New Projectiles

When I first saw the USB rocket launchers I assumed they were spring loaded. To my surprise, they are driven by compressed air. This has a nice side effect, that new projectile types are easy to make.

The Dream Cheeky USB rocket launcher only comes with three rockets. So when I bought mine, I haggled to also have included a pack of three more spares. They did not have any spare rockets, but I have three flying circus people from the circus cannon model. But even six can be easily lost, especially since our cat enjoys chasing them.

It turns out that the barrel, is just the perfect size for a straw. I started out with just cutting a straw and putting some tape over the end. I thought that they would fly short and that I would have to add at least a little bit of weight. To my surprise, the straws fly about 75% the distance of the rockets. I will try adding some weights to them later.

But I also thought that straws were a bit boring. What else might I try?

The Spitfires

All boys know about spitballs. It has been a long time since I felt the need to chew on a small piece of paper to embed it with saliva. I decide to try it and put it in the end of one of the straws. Amazingly, the spitballs work perfect!

V-1 Buzz Bomb

My next thought other than adding a little bit of weight, is to add some lift. Here is a model that I built and tested. It flies amazingly well also, although still not as far as the foam rockets.

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