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Re: Best release system Air Command, how it's done?

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:20 am
by U.S. Water Rockets
If you want the latest technology in launcher release systems, you are probably looking for our Split Collar Cable Tie Launcher system. You can find the tutorial for making that here on our website:
http://www.uswaterrockets.com/construct ... torial.htm

The Split Collar Cable Tie Launcher is a derivative of our standard Cable Tie Launcher, which is inspired by the system invented by Ian Clark a long time ago.
http://www.uswaterrockets.com/construct ... torial.htm

We apply these launcher designs to a launch tube system with an O-Ring Seal, using this method we invented:
http://www.uswaterrockets.com/construct ... torial.htm

If you're more interested in making a launcher base, you are probably looking for the original source for the idea of the launcher which comes apart so that the launcher and rocket can be set up separately, and then the rocket can be "quickly" installed on the launcher base and flown. We've been doing this for a long time, and it seems to have inspired a lot of uncredited reproductions or similar designs.

A good look at the system in operation is seen in this video at the 2:35 time mark.
[youtube][/youtube]

A few years later, we redesigned the launcher system to make it smaller and more portable, by making the base from PVC pipe instead of wood. You can see how fast this kind of system can make setup of the rocket in this video at the 5:40 time mark:
[youtube][/youtube]

Take a look at these modern designs and see if they don't inspire you to make something similar or invent your own! Good luck!

Re: Best release system Air Command, how it's done?

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:47 am
by U.S. Water Rockets
RAAU wrote:Thanks to the accurate answer!
The Cable Tie Launcher from us is called System HP.
I know him, but mine was made of plastic and rubber tube.
As far as I can see this is much more reinforced!

I have to put to work, I want to try all the methods in person!
I will let you know!
Glad to help you out. Let us know what you eventually come up with!

Re: Best release system Air Command, how it's done?

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:27 pm
by China_WaterRocket
OK

Re: Best release system Air Command, how it's done?

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 8:07 pm
by anachronist
U.S. Water Rockets wrote:If you want the latest technology in launcher release systems, you are probably looking for our Split Collar Cable Tie Launcher system. You can find the tutorial for making that here on our website:
http://www.uswaterrockets.com/construct ... torial.htm
I'm curious, what is the advantage of a split collar? It seems to me that you get an uneven release of the cable ties that way. The edges of each half of the collar can still be in contact with some ties when the center of each half has already cleared it.
U.S. Water Rockets wrote:We apply these launcher designs to a launch tube system with an O-Ring Seal, using this method we invented:
http://www.uswaterrockets.com/construct ... torial.htm
OK, I'm having difficulty with this.

Actually, not quite difficulty, but stuck.

It is darn near impossible to find 3/8" PVC pipe anymore. Home Depot, Orchard Supply, and other hardware stores in my area don't carry it. And I am unable to find brass pipe that fits neatly inside a 1/2" PVC pipe.

1/2" Schedule 40 PVC has an outer diameter of 0.840". I could find some 3/32" o-rings with an outer diameter of 0.875" (7/8"), which is about right, but then I need a very thin groove in the pipe to make it work. Not having machine tools around to cut a precision groove, I'm concerned about the quality of the seal I'd get if I filed a groove by hand. I could get thicker o-rings but then the groove would have to be deeper... in which case it may be better to go with Schedule 80 pipe for the launch tube.

I also observe that there's only one size option for the release collar: 1.25" PVC. If you need 1/5" PVC, a 1.25" coupler will be about the same, and also the right length.

Re: Best release system Air Command, how it's done?

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:11 am
by anachronist
anachronist wrote:OK, I'm having difficulty with this.

Actually, not quite difficulty, but stuck.

It is darn near impossible to find 3/8" PVC pipe anymore. Home Depot, Orchard Supply, and other hardware stores in my area don't carry it. And I am unable to find brass pipe that fits neatly inside a 1/2" PVC pipe.

1/2" Schedule 40 PVC has an outer diameter of 0.840". I could find some 3/32" o-rings with an outer diameter of 0.875" (7/8"), which is about right, but then I need a very thin groove in the pipe to make it work. Not having machine tools around to cut a precision groove, I'm concerned about the quality of the seal I'd get if I filed a groove by hand. I could get thicker o-rings but then the groove would have to be deeper... in which case it may be better to go with Schedule 80 pipe for the launch tube.

I also observe that there's only one size option for the release collar: 1.25" PVC. If you need 1/5" PVC, a 1.25" coupler will be about the same, and also the right length.
Followup: I figured out in this thread that a 5/8" countersink bit will ream out a 1/2" PVC pipe to fit a 1/2" copper pipe... or, as someone else pointed out there, a chapstick tube. You only need to ream out less than 1/2 (about 10 mm).