Firsts

Discussions about rockets, construction materials, adhesives, nozzles, nosecones and fin design.
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bugwubber
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Firsts

Post by bugwubber »

So I watched episode 42 of Mythbusters again the other day. I was amazed at how rediculous things looked now - Grant lying prone next to the rocket with a raincoat on, triggering the release with his hands, everyone way too close... Which got me thinking about my first start (mind you ths was only last year) and how everyone else started out in this hobby.

Here's mine-
An upcoming water rocket derby with cubscouts is what really got me started. My first experiment was a small bottle with a tiny hole drilled into the cap into which I put an air blower nozzle. That quickly led to my first nozzle/release design, a a male airhose quick connect stuck through a bottle cap which of course made my first release mechanism an airhose quick connect. Not much different from Grant's rubber stopper launcher at this point. Now of course I quickly decided that having a chunk of metal in a flying projectile was dangerous. Research on the web commenced and I learned about gardena and "full bore" nozzles. That's when I assembled my first true launcher from a homemade sprayer that I had made years earlier. It was a short PVC stick with a garden hose adapter, and a cap on the end with a couple holes drilled in it. All I had to do was cut the end cap off and add an air quick connect. My release was my hand. Mind you, at that point, this was a very wet hobby for me- again, the Grant launcher comparison is pretty funny.
firstlauncher.JPG
firstlauncher.JPG (613.11 KiB) Viewed 182 times
Here's a video of The Stick in operation. The camera was strapped to the side of the rocket.

[youtube][/youtube]

So, would love to hear stories on y'alls firsts.
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PTrockets
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Post by PTrockets »

Hello bugwubber,
Good to see a topic where people can tell their first time.
Like you, my rockets passion came from the Mythbusters, in the episode 42.
My first rocket was done in haste. The launcher was made of PVC and it had lot of air leaks. The pump was a football ball pump . The fins were made of cardboard and theparachute system was only a paper cone resting on the bottom of the bottle. It flew almost 6 meters BO: .
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bugwubber
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Re:

Post by bugwubber »

PTrockets wrote:Hello bugwubber,
Good to see a topic where people can tell their first time.
Like you, my rockets passion came from the Mythbusters, in the episode 42.
My first rocket was done in haste. The launcher was made of PVC and it had lot of air leaks. The pump was a football ball pump . The fins were made of cardboard and theparachute system was only a paper cone resting on the bottom of the bottle. It flew almost 6 meters BO: .
I think that's what is so great about this hobby. Someone can just take the idea, look around the house and reimagine new uses for things that had previously just been routine or trash. Then as knowledge and skill level increase, so can the challenge.
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Re: Re:

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

bugwubber wrote:
PTrockets wrote:Hello bugwubber,
Good to see a topic where people can tell their first time.
Like you, my rockets passion came from the Mythbusters, in the episode 42.
My first rocket was done in haste. The launcher was made of PVC and it had lot of air leaks. The pump was a football ball pump . The fins were made of cardboard and theparachute system was only a paper cone resting on the bottom of the bottle. It flew almost 6 meters BO: .
I think that's what is so great about this hobby. Someone can just take the idea, look around the house and reimagine new uses for things that had previously just been routine or trash. Then as knowledge and skill level increase, so can the challenge.
The other thing is that there are new products and packaging coming out all the time, so every trip to the supermarket or home improvement store is an adventure in finding new things to incorporate into water rockets. There are always new things to discover and test!
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Re: Re:

Post by bandsons »

U.S. Water Rockets1 wrote:
The other thing is that there are new products and packaging coming out all the time, so every trip to the supermarket or home improvement store is an adventure in finding new things to incorporate into water rockets. There are always new things to discover and test!
You are right about that lol. What you say reminds me of myself at stores.

On another note... this is a relatively safe hobby... for the power/fun it outputs in comparison to others!

Pressure is extremely dangerous as we learned with our FIRST attempt. Even at 100psi, use extreme caution because we are using cheap bottles not designed to withstand pressure.
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Re: Firsts

Post by ptx »

This weekend I got back to my first water rocket project and finished it.
Its a mini 0.5L rocket that I hope will go up a few feet from the ground.
Hope soon to post a movie of my first launch (if I can get my wife or son to record it :))
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miniRocket - 0.5L.JPG (42.95 KiB) Viewed 136 times
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Re: Firsts

Post by bugwubber »

nunopt wrote:This weekend I got back to my first water rocket project and finished it.
Its a mini 0.5L rocket that I hope will go up a few feet from the ground.
Hope soon to post a movie of my first launch (if I can get my wife or son to record it :))
Beautiful mini!
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Re: Firsts

Post by Nick B »

bugwubber wrote:So I watched episode 42 of Mythbusters again the other day. I was amazed at how rediculous things looked now - Grant lying prone next to the rocket with a raincoat on, triggering the release with his hands, everyone way too close... Which got me thinking about my first start (mind you ths was only last year) and how everyone else started out in this hobby..

We launch our gardena nozzle rockets by hand all the time. Granted, we mostly use 60 to 110 psi for these, but we also use safety glasses and ear protection at 90 or higher psi. I think the dangers of 100 psi or less is overrated...imho.
Our gardena rocket collection is more about getting wet on hot days, than hobby time.


Even with 300 psi ftc explosions under our belt,
We see 125 psi 2 liters as more of a danger due to air volume and higher decibels when they blow. So we put ear protection as our largest concern.
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Re: Firsts

Post by Nick B »

A children's science experiment book got us started with the classic pvc and 2 liter.
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Re: Firsts

Post by Yossarian »

My first Water rocket is also only 1 and a half year old.
The whole story is documented here:
http://www.raketfuedrockets.magix.net/w ... fluffi.htm

As i was always fascinated by everything that flies, i loved the simplicity and the more humourous approach of flying water rockets.
So i just took a soda bottle, taped a big foam-nose to it, and off it went. The Video can be found here:

[youtube][/youtube]

I love this so much, that i still use this clip as intro for my newer videos

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Re: Firsts

Post by bugwubber »

Nick B wrote:A children's science experiment book got us started with the classic pvc and 2 liter.
Sure wish I'd had access to that book when I was a kid...
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Re: Firsts

Post by arjan »

Here's my nephew launching my first water rocket.
It was made of a 1.5L coke bottle, no recovery.
Fins were cardboard, after a couple of launches they were soaked making them weak and heavy.
The nosecone was the top part of another coke bottle.
[youtube][/youtube]
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Re: Firsts

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

nunopt wrote:This weekend I got back to my first water rocket project and finished it.
Its a mini 0.5L rocket that I hope will go up a few feet from the ground.
Hope soon to post a movie of my first launch (if I can get my wife or son to record it :))
That is really nicely made! The sad part is that they don't stay that clean and shiny for long, no matter how careful you are. They a;ways seem to get dirty and scratched up.
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Re: Firsts

Post by ptx »

Finally I made my first launches. Windy days but it was great fun.

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]
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Re: Firsts

Post by Strattocoaster »

I have not seen the mythbusters episode. I'll have to try and find that.