I present to you, "Propell", the rocket my 7 year old child and I built in 2008.
The body tube was made from rolling paper from a supermarket paper bag around a form made out of spent 18mm rocket engines.
The fins were cut out of cardboard from a box that once contained something else.
The elastic shock cord came from the household sewing kit.
The nose cone was rolled from ordinary copy paper and then glued to a piece of spent 18mm engine.
The shock cord was quite permanently attached by gluing the end of the shock cord into the end of the nose cone using polyurethane glue (boy that stuff foams up!)
A streamer was cut from a piece of plastic supermarket bag and tied to the shock cord.
A 1/4" cardboard ring, cut from a spent 18mm engine, was glued into place as an engine block.
The two launch lugs were made from a paper straw liberated from Ted's Montana Grill. Those Ted's Montana Grill straws are very strong and, since they are made from paper, they glue on nice and tight to a paper body tube using ordinary carpenter's wood glue.
As you can see, Propel (named by the 7 year old) is a minimum diameter model rocket. An 18mm engine is friction fitted into the bottom of the rocket using masking tape.
There have been some hard landings and at least one lawn dart landing. That is why there is a seam in the middle of the rocket where we had to splice the two pieces of body tube together using yet another piece of spent 18mm engine.
I found the plans for rolling the body tube and the nose cone on the internet somewhere. I cannot remember where.
Propell just keeps on flying. The fins are bent but never break off.
The rocket is basically indestructible.
The Moral of the Story:
If you have paper, glue, cardboard, a straw, and a couple of spent 18mm engines, you can make a model rocket that flies over and over again and becomes a family heirloom.
The body tube was made from rolling paper from a supermarket paper bag around a form made out of spent 18mm rocket engines.
The fins were cut out of cardboard from a box that once contained something else.
The elastic shock cord came from the household sewing kit.
The nose cone was rolled from ordinary copy paper and then glued to a piece of spent 18mm engine.
The shock cord was quite permanently attached by gluing the end of the shock cord into the end of the nose cone using polyurethane glue (boy that stuff foams up!)
A streamer was cut from a piece of plastic supermarket bag and tied to the shock cord.
A 1/4" cardboard ring, cut from a spent 18mm engine, was glued into place as an engine block.
The two launch lugs were made from a paper straw liberated from Ted's Montana Grill. Those Ted's Montana Grill straws are very strong and, since they are made from paper, they glue on nice and tight to a paper body tube using ordinary carpenter's wood glue.
As you can see, Propel (named by the 7 year old) is a minimum diameter model rocket. An 18mm engine is friction fitted into the bottom of the rocket using masking tape.
There have been some hard landings and at least one lawn dart landing. That is why there is a seam in the middle of the rocket where we had to splice the two pieces of body tube together using yet another piece of spent 18mm engine.
I found the plans for rolling the body tube and the nose cone on the internet somewhere. I cannot remember where.
Propell just keeps on flying. The fins are bent but never break off.
The rocket is basically indestructible.
The Moral of the Story:
If you have paper, glue, cardboard, a straw, and a couple of spent 18mm engines, you can make a model rocket that flies over and over again and becomes a family heirloom.
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