Carbon Fiber Model Rocket

So last year I took Science Research because my cousin convinced me to. He told me that it was a fun class in which you do a science fair project.

Then you go present what you did at a fair then you try to win so that you can go to state and compete also there were cash prizes if you impressed certain judges. If you are in high school you could go to international. I was in middle school at the time so there was no chance for that happening to me. So the first part of doing your project is finding your idea which is considered by most the hardest part of the project. For me that’s not true but that’s for later.

Most people have no idea on what they want to do. I knew that I wanted to work on rockets and the simplest project with rockets is what the best fin shape for a model rocket is. (I learned this year that that’s a project that gives different results each time so it’s not a good project.) To make my project stand out some more I was going to make my rockets out of carbon fiber. For most people you look in magazines and online for project ideas. Then once you find your idea that you’re going to test you go online and do research on your project.

Once you find a good website then you print it out then you highlight the important stuff then you put it in a binder. Once you have enough information you start writing your research paper in which you have your question hypothesis and your materials and procedure. Then you send it to a fair director to get it approved so that you can compete in the fair. I had lots of problems because the fair director wanted me to use a smaller engine and in my design I was using a larger engine. So then I compromised on using the smaller engine.

This was a huge mistake but at the time it was ok. Then you order the materials and I wanted to order the materials from a company that makes rockets but my teacher wanted me to order from another company and that was my fatal mistake. All of this is the engines and the engine holder (it’s the thing that hold the engine in place so that you can launch the rocket safely) and the parachute and the nose cone or everything on the inside plus the nose cone. The carbon fiber that I ordered was good. The carbon fiber had a one inch diameter and the engine was barley ? wide. This was because the company that the teacher told me to order sent me the wrong one.

So this threw my whole project out of sync the engine holder the most important part wasn’t able to use my old design. So now I cut the carbon fiber by hand which was a pain it took me and my dad 4-5 hours to cut. Then we made an engine holder that is made up of 3 rings that hold a tube in place that had the engine inside. Then the fins that I had cutout didn’t bond with the carbon fiber tube while using super glue. So we had to hold it in place for 15-20 min then the rocket held.

Then I launched the rocket it went up the backwards ejection charge that’s supposed to push the parachute out fired and the parachute didn’t come out. It landed on the school’s basketball court and it broke apart. The carbon fiber was fine but the rest of the rocket was in pieces. So then I made the rocket smaller by cutting the carbon fiber down. I cut down the fins and the tube. Now than when I launched the rockets again the ejection charge works and I get the rocket safely.

So the 3 different fin shapes that I used were a rectangular D and a triangular shaped. So my results were that the rectangular fin shaped fins worked the best the D shaped were the second and the triangular fins did the worst. Why this happened I don’t know. So now I had to write an analysis and an conclusion. Then you put together your board and get it approved by your teacher. Then you go compete in the science fair which is inside of a mall.

Then the first day you get judged by people to see which place you won. They ask you questions about your project and you answer them. The second day you get question asked but this is for money prizes and such. On both days you need to wear formal clothing. On the night of the 2nd day is the awards ceremony and you find out if you won or not. If you win first place they give you the info to get to other fairs which is awesome.

I won 1st place at this fair. State which is the net major fair is held in different spots every year. Last year it was held in lake land. In this fair its all of the first place winners from the state meet and then have a fair. ince the judging is only for 1 day and the awards ceremony is 2 days after you have lots of spare time in which you do different things like go to places like an aquarium and the state hold a party some place close.

You get to stay in an hotel were its 4 to a room.