1. Cut out a piece of plywood with the dimensions 36" x 16" from the large sheet. Cut a second piece with the dimensions 19.5" x 16". Also, cut two pieces with the dimensions 15.25" x 2". These are all the rectangular pieces of plywood that need to be cut.
2. Cut two pieces of Part A and two pieces of Part B (see the following diagram).



3. Using the piece of solid wood with measurements 4.5" x 2" x 3.5", construct Part C, which is shown in the following diagram. There are two holes in this piece of wood. The larger hole is for the steel pipe to pass through and the smaller hole is for the 4" bolt.



4. On the following pages are drawings that show what the launcher looks like. These should be very helpful when assembling the launcher.

   

   This drawing shows the launcher as viewed from above. Note that this drawing does not include Part C for clarity reasons. Wood screw placement is not shown and should be determined by the person building the launcher.

   

   This drawing shows the launcher as viewed from the front. Note that this drawing does not include Part C for clarity reasons. Also note that the dashed lines are hidden lines. This means that they represent objects which cannot be seen from the view given.

   

   This drawing shows the launcher as viewed from the side. Note that this drawing does not include Part C.

   

   This is a drawing of the assembled launcher frame including Part C.

5. Assemble the propane tank fittings as follows:
   1. Attach the pressure gauge to the tank using an appropriate adaptor.
   2. Attach the shraeder to the tank so that it can be filled from any air compressor.
   3. Attach the final part of the tank fitting which is the female quick release.
   4. When assembling the fittings, wrap the threads in teflon tape to ensure a good seal.

   

   

   

6. Screw the propane tank fitting into the propane tank.
7. Assemble the hose so that one end has the male quick release that fits into the propane tank fitting. The other end of the hose should have the hand trigger button valve attached to it. Both of these ends need to be secured with hose clamps.

   

8. Now a way must be found to attach the hand trigger button valve to the 1.5' piece of 3/4" steel pipe. In our case, this involved welding a piece of threaded pipe onto the 3/4" steel pipe so that the hand trigger button valve could screw onto it.

   

9. Screw the large wooden protractor onto the back side of the launcher so that it looks like the picture above.
10. Push the metal pipe into the 3/4" hole in Part C. Attach Part C to the rest of the launcher with the 4" bolt and wing nut.
11. Fill the tank up to about 120 pounds of pressure (or as much as you can), attach the hose and push a rocket over the end of the steel pipe. You will want it to be a tight fit so that a lot of pressure will build up. Turn open the main valve, read the pressure on the gauge, then push the button on the release valve and observe trajectory motion!

Notes: The CAD drawings are to help in the construction of the air rocket launcher. Your launcher is by no means restricted to the numbers given in the drawings. The numbers given are here because they are the same dimensions that the Science Venture launcher happened to have.

Houlgrave, Robin. A special thanks goes to Robin Houlgrave, who developed this project as part of his Masters degree in Education. Please contact Science Venture for more information.

The following is a final picture of what our launcher looks like. Good luck!!