Final BLOG

Launch #	1	2	3	4	5
Time	3.5 sec	Fail…	9 sec	7.8	3.75 tree…
Accessory	None	Fins	Chute,  New Fins, Cone	Same	Lost Bottle

 Exactly what happened to our rocket on our final launch

Our first few launches were very successful and brought many attention from the other groups of how successful our launches were. We were hitting just about 10 second launches without a parachute. But when the bottle landed from that launch we lost two of our excellent fins, everything went down hill after that. We had to find new fins to install onto our rocket, which were never the same as those sharp, light, and very successful fins we had on launch four. On the fifth launch the weather was a little crazy and we knew the wind was going to be a factor but we went for it anyways. The only adjustments we made were a new parachute, ne fins and a permanent cone to cut through the air easier. We launched and the wind took our bottle straight into a tree. We have still not retrieved our rocket back from the tree but immedietly after that incident we made another rocket in 5 minutes out of a laichi bottle with hot glue, fins and a times supermarket bag. It was an EPIC fail… Nothing really worked as plan for pretty much all of our launches and we learned NEVER to launch anywhere near a tree or building.

Day 5 Launch Summary

Today was the 5th day of launching and the final day for many.  Our launches today were unsuccessful in meeting the 10 seconds requirement.  Our launch time of 3.75 seconds was very disappointing, however this is considering our bottle got stuck the the tree before our parachute was able to deploy.  What i believe we could have done differently to get better results is set up our launch site away from the tree so that way our bottle wouldn't have gotten stuck in the tree.  After our bottle got stuck in the tree our launching was over.  However our group put together another bottle in a short amount of time and tried relaunching in hopes of bettering our score.  Despite our best efforts in the short time, our final launch was a failure with the bottle falling off the clamp and propelling its self about 20 yards across the field.  We intend to build a new rocket and have a model ready to launch before friday in order to better our score.  We hope to get above 10 seconds in an attempt to beat pd.4 in winning the bonus multiplier.

Day 4 Launch Summary

Today for our 4th day of launching our goal was to launch our rocket in the air for longer than 5 seconds.  Our rocket was in the air for 7.8 seconds according to the stop watch.  A difference on this launch is that we did not secure the parachute in a cone, we left it on the side of the bottle during launching.  This allowed for the parachute to deploy perfectly, and with a lucky passing by breeze our parachute gave the bottle an extra 5 seconds of hang time . Other modifications we made to our rocket is that we put new fins on and attached them with duct tape instead of hot glue.  The duct tape did its job in securing the fins down, and this time after our launch we were left with all three fins in tact.  What i believe we can do to make our bottle stay in the air longer is put a cone on our bottle so that way the parachute does not deploy before it reaches its maximum height.

Day 3 Launch Summary

Today we added on new fins to our bottle because of the loss of our old fins in the second launch. After we added the find we grabbed a garbage back and cut a piece off and connected the ends with duct tape. We then punctured holes into four spots on the bottom of the parachute to connect the string from the bottle to the parachute. After the Fins and parachute we cut another two liter bottle for the cone on top of the rocket to hold the parachute within it. We connected a string from the fin to the cone with hot glue and went outside to test the rocket. When we launched, we made a nine second air time. The parachute did not deploy and the cone stayed directly on until it speared the konia parking lot area. Some things we can do to better our rocket is to somehow get a stronger glue to keep our fins from falling off when in contact with the ground. We also need to put the cone on a little less tight because we need it to fall off during flight for the parachute to deploy.

Day #2

Today was fairly unsuccessful with our rocket construction.  We glued three fins to the rocket with the hot glue gun, however after the first launch the fins came off when the bottle hit the ground.  Also on this launch, the bottle went off to the right because the weight of the fins caused the rocket to rotate and not fly straight up.  I believe this happened because the fins were too heavy.  What i think my group could to do fix this problem is find lighter material that is still sturdy and put that on top our rocket.  In our second video the bottle fell down before it launched causing it to propel towards Leila who was recording us.  Although it was quite comical, someone could have got hurt but luckily everyone was safe.  Before our next launch we plan to add fins, a cone at the top to balance the center of gravity, and construct a parachute that will deploy when in midair.  I enjoy working with these rockets and am looking foward to another day of launching.

This the video from our second launch today.  The rocket was unsuccessful in staying in the air, but it was successful in giving the camera girl a scare.

Day #1

Today in class we started the first day of the launching process.  Our water bottles were plain and nothing was altered on them, allowing us to see how the bottle would launch without any modifications.  Our bottle was pressurized with the bicycle pump to 40 psi, allowing for the bottle to travel relatively fast.  On our first launch, the bottle stayed in the air for about 3-4 seconds.  This is relatively good considering there were no modifications to the rocket.  However a problem we did encounter is that when it launched, it shot out angled which decreased its ability to reach maximum height.  I believe that if we can get the bottle to launch straight and our modifications to the bottle make it go farther, our bottle will stay in the air for the 10 seconds.  Today was a very exciting, and hopefully as our bottles start to progress into rockets it will continue to be enjoyable.

Helpful Link

This website provides good background information about water bottle rockets. It gives helpful ideas on how to construct them and what factors we should keep in mind when building. This site also gives some simple equations that go along with rocket propulsion. Also this site provides many different links that go into further depth on water bottle rockets. This website also gives an experts opinion on what types of theories work and don't work when trying to construct a bottle rocket. 

http://dogrocket.home.mindspring.com/WaterRockets/index.html