Bottle Rocket B

[fishman100]

i have a question is it a violation to have the fins of the rocket to be iverted

Nope...in fact angled fins (even if they're at a 90 degree angle) might help you.

[skillfullparrot7]

So, 1 liter bottles this year. I wonder if a design in the plastic of the bottle would give an advantage over a bottle with no design at all.

[Saturiea]

That would be an interesting variable to test. It would also be an easy thing to do, just get 5 or so different bottles and shoot them into the air. From past experience it seems that the rocket design is more important then the bottle choice as long as the bottle fits on the launcher.

[gmui]

I'm trying to decide between getting the Pitsco AquaPort and the NERDS Ultimate Water Rocket Launch Pad. It seems like both have been used in Science Olympiad events. Does anyone have any opinions on which of these is better? The Aquaport is $139 and the Nerds one is $119 so while both pricey, the difference isn't that significant. Is the PVC tripod (aquaport) better than the aluminum block style?

Here's the Pitsco: http://shop.pitsco.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=1179
Here's the NERDS: http://www.nerdsinc.com/Products?category=1

My son is trying to start with the bottle rocket competition this year (6th grade in NY) so I'd like to get one of these for him to learn by experimenting at home. I'd consider making one myself, but I imagine he'll be doing this with a bunch of his friends and prefer to have the safety and reliability of a well established commercial launcher.

Thanks!

[fishman100]

I'm trying to decide between getting the Pitsco AquaPort and the NERDS Ultimate Water Rocket Launch Pad. It seems like both have been used in Science Olympiad events. Does anyone have any opinions on which of these is better? The Aquaport is $139 and the Nerds one is $119 so while both pricey, the difference isn't that significant. Is the PVC tripod (aquaport) better than the aluminum block style?

Here's the Pitsco: http://shop.pitsco.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=1179
Here's the NERDS: http://www.nerdsinc.com/Products?category=1

My son is trying to start with the bottle rocket competition this year (6th grade in NY) so I'd like to get one of these for him to learn by experimenting at home. I'd consider making one myself, but I imagine he'll be doing this with a bunch of his friends and prefer to have the safety and reliability of a well established commercial launcher.

Thanks!

I used both last year and I found that the Aquaport was better. First off, the NERDS launcher has a stake that connects the launcher to the ground, so if you're planning to test on a hard surface (asphalt, for example) you might have trouble pinning it to the ground. (We encountered this problem while testing in the middle of a parking lot and tried to weigh it down with the extra water bottles we had, but the launcher still managed to slide when we tried to pull it. Our solution was to have my partner stand on the edge of the launcher while I pulled the rope. He got soaked.) I also noticed that you have to exert more strength to launch the bottle.

Now, one advantage of using the NERDS launcher is that you might get more accurate results. I don't really know how to explain this (partially because I was more focused on the building aspect of the event rather than the physics) but if you have a longer nozzle to launch the rocket then the flight time will be extended than if you have a shorter nozzle. The nozzle of the NERDS launcher pretty much fits exactly on the mouth of the bottle with little room to spare, which we found extremely helpful in the long run.

In the 4 competitions I've been to while having BR as an event I've seen the Aquaport launcher used the most, including at last year's National Tournament. The Aquaport is a tripod which makes it very easy to assemble/disassemble but it took a lot of effort to make sure the 3 legs were the same length (because our rocket was very reactive to a non-level launch surface). Unlike the NERDS launcher the Aquaport doesn't slip and slide around, but that's mainly due to the stake.

There's a special plug that fits onto the top of a tube for the Aquaport that allows the air to enter the pressure chamber. When we bought the Aquaport 2 plugs (of different sizes) were included but when we got to a competition that used the Aquaport they only had the other plug. We were still able to launch our rockets but the rockets didn't fit onto the rockets very easily, so if you do plan on testing with the Aquaport make sure you have both plugs at competitions.

When we started BR we originally built our own launcher, but compared to the other manufactured launchers (such as the NERDS or Aquaport) it sucked. We ditched the homemade launcher after a few weeks and I don't think we used it again. I can't really say whether the rocket's lights would have been any better/worse because at the time we were launching empty 2 liter bottles to familiarize ourselves with the event.

Regarding safety: I suppose the manufactured launchers would be the safest, however our homemade one was as safe as the Aquaport/NERDS (aka it doesn't really matter which one you pick in terms of safety). A homemade launcher can be dangerous if built incorrectly, especially when it comes to sealing any gaps that could potentially blow off an entire section of the launcher. One time our rocket launched itself prematurely while I was pumping and that caught everyone off guard (but that was another launcher so I guess it's not that big of a deal). Safety-wise both the Aquaport/NERDS are very safe, however, I would consider the Aquaport to be a little more safer since it has a pin you can insert to prevent any premature launches.

My recommendation would be to use the Aquaport. Yes, it's more expensive but since your son competes in a VERY competitive state chances are the state (or your school) already has one that he and his partner can use for testing. Since our team won states that year a school actually loaned us their launcher until the end of Nats. That was a nice gesture and I'm sure some schools in NY would be willing to do the same.

[gmui]

I used both last year and I found that the Aquaport was better. First off, the NERDS launcher has a stake that connects the launcher to the ground, so if you're planning to test on a hard surface (asphalt, for example) you might have trouble pinning it to the ground. (We encountered this problem while testing in the middle of a parking lot and tried to weigh it down with the extra water bottles we had, but the launcher still managed to slide when we tried to pull it. Our solution was to have my partner stand on the edge of the launcher while I pulled the rope. He got soaked.) I also noticed that you have to exert more strength to launch the bottle.

Now, one advantage of using the NERDS launcher is that you might get more accurate results. I don't really know how to explain this (partially because I was more focused on the building aspect of the event rather than the physics) but if you have a longer nozzle to launch the rocket then the flight time will be extended than if you have a shorter nozzle. The nozzle of the NERDS launcher pretty much fits exactly on the mouth of the bottle with little room to spare, which we found extremely helpful in the long run.

In the 4 competitions I've been to while having BR as an event I've seen the Aquaport launcher used the most, including at last year's National Tournament. The Aquaport is a tripod which makes it very easy to assemble/disassemble but it took a lot of effort to make sure the 3 legs were the same length (because our rocket was very reactive to a non-level launch surface). Unlike the NERDS launcher the Aquaport doesn't slip and slide around, but that's mainly due to the stake.

There's a special plug that fits onto the top of a tube for the Aquaport that allows the air to enter the pressure chamber. When we bought the Aquaport 2 plugs (of different sizes) were included but when we got to a competition that used the Aquaport they only had the other plug. We were still able to launch our rockets but the rockets didn't fit onto the rockets very easily, so if you do plan on testing with the Aquaport make sure you have both plugs at competitions.

When we started BR we originally built our own launcher, but compared to the other manufactured launchers (such as the NERDS or Aquaport) it sucked. We ditched the homemade launcher after a few weeks and I don't think we used it again. I can't really say whether the rocket's lights would have been any better/worse because at the time we were launching empty 2 liter bottles to familiarize ourselves with the event.

Regarding safety: I suppose the manufactured launchers would be the safest, however our homemade one was as safe as the Aquaport/NERDS (aka it doesn't really matter which one you pick in terms of safety). A homemade launcher can be dangerous if built incorrectly, especially when it comes to sealing any gaps that could potentially blow off an entire section of the launcher. One time our rocket launched itself prematurely while I was pumping and that caught everyone off guard (but that was another launcher so I guess it's not that big of a deal). Safety-wise both the Aquaport/NERDS are very safe, however, I would consider the Aquaport to be a little more safer since it has a pin you can insert to prevent any premature launches.

My recommendation would be to use the Aquaport. Yes, it's more expensive but since your son competes in a VERY competitive state chances are the state (or your school) already has one that he and his partner can use for testing. Since our team won states that year a school actually loaned us their launcher until the end of Nats. That was a nice gesture and I'm sure some schools in NY would be willing to do the same.

Thanks for the fast and well informed feedback. It would be nice to get the better fitting / longer launch nozzle, but then again maybe it's better to not rely on it when practicing if it may not be there in the competitions. Sounds like I'm going to go ahead and order the Aquaport tonight

[fishman100]

I used both last year and I found that the Aquaport was better. First off, the NERDS launcher has a stake that connects the launcher to the ground, so if you're planning to test on a hard surface (asphalt, for example) you might have trouble pinning it to the ground. (We encountered this problem while testing in the middle of a parking lot and tried to weigh it down with the extra water bottles we had, but the launcher still managed to slide when we tried to pull it. Our solution was to have my partner stand on the edge of the launcher while I pulled the rope. He got soaked.) I also noticed that you have to exert more strength to launch the bottle.

Now, one advantage of using the NERDS launcher is that you might get more accurate results. I don't really know how to explain this (partially because I was more focused on the building aspect of the event rather than the physics) but if you have a longer nozzle to launch the rocket then the flight time will be extended than if you have a shorter nozzle. The nozzle of the NERDS launcher pretty much fits exactly on the mouth of the bottle with little room to spare, which we found extremely helpful in the long run.

In the 4 competitions I've been to while having BR as an event I've seen the Aquaport launcher used the most, including at last year's National Tournament. The Aquaport is a tripod which makes it very easy to assemble/disassemble but it took a lot of effort to make sure the 3 legs were the same length (because our rocket was very reactive to a non-level launch surface). Unlike the NERDS launcher the Aquaport doesn't slip and slide around, but that's mainly due to the stake.

There's a special plug that fits onto the top of a tube for the Aquaport that allows the air to enter the pressure chamber. When we bought the Aquaport 2 plugs (of different sizes) were included but when we got to a competition that used the Aquaport they only had the other plug. We were still able to launch our rockets but the rockets didn't fit onto the rockets very easily, so if you do plan on testing with the Aquaport make sure you have both plugs at competitions.

When we started BR we originally built our own launcher, but compared to the other manufactured launchers (such as the NERDS or Aquaport) it sucked. We ditched the homemade launcher after a few weeks and I don't think we used it again. I can't really say whether the rocket's lights would have been any better/worse because at the time we were launching empty 2 liter bottles to familiarize ourselves with the event.

Regarding safety: I suppose the manufactured launchers would be the safest, however our homemade one was as safe as the Aquaport/NERDS (aka it doesn't really matter which one you pick in terms of safety). A homemade launcher can be dangerous if built incorrectly, especially when it comes to sealing any gaps that could potentially blow off an entire section of the launcher. One time our rocket launched itself prematurely while I was pumping and that caught everyone off guard (but that was another launcher so I guess it's not that big of a deal). Safety-wise both the Aquaport/NERDS are very safe, however, I would consider the Aquaport to be a little more safer since it has a pin you can insert to prevent any premature launches.

My recommendation would be to use the Aquaport. Yes, it's more expensive but since your son competes in a VERY competitive state chances are the state (or your school) already has one that he and his partner can use for testing. Since our team won states that year a school actually loaned us their launcher until the end of Nats. That was a nice gesture and I'm sure some schools in NY would be willing to do the same.

Thanks for the fast and well informed feedback. It would be nice to get the better fitting / longer launch nozzle, but then again maybe it's better to not rely on it when practicing if it may not be there in the competitions. Sounds like I'm going to go ahead and order the Aquaport tonight

Glad to have helped! I have seen some competitions use a longer nozzle but it is better to test with a shorter nozzle.

[Saturiea]

I also have both Launchers. What fishman has said is true. However there are a couple things that should also be taken into account when you decided on a launcher. One is Reliability, the other is ease of use.
From my experience the NERDS launcher is more reliable, it only has 1 moving part so it is really hard to break. The Aquaport however has 5-6ish moving parts and has broken on me before. The metal bar that is used as the lever to launch the rockets is weak and will require bending back into shape every so often*. On the flip side the NERDS launcher is harder to use. It is a pain to load a rocket on, and while loading you will get soaked (which isn't fun when its cold. It is also a lot harder to release the rocket once you have pumped up. The Aquaport launcher with its plugs allow you to easily fill your rocket without getting wet as well as load it fairly easily. Also it only requires a small amount of force to release.

Overall I would highly recommend the Aquaport launcher. It is easy to use and reliable (for the most part), and it is what most major competitions use so having practice with it is helpful.





*This is based off of a 5-6 year old launch. So they most likely have changed their design.

[fishman100]

I also have both Launchers. What fishman has said is true. However there are a couple things that should also be taken into account when you decided on a launcher. One is Reliability, the other is ease of use.
From my experience the NERDS launcher is more reliable, it only has 1 moving part so it is really hard to break. The Aquaport however has 5-6ish moving parts and has broken on me before. The metal bar that is used as the lever to launch the rockets is weak and will require bending back into shape every so often*. On the flip side the NERDS launcher is harder to use. It is a pain to load a rocket on, and while loading you will get soaked (which isn't fun when its cold. It is also a lot harder to release the rocket once you have pumped up. The Aquaport launcher with its plugs allow you to easily fill your rocket without getting wet as well as load it fairly easily. Also it only requires a small amount of force to release.

Overall I would highly recommend the Aquaport launcher. It is easy to use and reliable (for the most part), and it is what most major competitions use so having practice with it is helpful.





*This is based off of a 5-6 year old launch. So they most likely have changed their design.

Agreed; one time when we were testing my partner found a hole in the tube (Aquaport) that transported the air to the bottle. Never found a defect witht he NERDS, though.

[jason60069]

Did anybody start launching yet? What kind of times are you getting?

[fishman100]

Did anybody start launching yet? What kind of times are you getting?

I honestly don't think anyone has tested yet, and if they have it's most likely a crude prototype (i.e. not something they would bring to a competition).

[gmui]

Did anybody start launching yet? What kind of times are you getting?

I honestly don't think anyone has tested yet, and if they have it's most likely a crude prototype (i.e. not something they would bring to a competition).

We actually tried to launch a couple rockets my son and I made with the Aquaport launcher we recently got (thanks to the advice of this forum). As expected, it was our first attempt to make and launch rockets so we didn't have great success - but it was fun and got my son and his friend / partner excited about it. He's already made a better one that we'll try to launch this weekend.

Our rockets didn't go high and our times were only about 5 seconds, but they did at least backslide!

[fishman100]

That's a good start...I remember we were happy when it cleared a tree

A good resource to use is the Bottle Rocket Wiki. There are some good links and tips available.

[The Architect]

I remember that someone on our team made a rocket that got 5 seconds. He modified it a bit and got 17 seconds. That just shows that a little adjustment can greatly improve the quality of a rocket.

[Lady Epidemic]

I'm relaxing on the couch after a 4-hour building session, so we can launch on Wednesday. 15-20 seconds on rockets we launched a couple weeks ago, only they landed on the roof of the school. We had to wait until the next day to get them down. Hopefully these new ones me and my twin are just finishing will do a bit better. (And avoid the roof...oops.)