The assembly of the engine block is one of the more difficult portions of this tutorial due to the difficulty in seeing what you are doing.
- PARTS: spacer tube, engine block, and body tube
- MATERIALS: ruler, pencil, cement, and toothpick
First, using a ruler, measure 32 mm from one end of the body tube. Make a visible mark at this point with a pencil.
Second, using a ruler, measure 6 mm from one end of the spacer tube. Make a visible mark at this point with a pencil.
Third, apply the cement in a circle on the inside of the body tube at the point of your pencil mark.
TIP: Although most directions call for a piece of scrap balsa wood or plastic, toothpicks provide a more accurate and manageable glue applicator.
Fourth, insert the engine block into the body tube.
Fifth, push the engine block into the body tube using the spacer tube until 64 mm of the spacer tube is inside the body tube. At this point, the end of the body tube should line up with the mark you made in the second step of the engine block assembly.
Although this process is designed for one particular rocket, you can design your own engine blocks for different rockets. To learn more about engine mounts jump to the Designing Your Own Rocket Engine Mount Page.
This page, its contents, and the Hitchhikers Guide
logo are copyright 1997 by:
Nicholas Burlett, Nathaniel Grady and William