Re: 2 liter bottle rocket

At 08:12 AM 3/27/97 -0700, Jan Mussler wrote:
>In the Webelos resource book, there's plans under Engineer for 2 liter
>bottle rockets. I must admit, the instructions make no sense to me at
>all. I bought my son a Rocket Dragster kit (back of Boy's Life) for his
>birthday and it uses the same principle. I see how the tire valve stem
>goes through the cap. How can you set this up to launch? And get the cap
>off the bottle? Has anyone tried this? My thought was to do this as part
>of the space elective for Bear (I'm letting my son pick a few electives
>he's interested in to see if I can't motivate him more).
>
>YIS,
>
>Jan Mussler, Bear DL, Pack 170, Nederland, CO
>mussler@spot.Colorado.EDU
>Arapahoe District, Longs Peak Council
>
> /\ /\ /\ 8500 feet and still climbing...
> / \ \ / \
>/ \/ \

Jan,
Been there. Done that.
replace the cap with a cork stopper (cork type fishing float) the size of
the bottle opening, and puskh a ball inflation needle through the lengthwise
center The rocket fins should be long enough for the rocket to sit on the
ground and the pump hose does not cause it to fall over. Fill the bottle
1/4 full of water, cork the bottle, attach pump, sit on ground and start
pumping. I recommend a bicycle pump. As pressure builds up, it will blow
the cork out, and the combined water/air will act as the propellent. My
son's went about 50 feet in to the air. Add a nosecone and the improved
aerodynamics should increase the distance.
Good luck.

YiS,
Bart
SM T140, Chesapeake, VA

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
• Next message
• Previous message
• Maybe in reply to