The leading edge and trailing edge should be sanded with sandpaper so that they are rounded. This will help make the rocket fly straight. A two inch long section of a plastic straw can be attached to the rocket to launch it from. A clothes hanger can be cut and made into a launch rod. The segment of a plastic straw should be glued to the rocket engine adjacent to one of the fins of the rocket. A front view of a completed rocket bomb is shown below.
|
fin | ------ fin
| | |
| | |
| __|__ |
V / \ V
---------------| |--------------
\_____/
|o ----------- segment of plastic
| straw
|
| ------ fin
|
|
By cutting a coat hanger at the indicated arrows, and bending it, a launch rod can be made. After a fuse is inserted in the engine, the rocket is simply slid down the launch rod, which is put through the segment of plastic straw. The rocket should slide easily along a coathanger, such as the one illustated on the following page:
____
/ \
| |
cut here _____ |
| |
| |
| / \
V / \
_________________/ \________________
/ \
/ \
/____________________________________________\
^
|
|
and here ______|
Bend wire to this shape:
_______ insert into straw
|
|
|
V
____________________________________________
\
\
\
\
\ --------- bend here to adjust flight angle
|
|
|
|
|
| ---------- put this end in ground
|
6.12 LONG RANGE ROCKET BOMB
Long range rockets can be made by using multi-stage rockets. Model rocket engines with an "0" for a time delay are designed for use in multi-stage rockets. An engine such as the D12-0 is an excellent example of such an engine. Immediately after the thrust period is over, the ejection charge explodes. If another engine is placed directly against the back of an "0" engine, the explosion of the ejection charge will send hot gasses and burning particles into the nozzle of the engine above it, and ignite the thrust section. This will push the used "0" engine off of the rocket, causing an overall loss of weight. The main advantage of a multistage rocket is that it loses weight as travels, and it gains velocity. A multi-stage rocket must be designed somewhat differently than a single stage rocket, since, in order for a rocket to fly straight, its center of gravity must be ahead of its center of drag. This is accomplished by adding weight to the front of the rocket, or by moving the center of drag back by putting fins on the rocket that are well behind the rocket. A diagram of a multi-stage rocket is shown here:
___
/ \
| |
| C |
| M | ------ CM: Crater Maker
| |
| |
|___|
| |
| |
| |
| C | ------ C6-5 rocket engine
/| 6 |\
/ | | | \
/ | 5 | \
/ |___| \ ---- fin
/ /| |\ \
/ / | | \ \
/ / | | \ \
/ / | C | \ \
| / | 6 | \ |
| / | | | \ |
| / | 0 | \ |
|/ |___| \|
| / \ |
\______/ ^ \______/ ------- fin
|
|
|
|
C6-0 rocket engine
The fuse is put in the bottom engine.
Two, three, or even four stages can be added to a rocket bomb to give it a longer range. It is important, however, that for each additional stage, the fin area gets larger.
6.13 MULTIPLE WARHEAD ROCKET BOMBS
"M.R.V." is an acronym for Multiple Reentry Vehicle. The concept is simple: put more than one explosive warhead on a single missile. This can be done without too much difficulty by anyone who knows how to make crater-makers and can buy rocket engines. By attaching crater makers with long fuses to a rocket, it is possible that a single rocket could deliver several explosive devices to a target. Such a rocket might look like the diagram on the following page:
___
/ \
| |
| C |
| M |
|___|
___| |___
| | | |
| | T | |
/ \ | U | / \
/ \| B |/ \
| || E || |
| C || || C |
| M || || M |
| ||___|| |
\___/| E |\___/
| N |
/| G |\
/ | I | \
/ | N | \
/ | E | \
/ |___| \
/ fin/ | \ fin\
| / | \ |
\__/ | \__/
^
|____ fin
The crater makers are attached to the tube of rolled paper with tape. the paper tube is made by rolling and gluing a 4 inch by 8 inch piece of paper. The tube is glued to the engine, and is filled with gunpowder or black powder. Small holes are punched in it, and the fuses of the crater makers are inserted in these holes. A crater maker is glued to the open end of the tube, so that its fuse is inside the tube. A fuse is inserted in the engine, or in the bottom engine if the rocket bomb is multi stage, and the rocket is launched from the coathanger launcher, if a segment of a plastic straw has been attached to it.
6.2 CANNON
The cannon is a piece of artillery that has been in use since the 11th century. It is not unlike a musket, in that it is filled with powder, loaded, and fired. Cannons of this sort must also be cleaned after each shot, otherwise, the projectile may jam in the barrel when it is fired, causing the barrel to explode. A sociopath could build a cannon without too much trouble, if he/she had a little bit of money, and some patience.
6.21 BASIC PIPE CANNON