To take rockets to greater heights, a staging mechanisme may be a way to reach this goal. By dropping some weight the upper part can fly higher. So I started to develop my own system with easy to obtain components.
The idea is to attach the second stage to the first with tie-wraps and release it with a release ring. This is a system that has proved its worth in launching water rockets.
The mayor difficulty was to make a piston out of standard materials that's cheap and won't leak and let the air flow free from the first stage to the second but not back to the first (after launch). This piston should pull the string of the release ring.
After some days I knew how I would make it.
Beneath you can find some pictures, drawings and a short film
Piston with release ring:
Bottlecap and nozzle 2nd stage:
bottlecap and tie-wraps 1st stage
Complete staging mechanism:
Drawing of Piston
Drawings bottle caps and tie wraps Complete staging mechanism:
film with: * test on the launch pad - the pressure in the 1st stage is release by the abort valve * test with 2 dummy rockets * first flight - see also flights 11/11/2011
