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How to Launch a Rocket for Kids

Model rockets are a great way to get kids excited about science and aeronautics. They give parents a chance to show their kids how to practice safety especially when playing with the explosive power of airborne rockets. Model rocket kits come complete with everything you need to launch your rocket, but you still need to know how properly use these items for a successful launch. Using your launching equipment correctly is not only safe but will provide the best flight performance for your rocket.

Things You'll Need

Rocket
Rocket engine
Engine igniter
Engine mount
Wadding
Recovery parachute
Launch pad
Launch controller

Instructions

- 1
  Place your launch pad in the center of an empty field. Model rockets can travel several hundred feet into the air and need plenty of room to land safety away from people and buildings.
- 2
  Remove the nose cone of the rocket and stuff your wadding down into the rocket body tube.
- 3
  Fold your recovery parachute and loosely stuff it on top of the wadding in your rocket body tube. Make sure you do not stuff it too tightly or it might get stuck and not deploy after launch. Put the nose cone back on the rocket.
- 4
  Install the igniter into the engine. The igniter is a small metal pin about the size of a safety pin. Slide the igniter into the small hole down the center of the engine for installation.
- 5
  Slide the engine with igniter into the engine mount. The engine mount is simply the bottom of the rocket body tube. The engine should fit snug in the tube.
- 6
  Slide the rocket onto the launch rod (rod extending out of the launch pad). Make sure that the rocket sits level on the deflector plate (metal circle that creates the pad of the launch pad).
- 7
  Attach your launch controller to the rocket's igniter. Place the controller on standby as you walk a safe distance away.
- 8
  Press ignite on your controller. This will send a charge to the engine launching the rocket into the air.

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