleration,  altitude, design, and payloads to name a few of things that come to mind without the risk of fire.  After a little searching I stumbled on Stomp Rockets.  I found them at the store for about 20$, but I wanted to know if I could build something my self that did the same thing, or if I can make it better.  I did a little more research online and between MAKE, and Instructables I found DIY for stomp rockets. 

This was mainly just a little stomp cannon built from some PVC pipe and an empty three liter soda bottle.   Quick and easy to assemble all you need is some PVC pipe, and PVC elbow, 3 liter bottle and duct tape and you are set.   For support I used smaller pieces off PVC and strapped the contraption to it.  We had the a few of the neighborhood children around when we tried this, and to my amazement the "basic rocket" which was just a 20oz soda bottle flew  maybe 10 feet.

Quick to building I made a rocket out of magazine paper and duct tape.  This one flew to the tops of the trees with a stomp from an adult.  We let each of the kids try and stomp which lead to fun times
by all until we lost the rockets to the tree's or they were just two damaged to continue...  now we want them to go higher...