The Matchstick Rocket

Inner-office Ballistics

the mission create and launch a "rocket" out of office supplies     the materials matchbook aluminum foil 2 needles high lighter monster clip and rubber band a slow day @ work and an office door that shuts

ok, so while watching techTV the other day i saw a little deal that caught my attention - this dude making a WMD* rocket out of a paper matchstick. intrigued, i went to the web site and printed out the instructions.

never one to completely read all the directions, below is MY VERSION of how to create a rocket out of a matchstick.. incredibly.

* Weapon of Minimal Destruction

the assembly

1: now while i know this doesn't look very   mental, trust me - there is a trick to this and you will probably get frustrated to the point of wadding up your whole sheet of foil and throwing it @ your office window after pricking yourself with not just one... but both of the sewing needles. (just remember to breathe - in with the good, out with the bad)       ok, so with that out of the way take a 1 inch x 1 inch square of foil with smooth edges and place a paper match and 2 straight pens or sewing needles as shown.

2: next fold the foil around the match making   sure to press firmly enough so that you can see an impression from where the needles are next to the match head.       with the folds completed, roll up the top to make a "warhead" that will be more aerodynamic.       next, gently slide the needles out making sure that you leave clear air ducts to the match head. this is where the thrust will come from.

3: launch pad assembly

what good is a rocket if you have no way to launch it? so i slammed together a monster clip, a pink high lighter and a rubber band. (please note that i had to "borrow" the pink high lighter - nobody... repeat NOBODY @ www.richardvining.com has a pink high lighter), next i packed in some foil and a dime to create a base for the rocket tail to rest on and loaded the rocket and got ready to fire - but first...

...a parade

4: the countdown

with my web cam poised to record all the action, i cleared my desk... errrrr the launch site, shut my office door, fired up the aim-n-flame and started the countdown.

here is what went down: video 1.6mb

now i don't want to give the false impression that every launch attempt went smoothly (the first 8 failed to clear the launch site - video: try 3 burnout) my 9th attempt was a sparkling success.

the aftermath

preliminary indications show that my rocket traveled about 7 feet. now while that may not seem like much, keep in mind that the match is only about 1.25'' inches long. therefore, proportionally this is about the same as me firing a "test rocket" over japan.

	in this picture the north korean 1,000,000 man army marches with the RV-xr4ti prototype in hand.

now while this edition of "incredible creations" is not totally my idea, it is bound to spawn other tremendous ideas down the road... like a rocket powered cooler-on-wheels or something. (stay tuned) anyway, the possibilities are endless and that is why the matchstick rocket is a part of the "incredible creation" archive.

rvining - 6/26/2009 1:16:56 PM while this is a 7 year old feature, I find it somewhat relevant once again 'in light of recent events'

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