The Original Rocket Bottle Launcher Kit - Launches Soda Bottles 100 Ft Up in The Air - Fun Educational STEM Gift - Great Science Toy & Outdoor Activity for Family - Kids Easter Basket Stuffer

Easy to use and clean up. Worked perfectly for the physics unit in my 8th grade Science classes with repeated use.

Worked great. I bought 3 in case one didn't work. But ended up only needing one since reliability was perfect. So much fun and work as mentioned.

Like a real rocket launch....the tiniest detail counts. Now....it's pretty darn good. I like it. Seems solid enough...BUT. The rubber o-ring that the bottle is placed over (on the white nozzle that holds the bottle) broke off on the second launch and could not be found. Worse....this missing seal was VERY important to holding the water in. So it would then spew out the bottom each following attempt. We're trying now to find a new one that will fit. Please add a few extra guys!!!!

The most safe and neighborhood friendly way to have fun! We have launched this over 50x and the product is still in great condition.

This was for my granddaughter's birthday, and she and her dad LOVE it. They have a large backyard for shooting it up into the air. You need to have a hand bicycle pump, which they did. They actually had two and found one pump worked far better than the other, as one kept slipping off as it was being pumped up (the fault of the pump, not the toy). I had an empty, clean 2-Liter bottle packaged with the gift, along with a brand new set of tennis balls. It is great fun putting items on top of the bottle and launching the two items together. The balls soar into the sky and are more fun to chase and retrieve than the bottle itself. But, we found that smaller balls, like their racket ball, worked better. They also had a small glow-in-the-dark ball that was lots of fun at dusk. She even launched some small, cute, rubbery toy animals atop the bottle and they really flew! But, I will say that balls are best, as when they land on a roof, they roll off, while the toys just sit up there! We did follow the suggestion of putting olive oil around the bottle opening to make it slip on quickly and tightly. We also discovered it was far faster having TWO 2-Liter bottles so granddaughter would be filling one while dad retrieved the other (or vice versa). We also marked on the bottles the water level needed so that the granddaugher (age 9) could fill the 1/3 level more quickly on her own. We used this on the ground with the anchor hooks provided and had no problem.

If I recall, every time there was a NASA Shuttle launch, there was a 50/50 chance the launch would be scrubbed. This launcher is similar. If you are willing to get a little creative, and very wet, you can show your kids a good time. Overall, we had a blast (literally), but there are some design flaws with this launcher. First is the valve. With no adjustments for tightness, I had some rockets that wouldn't launch at all, others that launched prematurely, and some launches that leaked half their water propellant before they launched. Second is the launch latch. It's hard to explain, but you pull it down with a string, but at a parallel to the ground, instead of a 45-degree or 90-degree angle down towards the launcher. This means that if you don't anchor the launcher into grass, you can pull the string, tilt the launcher, and launch the rocket straight at your face. With a slight design tweak, they could have made it so that a tug on the string would pull the launch latch *down* instead of *towards* ground control. Lastly, the launcher should come with some fins. They are available for $10-11 each elsewhere, but in my opinion, they are essential for any fun launches. At least one should be included here. Overall, this is a fun kit, but it could be sooo much better with two or three redesigns.

I got this for my granddaughter and I to play with in my front yard. A large open area is recommended, as the two-liter soda bottle rockets can travel high and far, but such an area is not readily available in our situation, so it's the front yard for us. This launcher is a bit expensive compared to some others, but it's the best one I could find for our purpose. With this launcher, you don't need fins on the rocket to launch it, and the rocket climbs impressively high without fins. After a few launches the rocket invariably lands in an unreachable and hidden position in a large bush. Replacing only the lost soda bottle is much cheaper than replacing a lost soda bottle and a lost set of fins. Also with this launcher you have complete control over when the rocket launches, with a gentle pull on the cord.

So much fun for boys age 4 to 12. Highly recommended super easy to use. All you do is fill a bottle with water place it on the unit, attach a bicycle pump and then pull the string. Water bottle goes super high. Place a glow stick inside the water bottle for nighttime fun.