Rocket Dart Idea

We have been looking at the Water Rocket Index and they have made a rocket/dart that is powered up to high speed using an ordinary water rocket (22mm nozzle for high speed) and then the dart coasts the rest of the flight. The dart is not pressurise but it is quite heavy, so it will carry a lot of inertia. The Water Rocket Index haven't put a payload on their dart but we thought that we could attach our altimeter on it and then make some kind of recovery system. They estimated theirs to reach 400ft at 100psi so we would like to run a couple of tests with this dart idea.

For more info, here is a link to their page:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pagrosse/h2oRocketRb.htm

New Parachute Deployment System

We have made a new Deployment System that should help our rockets survive a couple more launches! We have bought a Flight Computer V1.6 from Aircommandwaterrockets and we are very pleased with the quality of this product and would like to say a big thank you!!! This flight computer is very light and it can also be used to power the Altimeter with the same battery, so it reduces a little weight.

Here is a video of how we made our parachute system/nosecone:

if this video doesn't work, click here.

How to set it up for a launch:

1. Turn on the Flight Computer to reset the servo.

2. Pack the parachute nice an tight and close the door.

3. Stretch the elastic band around the bottle twice and hook it over the servo arm.

4. Arm the Flight Computer.

5. Launch!!!!!!!

I hope this can give you some ideas when make your new rockets and please comment if you have any questions!

February Update

Sorry that we have done an update for a while, because we have been busy with lots of non-rocket related things!

FTC Progress

The FTC rocket is ready for another launch but we need to make some adjustments to the new launcher to hold higher pressures. The Backslide test worked very well and we hope it will work every time!

Booster Rocket

The booster rocket project is going a little slow because we haven't been drinking enough lemonade, we need to get some more bottles to create the spliced pairs. Once we have made  enough spliced pairs, the rocket should be ready for a launch!

FTC backglide test

Here is a video of our new FTC rocket being launched:

(it was only launched at 50psi because if did nose dived then it wouldn't break)

Details

capacity: 2.1L

water: 0.5L

pressure: 60psi

weight: 280g

nozzle: 10mm

SNOW!!!

Its snowing in the UK!!! This is the most snow we have had for 13years. There is about 15cm of snow but there is for casted 30cm and that is a lot of snow for England. Its very windy and that won't be good for rockets. 

FTC progress

We have finished making our FTC rocket and we have made a new launcher for 22mm nozzles. The FTC rocket is a little different to most tube rockets because it has a 1litre bottle added to the top for extra capacity. This bottle also helps the rocket to backglide/backslide (descends backwards) so the rocket won't need a parachute! It will only carry an altimeter because the camera is too heavy and we want to reduce as much weight as possible.

Details

Capacity: 2.1L

Weight: 280g

nozzle: 22mm

Splice Progress

We had a problem with one of our spliced pairs, It exploded!!! The reason why it exploded is because when we sanded the bottles for the glue to be strong, it also decreased the thickness of the bottles and makes them a lot weaker. We will have to make some more when we have collected enough bottles and next time we won't make the wall thickness too thin!!!

Splice Update

We Tested the new splice (glued bottles) today and it didn't leak, which is really good news. We put a layer of silicone inside the gaps were there was no glue to add a better seal because We knew that the glue would hold the force of the pressure but we didn't know if it would leak! It was tested to 120psi because that is the max pressure of our pump. When we have made a few more splices we will use them in our booster rocket design.

Update January 2009

We haven't done very much things to do with rockets over the past week but we have tried something new! We have made a spliced pair of bottles (two bottles glued together) and we hope to pressure test them next week. We have found a glue that we think will work and is easy to purchase in the UK if anyone is interested. It is called 'TiteBond' and it is a special Polyurethane glue and it has epoxy like strength! It is rated for 3510psi according to the manufacturer! The glue foams up when it sets so it fills all the gaps in the joints to prevent leaking. If this works then we will use it in our booster rocket design for less weight (no heavy metal coupling) and to improve altitude!

 

Booster test flights #2 (dummy main stage)

These are some test flight launches of the booster rocket. The reason why the boosters didn't fall off is because the main stage wasn't pressurised because it is a dummy stage. If the rocket was pressurised then it would have traveled faster than the boosters and the boosters would fall off. The rocket didn't have a parachute system and that is why it crashed, but that doesn't matter because it's only a dummy.

Here is the video of the launch:

click here if the video doesn't work.

Happy New Year

We wish everyone a happy and exciting new year! 

In the first part of the new year we will try to get the booster rocket working and try to beat our personal record of 408ft! The booster rocket will be a little bigger for more stability, the mainstage is going to be 6litres but the boosters are going to remain the same size (1litre). 

NOTE: The big 10litre MAXTOR II is no longer in service because it is to large and we have taken it apart to make the new and improoved booster rocket!!!