Questions for Elevated Bridge

[Dark Sabre]

The winners of building events don't find creative interpretations of the rules, they simply use superior designs and build superior devices. The lines drawn by the spirit of the competition should be common sense.
Conniving against the rules doesn't work out well unless the judge is a dullard. If your story about the rocket is true, then that team would have submitted an appeal to the committee and the arbitration process doesn't look fondly rule bending, as it apparently didn't in their case. If you intend on attending Nationals with a device of dubious legality, the NSO site has a convenient clarification process which will keep you from being DQ'ed by surprise.

[dudeincolorado]

how would you make a rocket that weight zero? was it air?

[captbilly]

how would you make a rocket that weight zero? was it air?

I assume that the rocket either used the solar heating of the air (it was black) or was filled with a low density gas (helium?) The rocket was very large, as tall as the kid that built it I would say. The rocket must have been incredibly hard to build because that year the rules required a ridged structure and this thing looked like it was built like a miniature Hindenberg. The crowd loved it, they stood up and cheered as it flew away. I guess they were as bored as I was about the endless parade of backsliders that went before it. I did hear the next year's event coordinators saying that they would not have DQed it, but I do know that the kid did not medal in that event that year, although I think he got gold in bridge that year, and I have seen him win numerous medals (including golds and silvers) since then. I suspect from this kid's continued success at SO Nationals that the event coordinators do not find his solutions to be offensive, I just think he is very creative in how he looks at the events and he finds out of the box solutions that others might not think of. I guess sometimes he pays a price for the out of the box thinking since I assume his rocket was DQed that year.

[fleet130]

it was built like a miniature Hindenberg.

Unfortunately the rules called for a rocket, not a dirigible or rocket/dirigible hybrid.

[calgoddard]

I saw the combination blimp and bottle rocket launched at O5 Nationals.

It was a 2 L bottle suspended from a black bag filled with individual helium balloons.

I overhead the protest. It was based on the part of the rules that said the only pressurized gas allowed was the air supplied by the EC.

I have an excellent picture of this device, but was unable to upload it to the image gallery. I followed all the instructions, and the jpg file seemd to load. But after all the progress bars went green, it just stayed there like that.

[zbuilder]

I saw the combination blimp and bottle rocket launched at O5 Nationals.

It was a 2 L bottle suspended from a black bag filled with individual helium balloons.

I overhead the protest. It was based on the part of the rules that said the only pressurized gas allowed was the air supplied by the EC.

I have an excellent picture of this device, but was unable to upload it to the image gallery. I followed all the instructions, and the jpg file seemd to load. But after all the progress bars went green, it just stayed there like that.

I also saw the device and there definitely were not any balloons in it. It consisted of a balsa structure covered with some sort of black plastic. The device was damaged during it's flight so when it was recovered by some spectators I was able to see inside of it and it was completely empty except for the structure (actually there were some very small strings passing through the center like spokes on a bicycle wheel, which I assume helped to support the structure). If there were any pressurized gas in that rocket, it was contained within the black plastic covering, not in balloons (although I believe the Hindenberg did have individual gas bags inside it's outer covering).

I found a picture that someone on my team took of the "rocket" but I cannot figure out how to post it. It clearly shows the wood and string stucture and there are definitely no balloons inside. If someone tells me how to post a picture I will do it.

[Dark Sabre]

If you can't get the Image Gallery to work for some reason, use Image Shack.

[zbuilder]

If you can't get the Image Gallery to work for some reason, use Image Shack.

I was hoping to post the picture in this thread, I can't see how to do that with the image gallery. Imageshack hosts the picture but how do I get it to show up here?

[Dark Sabre]

Well, if you do put it in the image gallery, a code appears underneath it, like:

Code: Select all

[gal2]716|32/IMG_0027.JPG[/gal2]

does:
[gal2]716|32/IMG_0027.JPG[/gal2]
So you can easily post stuff in threads from the gallery.

If you put it on ImageShack, you can use:
Thumbnail for forums (1)
Thumbnail for forums (2)
and get a thumbnail that links to the main image.

[cypressfalls Robert]

Wow ......i was really interested in seeing that picture.....where will it be posted?