Rocket Assembly Tips

1. Glue the two halves of the rocket body together, shape with a potato peeler, then sand. Carefully align and glue the two halves of the rocket body with Elmer's glue, or something similar. After the glue dries for 15 minutes, shape the body with a potato peeler until it looks roughly like a rocket. Then sand it into its final shape with medium grit sandpaper. Wrap sandpaper around the body, holding it with one hand while you twist the fuselage with your other hand. Design tips: Fast rockets are smooth, aerodynamically shaped, and lightweight. Make the shell of the rocket thin, but thick enough to hold the hanger that will be attached in step 4 and thick enough to support the pressure of a tightly wound rubber band. (For most of you, we have already shaped the rockets to a round shape ready for the rest of the assembly process.)
2. Cut notches for the plastic dowel. The rubber bands will slip without these notches.
3. Hold the body upright on a nail when you paint. Tap a long nail a few millimeters into a block of wood. Set the block on a newspaper-covered floor or table with the nail pointing straight up. Slide the rocket onto the nail, inserting the nail into the rocket’s hollow center. Paint with a couple coats of primer, sanding lightly with fine sandpaper after each coat. Next spray on a topcoat. Don't use too much paint, you want a light rocket.

4. (TAKE SPECIAL CARE WITH THIS STEP!) Attach the hanger, making sure that the rounded end points forward and that the hanger doesn't protrude into the rocket’s hollow center chamber. Glue it on with generous amounts of glue. Cut a grove for the hanger in the top-center of the rocket body. This 1" grove should be centered, 3" from the front and 3" from the rear of the body. Press the hanger into this groove, rounded end forward. The hanger must not protrude into the hollow chamber in the center of the body or it will interfere with the rubber band. The hanger must be firmly glued in place or it may detach during launch with disastrous consequence. Use a generous amount of glue to affix the hanger to the rocket body and allow the glue to dry overnight; a couple hours dry time may not be enough for Elmer's glue.

Don't forget.

1.      The hanger’s rounded end must point forward.

2.      The hanger must not protrude into the rubber-band chamber.

3.      The hanger must be very firmly glued on.

5. Cut and attach the fins. Shape the fins with scissors, then cut slits in the rocket and press the fins into the slits. Glue in place. Design tip: some claim that the fins should be angled upward very slightly. In theory this lifts the rocket slightly off the line during flight, reducing friction.
6. Trim and balance the propeller. Sand loose pieces of plastic from the propeller. If the propeller is unbalanced, one side will swing to the floor when it is placed in a horizontal position. Sand the edges of the propeller to balance it.
7. Pull rubber bands through with a wire hook. You can make a hook from coat hanger wire. (We'll have hooks at the event.)
8. Fine tune. Test the rocket's balance. Hold it lightly by the hanger with your fingers. If the rocket is nose-heavy, carve or sand a little wood off that end. If it's tail-heavy, remove wood from the tail area or from the fins. You may be able to unobtrusively take wood from the rocket's hollow center chamber. Some advocate lubricating the propeller with a touch of graphite at the point where it touches the bushing. Other lubricants may melt the plastic.

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