The Easiest Ways to Make a Model Rocket Without Chemicals
Chemicals are normally used by space agencies and amateur rocketeers alike to launch rockets. However, you can make a model rocket without chemicals. This can be a launching or non-launching type. For model rockets that launch, you have to add enough energy so the craft will escape the Earth's gravity temporarily. Two obvious options are both readily available fluids capable of being compressed, namely air and water.
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Water Rocket
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You can build a rocket powered by water. Gary Jacobs, a former test engineer, claims his Plutoid-1B rocket system, that you make using templates and a launch tube, will fly hundreds of feet into the air and land undamaged. This is an inexpensive and reliable system, according to Jacobs. The rocket is designed to launch like the Space Transportation System -- commonly known as the Space Shuttle -- by the controlled release of a fluid through a small aperture at high pressure. In this case, the fluid is water.
Air Rocket
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You can launch a paper rocket using a high-power paper rocket launcher, according to NASA. This is a device you can buy or make, and you use a small electric compressor or even a bicycle pump to pressurize the air. Wrap a piece of paper around a 1-inch diameter PVC launch rod to make a paper tube, and then tape the edge down with transparent, cellophane tape. Slip this off the launch rod and you have a rocket body ready to be customized. Make a paper cone and tape it to the top of your rocket. Make fins and add them to the base. When ready, go for launch.
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Nonlaunching Rocket
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A model rocket made without chemicals is not necessarily a rocket capable of being launched. You could make a wooden rocket strictly intended to be a decorative item. Starting with a 12-inch long, cylindrical piece of wood, use a surform or file to shape the curving, pointed cone at one end. If you have access to a lathe, you can do most of this job with a chisel in seconds.
Adding Fins
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Rocket fins come in many shapes and sizes. Design one on paper until you are happy with the shape. Then trace the shape onto plywood or similar board as many times as the number of fins you would like on your rocket. Cut them out with a jigsaw and fix them at the base of your rocket with wood glue. When this is dry, paint your rocket and add details like portholes, logos, panels, decals and the national flag.
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References
- Photo Credit George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images
