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.
We had a fun launch this weekend at the NSWRA launch at Doonside. The weather was almost perfect for rockets with calm conditions and blue skies. We took the repaired Shadow II for a spin on two flights. The first flight was at 400psi and reached an altitude of
1173 feet (357m). We then set it up again for a second launch at 420psi. This time the rocket reached
1239 feet (377m). Both of these altitudes were our new personal best. We are happy the rocket survived both flights and it also took some nice video in the process.
I have uploaded the full flight report to here:
http://www.AirCommandRockets.com/day121.htm
The report includes pictures and a highlights video from both launches.
Chris launching the rocket. This was the second launch of the day.
Apogee photo from flight #2
12 comments:
It looks great and work great so congratulations
Hey George,
I'm a bit stuck for words other than to say I'm happy it went well for you, and that The Shadow II is a seriously impressive w-rocket!
You cant be far off the International record for altitude with a water rocket now surely.
Regards
Doug
Thanks Florin and Doug. :) It was a fun weekend and we were happy to finally get the rocket flying a bit better.
I think the rocket still has capacity to take more pressure so we'll see how far we can push it. We'll need to do another hydro test to the next pressure level but haven't decided what that is yet, perhaps 450 or 460psi? The Shadow is still only a prototype that needs to go on a diet, use different materials and needs improved aerodynamics to push any limits. We are using it as a testbed to learn more about rockets at the higher pressures.
Hi George,
Took some time but worth it ;) !
Congratulation! Truly amazing !
Regards,
Marius
Way to go George!
Thanks very much Dick. :)
@Marius: Hee hee ... it did take a long time. Almost a year since we started building it.
George,
Wow thats some serious altitude and pressure. great work as always George and the team :)
Are you considering doing a foam launch at that pressure ?
regards
-todd-
Thanks Todd :)
We probably won't fly the rocket with foam in this configuration. There just isn't a lot of time for the foam to form with a big nozzle. Although we can screw in a smaller nozzle, we would also have to re-build the launcher. When we do the next revision of this rocket for 2-stage flights, it will have the smaller nozzle and use foam.
I wonder if we could attach wheels to this rocket? ;) ... hee hee ... okay maybe not. :)
Hi aircommandteam, This seems to be a verry succesfull launch.What a pressure and height that the rocket was taking.I,m happy for you that the deployement worked well.It,s a nice video as well.This rocket with a greater nozzle????->more height!!!!.
Hi aircommandteam. This seems to be a verry succesfull launch. What a pressure and height that the rocket was taking.I,m happy for you that the deployement worked verry well.It,s a nice video as well.And what if the rocket has a greater nozzle?
Thanks lucrockets. :) A bigger nozzle would probably raise the apogee a little more. We are using a smaller nozzle on purpose to reduce the stress on components during the high-G portion of the flight.
Hey George, LOL .... it would be a cruise missile on wheels :)
-todd-
Post a Comment