hereare some detailed logs of me and my partner tom building a rocket for the A sized engine. We first built a test rocket, and then built another with some minor tweaks.
Rocket log #1
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks planned the materials list. We decided on all of the materials for all of the parts of the rocket. For our body tube, we will use a projector sheet. For the wings, we will use balsa wood. For the nose cone we will the to make one out of balsa wood. For the parachute, we will use one from a plastic paratrooper figurine. For our engine-mount, we will use a paper clip. For our wadding, we will use tissue paper. We are happy with the work we did today, and hope to start work on the rocket next science period.
Rocket log #2
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks started working on our wing design. Our goal was to make three wings out of balsa wood. I had sketched out a design on a piece of cardboard. It was a 6¡±x2¡± right triangle with the far corned rounded off. I then proceeded to cut out the design, and then transfer it to a piece of balsa wood. I trace three wing designs onto the balsa wood, however, I did not get to cut them out due to lack of time in the reminder of the class. During next class period we hope to finish the wings, and possible start making the nose cone.
Rocket log #3
Today I was absent. However, my partner, Tom Brooks, told me that he started cutting out the wing design, and brought in some straws for launch lugs. Because I wasn¡¯t at that science period, our group didn¡¯t get as much as we had hoped. Next period we will need to finish the entire rocket.
Rocket log #4
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks finished building the rocket. In the beginning of the class period we went over the materials that we brought: laminate paper, tape, parachute from a paratrooper figurine, rubber bands, paper clips, and tissues. After tom started to work on the body tube. He first rolled it up so that the diameter of the tube was just enough to fit the provided engine inside of. After, Tom proceeded to tape the tube so it wouldn¡¯t come undone. Meanwhile, I finished cutting out the balsa wood fins with an exact-o-knife. When my partner tom and me finished, we then used a hot glue gun to glue our three wings to the bottom of our body tube (we estimated the spaces between each wing). After gluing the wings on, I started to work on the nose cone set-up. Because we had rune out of balsa wood, I fashioned a nose cone out of laminate paper instead. The nose cone was small, and had a sleeve on it that slid into the top of the body tube, and held it in. I then glued our parachute to the nose cone, along with the rubber band (The rubber band was meant to act as a shock cord). After gluing everything in place, I then taped the shock cord to the inside of the body tube. While I was working on the nose cone set-up Tom had been working on an engine mount. I was a very hard thing to make, but Tom found a solution of taking small portions of a paper clip and poking them through our rocket (above and below where the engine would go). After Tom put in the engine mounts, and glued our launch lugs on, all of our components for the rocket were completed. For the next step, our rocket would have to pass a stability test. The stability test worked by finding the center of gravity for your rocket, tying a piece of string to the center of gravity, then spinning it around your head. Ours did not pass at first, but after adding weight to the nose cone, it passed, and our rocket was completed.
Rocket log #5
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks launched our rocket, as well as take measurement for other people¡¯s rockets. Our day started by taking measurements of the angles of other peoples rocket from 50 meters away using homemade angle measurers. After taking several measurements, we then have to launch our rocket. It went very high, however our engine did not deploy. Tom and I speculated that it was because either our parachute was packed in too tight, or our nose cone¡¯s sleeve was too big. However, this was only a test rocket, we hope that our next model rocket will have better results.
Rocket log #6
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks started work on our final rocket. Because our test rocket was very success, we only had to make a few changes. The first change we made was to the wings. Tom and me decided to make them smaller, so there will be less weight on the back, and therefore will raise the center of gravity (hopefully enough so as we wont have to put any weight in the nose cone in order for it to pass the stability test). Although not all these changes were completed today, we did make some progress on our final rocket.
At the beginning of the class period, Tom and me went over our materials. Tom had brought another laminate sheet to be used as our new body tube, a paper clip for engine stops and a straw for launch lugs. After reviewing our materials, we got to work. I started by cutting the old fins off of our old rocket, and then cutting them down into a new triangle fin pattern which was 2cm tall by 5cm long with the outward facing angle being rounded off. Meanwhile Tom was working on sizing, cutting, and taping our new body tube. He first wrapped it around a used engine, then he cut the width of the laminate paper so that it only wrapped around the engine twice, after, and he taped it so it would not unravel. After we finished, I started to put together a nose cone using leftover laminate paper, tape and glue. First, I cut the paper into a circle, and then cut a line to the middle. After, I slide the paper together to make a cone. After taping that together, I then made a cylinder-shaped sleeve out of the laminent paper, and attached to the nose cone by using glue. While I was working on the nose cone, Tom was cutting out the launch lugs, and engine mounts. It was a productive day. Next class Tom and me hope to glues the wings, launch lugs, and put the engine mounts in; we also hope to start working on the recovery system.
Rocket log #7
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks continued work on our final rocket. At the beginning of the class period, we immediately got to work on our fins. We first needed to get a glue gun, and after a small amount of difficulty, we obtained. After, Tom and I carefully aligned the fins so that they would be an equal distance away form each other, and be 2 inches above the bottom of the rocket; we proceeded to glue them on. After this task was done Tom took the rocket body and (using a pushpin) poked two hole at the bottom of the rocket (opposite sides) and two hole approximately 4cm above the other holes, so the rocket engine would have just enough room to fit between the two pairs of holes. After poking the holes, Tom placed two straightened pieces of paper clips thought the holes to act as our engine mounts. While Tom was working on the rocket, I was putting the recovery system on the nosecone. I started out by gluing three streamers to the inner-sleeve of the nosecone. After the glue had dried, I glued a rubber band (shock cord) to the inside of the sleeve as well. Once Tom and me were both finished what we were doing, Tom stated that he had to left the class early for math. I bid him a farewell and got back to work. There wasn¡¯t much more work to do on the rocket except attach the shock cord too the inside of the upper-body tube. I quickly glued it in, and was then ready for the stability test. After several failed attempts at passing the stability test, I decided to push the parachute, and wadding farther up the body tube, in order to raise the center of gravity. This helped a little, but in the end, it wasn¡¯t enough. As Tom returned towards the end of class, we discussed the problem, and eventually came up with the solution that we would have to sacrifice out lightweight design by putting weights in the front nosecone. This period was very productive, and besides the stability test, no major problem occurred. Next class Tom and me hope to modify our rocket so that it will pass the stability test, and take our rocket¡¯s measurements.
Rocket log #8
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks successfully completed the stability test, and took our rocket¡¯s measurements. At the beginning of the period, Tom and me were looking for ways to add weight to our nosecone. Originally, we anted to fill the nosecone with hot glue, but unfortunately, none of the hot glue guns were working. Instead of the hot glue, I made a spur of the moment decision to use Elmer¡¯s Glue. Unfortunately, as the class period progressed we realized that it would take far too long to dry. Tom and me decided to wash the nosecone out at the sink, and put clay in the nosecone. We added about 6g of clay to the nosecone. After doing so, our rocket finally passed the stability test, and was ready for us to take measurements. As class came to a close, Tom and I quickly wrote all of the measurements down on a piece of paper. Today we encountered many obstacles, but with our combined ingenuity, overcame them. Next class we will be launching our new rocket. Tom and I predict that it will go around 500ft (about 166¨ø meters).
Rocket log #9
Today me and my partner Tom Brooks launched our final rocket. We were the sond people out of our entire team to launch. When launched out final rocket when a hight of 109.6 meters. although significantly below our extreamly optimistic opinion, it was still the highest rocket chsool-wide, and thus Tom and I were very pleased. After launching we took the measurements of others' rockets, packed up, and called it a day.
hope that helped too.
