Water Rockets

I'm currently trying to build a 2-stage high-pressure water rocket that has the potential to reach an altitude of 1,000 ft.

I'm working from the plans for the Millennium VIII, but I've added a few refinements of my own along the way.

Later projects may include trying to replicate the Japanese water rocket jetpack, or an attempt to beat the US Water Rockets world record of 1,787 ft.
 
First Launch Altitude
June 12, 2006
The incredibly helpful folks at PerfectFlite have repaired and returned my altimeter, and it looks great! More importantly, though, they were able to pull the flight data out of it, so I now know how high it went: 497 ft.! (Only half as high as I'd hoped, but I'm still pleased.)
 
First Launch of 2-Stage Rocket
May 27, 2006
Saturday of Memorial Day weekend was perfect launch weather – clear, warm, and nearly dead calm. Launch, separation, and flight were also perfect, but the return to earth left a bit to be desired.
 
2-Stage rocket - painted

Some photos showing the parts sanded, masked, and partially painted, and a few of the finished paint job.

The adhesive that forms the base for the timer still hasn't hardened, so the final mounting of the timer mechanism has to wait a bit.

Other items on the punch list: when my altimeter arrives, I'll need to cut some foam chunks to pack it into the nose, I need to figure out how long the timer should run, and get that dialed in, and there's a bit of touch-up painting to do. (I left an unpainted strip on the booster to make it easier to check the fill level, but it's too big and square, so I've masked off a thinner, more rounded window area and need to paint over the rest.)
 
2-Stage rocket - nearly complete

The 1st stage (booster) and 2nd stage (sustainer) are nearly complete. Fins are in place, the parachute and timer are ready to be mounted, and the separation mechanism and sustainer nozzle are done and in place.

Remaining tasks: seal the wood fins and paint the body parts and fins. White is required for the body parts because solar heat on colored plastic will warp them, but I'm thinking orange would be a good, easily visible choice for the fins.
 
Small test rocket, 2nd launch, 2nd no-chute landing

This was the second launch of a small test rocket made from lightweight tubing and water bottle necks.

It was intended to test the timer mechanism and to try out an idea I had for putting the parachute in the nose. Either the timer ran too long or the nosecone didn't release properly, since it came down like an arrow, destroying the nosecone, timer, and end of the tube.

The first test failed because I forgot to take off the tape that held the nosecone on, but the result was less disastrous because it landed on grass.
 
Photos of the small test rocket, before and after two no-chute flights
April 21, 2006

Photos of the test rocket's nose, fins, chute release timer and trigger pin.

Additional photos show the damage done by the no-chute landings–the nose is smashed and parts are jammed down into the tube, the tube is crumpled, and some of the timer's gears are rattling around loose in the tube.
 
Launch platform test - small bottle, 3/4 full of water, 120 psi
April 13, 2006
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