This blog covers the day to day progress of water rocket development by the Air Command Water Rockets team. It is also a facility for people to provide feedback and ask questions.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Preparation for launch day

Happy new year! Having had a nice break over the Christmas and new year we are back in full swing with rocket development.

The next launch opportunity is on Jan 10, so we are working to have a number of rockets ready for the day. One of the rockets we'll be testing is the new smaller and lighter deployment mechanism. It weighs less than half of the one we have been using.We'll test it on a small rocket first and then if things go well, we'll extend the rocket and try it at higher speeds and altitude.

We are also preparing a Polaron style rocket that will do a number of in-flight experiments.

Dad has finished upgrading one of our air control panels which will now be able to deliver two different pressures each up to 300psi. This will be useful for the upcoming re-enforced rockets to be launched at higher pressures.

Some goals for 2010 include:
- Getting Acceleron V back in the air on a number of flights, and pushing it to its limits.
- Finishing off V1.7 of the flight computer.
- Getting the website extension completed.
- Higher pressure launches.
- More instructional videos and construction instructions.


We hope everyone has many successful flights with their rockets this year.
____________________________________

2 comments:

pipnvik said...

Hi Guys, I have been interested in water rockets for years and have dabbled on occaision, Are there any clubs that you know of in WA, what regs if do i need to follow to have alaunch day ?
Cheers
Phil
wombat064@hotmail.com

George Katz said...

Hi Phil,

There are no specific water rocket clubs that I know of in WA. However, you may be able to come along to a regular pyro launch event. Generally people are happy for you to launch water rockets with them as long as you follow the club rules. You would want to launch away from the pyro guys to make sure you are not spraying water on their rockets.

As far as regs go, the main one you need to watch out for is the 400 foot altitude limit set by CASA. You can fly higher than that but will need a waiver from them. If you come along to a pyro club launch then you will automatically fall under their waiver and should be good to go for a few thousand feet.

Hope that helps

Cheers

- George