helljumpin3 wrote:Ok guys am new to this forum so i need a littel help.For a school project we are building water bottle rockets for a rocket challenge.So I am new to this whole water rocket stuff and you guys know more about this stuff then i do.In this challege there not many rules other then you have to use water ,air and as many 2 liter bottles as you want.So me and my friend want to build a simple 2 stage water bottle rocket but we have no idea on how to do it.So can anybody help us make a 2 stage rocket with a parachute deployment system ,nose cone sape ,materials to make fins out of ,how many bottle to use ,and how the 2 stage works i would greatly apprecite it .This project is due friday June 5.
thanks,Helljumpin3
What is the goal of the contest? That would be important to know. If the goal is maximum altitude then you might be best off with a single stage rocket made from multiple bottles spliced together to make it longer. If the goal is to make a multi-stage rocket to show off the more complicated design then you could make what is called a "crushing sleeve" stage mechanism.
5 days is really a short time to come up with a complex design like a multi-stage rocket. I'd advise you to stick with a simpler single stage design for time savings.
I suggest you get a bunch of bottles and start splicing them together. If you take bottles with smooth straight sides, you can make a very long rocket body by gluing sections cut from bottles together to form a tube and then you glue a top and bottom on the tube. Use a glue called "PL Premium Construction Adhesive" if you can get it.
For fins you can use old CD cases or CDs cut into shapes to fit the bottle. You can also use corrugated sign material or foam core from a art supply store.
If you need a parachute, you can cut up a plastic bag into a circle and tape strings around the edge to make the parachute. To deploy the parachute you can just make the nose cone fit loose on the top so it comes off and the rocket reaches the peak and it falls down. The chute will come out from under the nose if you pack it loosely inside.
Do you have a launcher yet? You need to give us more details what you need so we can help give you advice.
Good luck!
Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:54 am 
