How high did it fly?

Stand a measured distance from the launch pad. When the rocket reaches the top of its flight, sight it with an inclinometer (or a 45° sighting card) and read the angle. Type both in here.

At 45°, the height equals how far you walked. If you're 30 steps from the pad and the top of the flight is exactly at 45°, it flew about 30 steps high (plus your eye height).

Spotter 1 Angle to the top of the flight, degrees Distance from the launch pad (baseline)

Eye height Add the spotter's eye height Eye height m

The angle is measured from your eye, not the ground. About 1.2 m (4 ft) for a grade-school student; hold the inclinometer at eye level.

Spotter 2 (optional) Average with a second spotter

Height of the flight

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The working

angle	15°	20°	25°	30°	35°	40°	45°	50°	55°	60°
tan	0.27	0.36	0.47	0.58	0.70	0.84	1.00	1.19	1.43	1.73

Tip: angles between 30° and 60° give the best answers. Very small or very large angles turn a small reading error into a big height error, so move closer or further away.

Rocket Builder's report predicts the height for your design (the Predicted peak on its mission card). How close did yours get? The lessons are at Free lessons.