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new idea, pvc water rocket to propel a skateboard

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 7:43 pm
by djt
mmk so i had this idea a while ago to use the same pneumatic principals in a spud gun and the same idea as one of those two liter bottle rockets with water. i have held a bottle rocket while it was set off and those things have a pretty strong pushing force for a little two liter. anyways i want to know how fast you think my pvc version will be able to push someone sitting on something with wheels ( like a skateboard ). It will be eleven inches of four inch pvc reduced at the bottom to two inches. then it will have a 90 degree bend and a ball valve. at the end will be a threaded female 2" adapter and a threaded endcap to fit. i am planning on drilling out a nozzle shape in the endcap. i have plans made out but it wont let me attach it to the post. tell me if you think it will work. any input is greatly appreciated.

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:59 pm
by Atlantis
Put 3 on their and fire em off one at a time you could get some decent speed. I see no reason why this would'nt be safe. Just be careful if it accelerates too fast and you fall off any the skateboard hits something. Good Luck!

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:27 pm
by FiveseveN
It won't work if you're standing on the skateboard. The center of gravity is way too high and you'll go into a backflip. You could use water rockets to boost a go-kart or something similar, something with a lot of space between the wheels and a low center of gravity. You could use some 2 liter bottles to make a bigger one. You'll find some good info on the subject plus some rocket-powered cars on this site: http://www.outsideconnection.com/rockets/rocketcar.htm

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:23 am
by )DEMON(
yes and if you fall off the the skateboard then it is gonna fly a good 30 meters or something so keep a fail safe in mind,you dont want a skateboard smashing through a car windscreen or something

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:16 pm
by spud_masher2000
if you want to move it without a rocket just attach a mower or whippersnipper motor to the back wheels

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:01 pm
by noname
Or just wire a whole bunch of model rocket engines to the back in series so they all go off at once. My friend did that and got going like 25 mph and he's 180 lbs.

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:16 pm
by cannon freak
I think you should just go for a go cart type of vehical instead of the skateboard. Make a whole bunch of long water rockets out of 2 liter pop bottles since they are much cheaper than PVC and also you can make allot more of them and get more power for the same price.

Besides you can drink the pop.

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:27 pm
by saladtossser
make a ejection seat! use a guide rod

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:18 pm
by singularity
ou can make rockets from sugar and potassium nitrate (you can buy potassium nitrate on ebay for about a $1 a pound, or you can get some stump remover, or get some saltpeter from you local farmacy) mix them together in a 1:1 ratio and cook it in a LOW heat, at least thats how i member the recipe, wait maybe thats the 1 for smoke bombs well either way it should be fun and better than a boring water rocket

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:00 pm
by Mihlrad
The mythbusters did something similar to this, it did not worth, it wasnt strong enough to do anything more then give a nice nudge in the right direction. They did it with a big rig they made for a ton of sodabottles they pressurized and let off all at once, the dummy strapped to it went like 5 feet up and fell.

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:09 pm
by cannon freak
Mythbusters were trying to make a person fly through the air, however, djt want to try and propell himself forward. Unless you have a really big rocket your not going to go very far, but you may be able to pull quite a few G's. I know that those rockets take off very very fast, so it would be quite a ride even if it was short, but then again you would still need a big rocket. So I think pop bottles would be the best way instead of PVC.

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:06 pm
by M3NT4L
maybe this is a little off topic but wouldent 10 of the maximum thrust rocket engines do a good job for a couple of seconds

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:03 pm
by Rambo
I think a pulse jet is more suitable for the job.It's not that hard to make, but my don't have trust.

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:10 pm
by cannon freak
A pulse jet would be more for a go cart I don't think you would be able to make one to fit on a skate board and have much thrust.

Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 1:25 am
by singularity
what you should do is take a weed wacker remove that long handle thing and attack a 20" propeller to it