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Where is the best place to keep the ping pong ball for the parachute? I don't understand, and can someone help me understand where to put the parachute? Is it placed in the bottle or what?

hopefully don't put it in the bottle...also how would you do that lol

Depending on how you design it, it will probably go either on top of the rocket or inside a detachable nose cone.

If you were to put it on top of the rocket, could your nose cone have a hole on top that allows the ping pong ball to be placed on it?
I know that the nose cone should be rounded and blunt.

eagerlearner102 wrote: ↑January 10th, 2020, 8:55 pm If you were to put it on top of the rocket, could your nose cone have a hole on top that allows the ping pong ball to be placed on it?
I know that the nose cone should be rounded and blunt.

Yes, many are doing it that way.

Thanks.
Which one works better?
Putting it in the nosecone and then detaching, or simply placing it on top?
I will probably experiment with both.

eagerlearner102 wrote: ↑January 10th, 2020, 9:09 pm Thanks.
Which one works better?
Putting it in the nosecone and then detaching, or simply placing it on top?
I will probably experiment with both.

I don't think there is enough height in most gyms to detach a cone and release anything. Most of the ones I saw at the last invitational had the ball sit on a "cone" that was taped to the bottle and the parachute drapped over it. The key is to get the rocket to go up straight, stall and drop releasing the parachute and ball. I saw a lot of failures with rockets that have an arched trajectory and just carried the parachute to the ground. Adding weight to the top of the bottle/cone will help.

in past years, my rocket designs could accomodate a ball on top, so that is my preferred method

I just went to an invite yesterday, and the top six teams all had the ball dangling off of the nose cone. However, It requires a very long and thin nose cone.