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My rocket gallery
Some pictures and drawings with dimensions

First version rocket with shrunken body elements. Fins from balsa wood, chute recovery, tommy timer -Body diameter 70mm (standard PET bottle diameter is 87 mm) -Total lenght 1800 mm -Pressure container length 1500mm Current status: under further improvement (less wrinkles because of heat shrink and more straight alignment of sections)

	Two stage rocket, booster with 7 liter volume and a sustainer from 3 liter. Coupler is a gardenia type of coupler. Coupler size is the larger sized one for hoses of 30mm. So with a little bit of drilling a 15 mm launch tube fits in. Two tommy-timers release mechanisms, one for the sustainer release and one for the chute release. Both timers are triggered on launch by a small air-flap mechanism. Fin setup has to be improved. First flight was not stable, see launch section for more details. Sustainer fins from balsa wood, booster fins from double layered Pet bottle material Data: -combined lenght 2300 mm -booster volume 7.2 dm^3 -sustainer volume 3 dm^3 -total weight 1400 grams. -sustainer fins 4 fins exp. span 80mm length 110 mm tilt 50 mm -booster fins 4 fins exp. span 90mm length 110 mm titl 50 mm Current status: under improvement, second stage lawn-darted, total write-off.

The 14L is my largest rocket up to today, pressure vessel measures 260 cm in length and has a volume of 14L. It is made from Spa bottle parts. Hydro-pressure test showed that it could withstand 200 psi / +14 bar pressures. Simulator indicates that this rocket must be capable of 330 m apogee. It is a concept test vehicle for the 20L. Fins are same as for 9L, sandwich PET bottle fins almost indistructible. Current status: Active.

The pressurized body is made out of 7 bottle parts glued together. On top a 180 mm bottle ( non pressurized top part with the airflap release mechanism and the globe top. The four fins are the double layered PET bottle type (see fins in the construction section). Root and tip chord are both 110 mm, the span is 85mm and they are 60 m tilted backwards. The red thing is a clothing pin, holding the release mechanism on lock.On the inside the launching tube is visible. (A standard PVC pipe for electrical wiring) Current status, exploded during aqua testing at about 150 psi.

3L rocket

Pictures and drawing of the 3L rocket before its maiden flight. Volume is about 3 liters. Fins have a partial double layer PET buildup. As soon as the wether gets a little better I will try to see if they are stable enough. Release mechanism is airflap type. I made this rocket with the intention to serve as a second stage on top of the 9L rocket, the 9L is going to be a booster. In simulations I found if this setup is launched at 13 bar the apogee will be at 341 m, (my goal). Have not found a good second stage release mechanism that can withstand the presurization forces and accelleration forces and can release the second stage at a certain airspeed. Current status: Abandoned for better 3.8 liter construction.

The two stage rocket. Its a combo of the 9L and 3L rocket, release mechanism is a pressurized tube with airflap release. First launch was on 3 August 2004, started with a low pressure. The CP-CG distance of the combo is only 135 mm apart, first flight was stable with this. The stage release mechanism (pressurized tube) was not able to handle higher pressures. At pressures above 100 psi the pulling force on the tube caused it to slip and to pre-release the second stage. So abandoned the idea. See above for newer gardenia type of two stage release mechanism. Current status: Abandoned, pressurized tube mechanism was not reliable at higher pressures (>100 psi).

3.8L rocket. Made with high pressure splice construction method to practice high pressure launches and test the mechanical timer release mechanism. Rocket pressure vessel is made from 4 Spa bottles, two for the top and bottom sections, one middle section and two joining rings that are cut out from one bottle (10cm length each.) Maiden flight on 30 january 2005, see launch section for launch report. Current status: Alive.

A rocket made with a white PP (polypropylene) tube, used in bathrooms and some Pet bottle caps. Release mechanism is air-flap type. Fins, single layer of PET, four fins This rocket is stable and flies ok, ..but the PP tube is to flexible, it expands to much under the air pressure This causes the top seal to leak above 100psi Current status: Abandoned, PP tube used for altimeter protection.

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