LENS- Outer diameter: 2.6 cm
- Inner diameter: 1.9 cm
- Thickness: 0.5 mm
- Set ‘position relative to Bottom
of the parent component’ to -7 cm - Material: Balsa
Repeat this to add a second ring with the same
values, except the ‘position relative to Bottom of
the parent component’ as 0. This will put a mount
at either end of the motor tube to fully secure it to
the main body.
We’re almost there now. The only thing left
is to ensure that our rocket can come safely
down to earth. Highlight the Body Tube and click
the Parachute icon. Then enter the following in
the dialog:
- Diameter: 30 cm
- Position ‘top of the parent component’: 3 cm
Now is the time to save your work. Click File, then
Save As, and give your work a unique file name if
you haven’t done it already.
READY FOR LAUNCH
We’ve got our rocket designed, so now it’s time
to see what it’ll do in flight. Click to highlight Inner
tube/motor tube, and then click the ‘Motors and
configuration’ tab in the tabs area. Click New
Configuration,
then double-
click on None
in the Inner
tube column.
There are all
kinds of ways you
can constrain the lists
of commercially available
motors. For example, you could
set the software to search for an
individual motor manufacturer or for
the motor diameter. For our run-through
we need to find an ‘Estes B6-4’ motor and
select it, making sure to add a four-second
delay in the motor selection dialog box, then
click Close.
Now everything’s set up, let’s see how this
flies! Click the Flight simulations tab from the main
three tabs.
You should see that there is a single simulation
listed that hasn’t been run with your motor details
in it. Highlight it, and then click the ‘run simulation’
button. The slots will fill with data. Then, click the
Plot button and OK the next dialog, and you should
get a flight simulation graph.
Congratulations! If you made it this far, you have
designed and simulated a small, and not terribly
efficient, rocket. Time for you to experiment and play
and design something amazing.Left
The simulation
shows you the speed,
height, and vertical
acceleration of
your rocket