Home >> Hobbies >> Aviation

How to Make Your Own Altitude Chamber

If you're interested in flying rockets or remote-control planes as a hobby, you need a reliable altimeter to keep an eye on how high your craft is flying. To test your altimeter while it's on the ground, you can build a simple altitude chamber and adjust conditions to see if the altimeter adjusts correctly.

Things You'll Need

Flexible plastic tubing, 1/8 inch in diameter
Syringe
Plastic lid with an opening
Duct tape
Mason jar

Instructions

- 1
  Attach one end of the tubing to the needle end of the syringe. Use duct tape to secure an airtight seal. Attach the other end to the opening in the plastic lid.
- 2
  Place the lid on the jar. The pressure inside the jar is the normal air pressure at sea level, or at the altitude where you're located. However, by pulling the plunger back on the syringe, you can decrease the pressure inside the jar, simulating a rise in altitude.
- 3
  Calculate the difference in pressure once you've pulled the syringe out. Because standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is 14.7 psi, use this formula:
  
  New pressure = Old pressure * (volume of container/(volume of container + volume of syringe)).
  
  For example, if you have a 1,000 cc jar and a 100 cc syringe and you pull the plunger back to the 100 cc mark, the formula works like this:
  
  New pressure = 14.7 (1000/(1000 + 100)), or 14.7 (10/11), or 13.36.

Aviation