Ping Pong Parachute B/C

[builderguy135]

Winning time @ UGA was 7.88 seconds. Makes sense from my experience at NJ states 2 years ago. not sure about the celing height. Pressure at NJ states was fixed at 40 psi.

Winning times at NJ were very similar to that, if not less (last 2years)

[jaggie34]

Winning time @ UGA was 7.88 seconds. Makes sense from my experience at NJ states 2 years ago. not sure about the celing height. Pressure at NJ states was fixed at 40 psi.

Winning times at NJ were very similar to that, if not less (last 2years)

imo UGA is a bad comparison, the event was in an auditorium/lecture hall and the launcher was finicky and a couple feet off the ground

[builderguy135]

Winning time @ UGA was 7.88 seconds. Makes sense from my experience at NJ states 2 years ago. not sure about the celing height. Pressure at NJ states was fixed at 40 psi.

Winning times at NJ were very similar to that, if not less (last 2years)

imo UGA is a bad comparison, the event was in an auditorium/lecture hall and the launcher was finicky and a couple feet off the ground

Tbf NJ states had a max psi of 40 lol

[Dreamz]

I've been testing with the Nerds Inc Model Z launcher and we've been having a problem with launcher consistency. At higher pressures (>30 PSI), the U-shaped pin does not pull out enough to release the bottle, perhaps due to the higher friction force between the pin and both the bottle and the metal holes it passes through.

Has anybody had success with graphite lubricant on the metal holes? That's what I'm considering currently. Would love other ideas as well.

[JonB]

I've been testing with the Nerds Inc Model Z launcher and we've been having a problem with launcher consistency. At higher pressures (>30 PSI), the U-shaped pin does not pull out enough to release the bottle, perhaps due to the higher friction force between the pin and both the bottle and the metal holes it passes through.

Has anybody had success with graphite lubricant on the metal holes? That's what I'm considering currently. Would love other ideas as well.

We have not seen that issue above 30psi but maybe it is a friction problem. Does there seem to be friction between the pins and the holes when there is no pressure?

Other thoughts on what it could be:
- Do you have a way to measure the pressure on that part of the system (the second air pump for the trigger)? We have seen that part of the system lose pressure on its own (relatively quickly) for various reasons. Immediately before the launch (and once the bottle psi has leveled off) we "top off" the pressure in the trigger system.
- Make sure the button is pressed long enough (I do not think that would be the issue, just throwing it out there though)

[Ramrod]

Does anyone know if we need to make our own parachute? Are we allowed to buy one?

[CookiePie1]

Does anyone know if we need to make our own parachute? Are we allowed to buy one?

Well, the rules don't explicitly say against buying a parachute but I'd say that goes against the spirit of the competition. Also, where would you even buy a parachute made specifically for a ping pong ball? I reccomend making your own parachute.

[HippoLowercase]

Where do you guys place the parachute system on the bottle rocket? I'm just wondering since our parachute doesn't always open consistently

[Hartman]

I've been kind of annoyed by the tangling of the parachutes and was thinking about replacing part of the string with a rod of some sort.

However, I couldn't find a material thin or light enough to work. Any thoughts?

[will0416]

I've been kind of annoyed by the tangling of the parachutes and was thinking about replacing part of the string with a rod of some sort.

However, I couldn't find a material thin or light enough to work. Any thoughts?

rods don't seem like the move. I'd just be careful that you can keep track of which strings your ball is jumping through when it lands so that you can reverse the tangles, there are a few solutions to tangling but they're more like compromises