This Blog documents the various activities of the world record holding water rocket team known as U.S. Water Rockets.
Using media aggregation technologies, we will be including videos and photos taken by the team and spectators of their water rocket launches as well as tutorials and instructions for building and flying water rockets safely.
Additional information on where to find competitions and rules regarding our water rocket world records will also be discussed.
This week, we are happy to announce a new type of Parachute Recovery System for rockets of all types, which combines the best features of an Axial System (large volume) and a Radial System (simple construction, and high reliability) to create a Hybrid system that is better than the sum of its parts.
If you would like to see a video showing how we build and tested the Hybrid Deploy, check out the link below to the video on our YouTube Channel: http://youtu.be/_x7sSLBN8zk
Our friend Bugwubber on
the WRA2 Water Rocket Forum (waterrocketforum.com) recently discovered that PL
Premium Construction Adhesive is available in a small re-sealable tube! We
located the small tube at our local home improvement store, and confirmed it is
available from online merchants like amazon.com and others. The part number to
order is: Osi Sealants/henkel Adhesives #1451588.
This new packaging option may make it easier for Water Rocket makers around the globe to obtain this adhesive where it was previously unavailable or cost prohibitive to ship due to the large and heavy caulk cartridge container. This small tube is perfect for water rockets because the screw-on cap prevents the unused potion from curing when not in use.
You may find that the 4oz tube is too small if you follow the obsolete and wasteful splicing tutorials that have been copied over and over since the late 20th century, but this 4oz tube is perfect for the efficient splices that we created for our rockets. You can see our tutorial for splicing using our modernized technique on our YouTube Channel at the following link:
The new splicing method has been repeatedly tested and can hold around 200PSI if you take your tine and follow the splice instructions closely. Pressure testing of the new splice is available at this link:
Using this splice technique, this 4oz tube should be
enough to build more than 10 very large water rockets, similar to the one shown
in this video:
We hope that this new packaging proves useful to our friends overseas where PL Premium has been hard to obtain. Let us know what you think!
U.S. Water Rockets is pleased to announce the publication of the new book: Make: Rockets: Down-to-Earth Rocket Science, by Mike Westerfield.
This book is a must-have for anyone interested in model rocketry. It is an incredible resource for beginners and experts alike. This book covers every aspect of model rocketry and includes detailed step-by-step instructions for building and flying a vast number of different types of model rockets, from simple soda straws, to multi stage solid propellant rockets, and even water rockets with servo parachute recovery.
The book is filled with an incredible amount of photos and illustrations, and tons of construction tips never before collected in a single place. Bolstering the value of the book is the amount of meticulously researched and documented science that is explained in plain English, which brings the highly technical aspects of rocket science within reach of everyone.
And if you haven't guessed it by now by looking at the book cover photo, U.S. Water Rockets was involved with the creation of the Water Rocket chapters in this book! It was great fun helping to create this wonderful model rocketry resource, and to help introduce Water Rockets to a wider audience. Who knows, this book may inspire the next Air Command to take up the hobby, like our contribution to the Water Rocket segment on MythBusters did!
