Water Bottle Rocket

This is my entry to the "Make It Fly" Contest.

Hope you enjoy and learn from this instructable.

Safety first, people!

Step 1: Materials and Tools

To make this water rocket you need:

1 soda bottle

Piping and bend

9 zip-ties

Cardboard

Duct tape

Piece of wood

Metal screw strip

Air pump (I used a pump for an inflatable maddress)

Tools:

Dremel

6 Nails

Hammer

Saw

Scissors

Knife

Step 2: Prepare the Rocket

The pipe I was using was a bit too large for the bottle, so I used a Dremel and sand-paper to make the bottle neck a bit wider.

The pipe should be able to glide in and out with only minor resistance.

Step 3: Decorate the Bottle

Take some of your cardboard, and make fins out of it. I made three of them, but feel free to make as many as you wish!

I also covered one fin with duct tape, just for decoration.

Glue the fins in place. Use a lot of glue, to make sure they won't fly off! I put mine on at an angle, so that the rocket will rotate once in the air.

For the "hat", simply cut a circle out of cardboard and cut a triangular piece out of it. The larger the angle, the higher the "hat" will be. I went for a Chinese look, and then I glued it on the top of the rocket (bottom of the bottle).

Step 4: Make the Launcher

Take your pipe bend and another piece of pipe, and tape them together like the second photo.

Then use a coupler and tape it on like the fourth photo. The coupler will block the bottler from sliding too far down.

Then the long piece of piping to the coupler, like in the sixth photo.

Try sliding the pipe into the bottle, it should be around the middle of the bottle when the bottle hits the pipe coupler.

Finally, tape your pump to the other end of the pipe bend.

Step 5: Quick Release

Take a bit of duct tape, and stick multible zip ties on it. Make them as accurate as possible!

Then align the zip ties to the bottle (as shown in the second photo), and tape them down.

Grab another zip tie, and zip it round the others, and ad a string to it (so you can release the bottle when the pressure is high enough.

It should look something like the fifth photo.

Step 6: Make the Base

Cut your piece of wood in half, and nail it together like in the second photo.

Use the metal screw strip to secure the launcher to the base.

Step 7: 3... 2... 1... LIFTOFF!

Fill water in the bottle (about half full), put the bottle on the launcher and pressurize.

When you think there is enough air in the bottle, simply pull the string, and the rocket is in the air!

Why not make it? It sure is a fun toy!

Thanks to sshuggi for inspiration!

Make sure to read his instructable here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Bottle-Rocket-Laun...