There are more sophisticated designs out there too, that are very elegant. Of course, a lot of this piping may be unnecessary, but it’s a simple tried-and-true design that I implemented by upgrading the primitive ‘pump till it flies off’ version (just the PVC alone with no hold down mechanism). This was very difficult on the Mk I launchers. In addition to the longer nipple, this year’s bottle rocket launchers include a removable screw-on cap for the one end, so that water can successfully be drained from the pad before storage. So a piece of scrap plywood screws down a Mk 1 base to act as the ‘ground’, and the launcher is ready to go. We needed to develop a laun ch platform that could be deployed in a parking lot. The Mk II is designed to not need stakes into the ground. (key word, LESS this doesn’t *prevent* water leaking). The longer launch tube (12″ nipple) allows for more stability of the rocket as it goes off the pad, and also puts the entrance of the tube above the rocket’s water line, and less water will be leaked this way. ![]() The PVC tubing is all 1/2 inch diameter, the size that fits insude a 2L soda bottle. This acts as a one way valve and delivers pressure to the rocket. The PVC piping is used to be a pressure vessel and one end of the PVC Tee has a bike tire valve cemented into the end cap. The wooden base gets staked into the ground to hold the rocket relative to the PVC assembly. The electrical box is hooked to a base constructed of 2 x 4’s and uses a pin to hold down the flange of the bottle onto the launch pad until the pin is pulled, allowing pressure to be built up before release. The resulting hybrid (pictured, left) uses the two concepts in tandem. This design is a hybrid between two designs that he had used: one that he build himself with a car tire valve and electrical box, and the one design that was given me as a PVC Tee and pipe nipple launch tube. I since modified it to be able to take higher pressures and launch higher and straighter. I remember in middle school my science teacher and Science Olympiad coach gave me the designs for a small launcher I could play with on my own. ![]() There are a lot of bottle rocket launcher designs out there, from the simple, to the complex, and the cheap to the costly. The lead designer is responsible for the graphical design work and aesthetic finishes the lead engineer is responsible for the practical production of the rocket the lead scientist for the research, experimentation and testing and the data/media manager for the collation and presentation of the team’s work and data.Today has been a day of Bottle Rocket fun. While all students are encouraged to make holistic and collaborative contributions to the unit, one student needs to accept responsibility for each of the key roles. Students form teams of up to 4 to produce their water-bottle rocket, with each student accepting the lead role for one of the following positions – lead designer, lead engineer, lead scientist and data/media manager. They research and experiment with nose cone and fin designs using mathematical concepts and calculations. ![]() Students learn about and apply the aeronautical concepts of thrust and propulsion, drag and pitch. ![]() Air is pumped into the bottles, pressurised, and the rockets are launched from a mechanical device. Water-bottle rockets are constructed using water-filled recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles with individualised nose cones and fins.
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