The HabForum

I am wondering if anyone has some good tips for model rocket construction. Mostly, I am trying to find a way to get kids to glue the fins on at right angles to the fuselage. Any suggestions?

I don't know how much work you're looking to put into this but my high school had an interesting spin on that issues. We had a middle school rotation called technical education that required us to build rockets among other things. The school built little triangle shaped blocks and cut slits in the side that were large enough for fins to fit into. Through the center of the block was a tapered metal piece that held the body of the rockets and then you could place the body onto the support structure and glue the fins on without having to hold them the whole time. The class is defunct now but i got the teacher to give me one of them when i graduated. I don't think it would cost much if you wanted to build something like that and pre-measure the angles. Otherwise you could just measure the angles out on cardstock and have the kids use the cardstock to correctly space the fins.

Thanks for the idea. We have a stand to hold the rocket fuselage, and some cardstock with slots cut out for the fins. Maybe we could glue the two together and make something sort of like the wood one you have. If we have enough time we might make a wood one. Thanks.

I say improvise! I'm sure you'll find something that works!