On this page I will try to cover the basics of water rocketry from what is a water rocket, to how does a water rocket work, to how do I build a reliable recovery system

What is a water rocket?

To keep it short and to the point, a water rocket is any vessel propelled by a mixture of water and compresed gas (air, carbon dioxide, or helium).

How do I build a simple rocket?

A water rocket consist of four parts a nose-cone, the rocket body, fins, and a nozzle. To build a basic water rocket all you need is two plastic soda bottles (one for the rocket body, the other for the nose-cone, some material to make the fins with and something to attatch the fins to the rocket body. To build the rocket simply attatch the fins to the rocket body using duc tape, or PL premium (PL). Use duc tape if you want to build a quick and dirty rocket. If you want your rocket to look more proffesional and last longer then use PL. I think PL is avalably at any hardware store (I got mine at HomeDepot). After you have attatched the fins all that is left is making the nose-cone. This is extremely easy. To make the nose-cone simply cut the top off another soda bottle of the same size. Next tape the top of the soda bottle to the rocket body. That's it. Now all you need to do to launch your rocket is build a launcher. Below are some pictures of some simple water rocket that I have build.

A quick and dirty water rocket

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A more professional looking water rocket

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Launchers

Now that I have showed you how to build a water rocket you are going to probably want to build a launcher. Below are some links to help you build a launcher. I also have some photos which you can look at. The photos below are of my cable tie launcher. The plans for the laucher are in the links below.

This is a link to a simple water rocket launcher. It gives you a parts list and how to build it. Check this link out if you are just beginning.

This page has a lot of information on different launcher designs and how to build them. I would definitely check out this link.

This is a link to a simple yet good rocket laucher. This is the design I used for my first launcher.

Has a description of a cable tie launcher with good pictures

This link has plans for a cable tie launcher. This is an advanved water rocket launcher. I used these plans to build my current water rocket launcher.

This is a link a site with a copper tube launcher. The site also has good photos to help you along the way.

Below are some pictures I took of the launcher that my dad and I built. I hope that these pictures will give you an understanding of how our launcher works. The first picture shows the launcher in the hold down position. The second picture shows the launcher in the releas position. If you have any questions or comments please go to the contact me page on my website.

Launcher in hold down position

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Launcher in release position

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