NASA Whoosh Rocket

Whoosh Rocket Flying Model Rockets Flying model rockets is a relatively safe and inexpensive way for students to learn the basics of forces and the response of a vehicle to external forces. Any rocket is subjected to four forces in flight: weight, thrust, and the aerodynamic forces, lift and drag. There are many different types of model rockets. An interesting variation of the two-liter bottle rocket is the whoosh rocket. This version of the whoosh rocket was developed by Roger Storm of Fairview High School and Mark Skor of North Royalton High School; both high schools are located in suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. Experimentation The standard bottle rocket uses a two-liter soda bottle as the frame of the rocket, and pressurized water as the propellant. The whoosh rocket replaces the heavy water with a much lighter, combustible, alcohol-air mixture. The pressurization of the bottle occurs during the combustion of the alcohol. Because the exhaust products are much lighter than water, t ... Read full article.