StratoFins Screw-on Water Rocket Fins

My 2-3 year old son and I have been launching bottle rockets in our yard and in fields around town for the past two summers. After about 200-300 launches, we finally managed to destroy the the foam fins that came with the Quest Aerospace Deluxe Single Water Rocket Set. My wife just got me these StratoFins for father's day, and my son and I love them. They make refilling the rocket much easier compared to the foam fins that we'd been using. These are easier to unscrew and re-screw on while refilling the bottles. Also it's easier to switch between bottles because the same fins can be used on multiple bottles, no need to make new fins for every bottle. We've used our StratoFins for a few dozen launches each on both 1liter and 2 liter bottles, and they work great. I think they'll last many more flights than the foam ones (which I was about to replace with self made replacements before I was surprised with these as a gift. We've had maybe five launches that landed on asphalt or in the gravel on tI hhe edge of the road. There is not a single sign of damage or even any marks that didn't easily wipe off with a shirt tail. The Stratofins came with a flat black rubber gasket inside the female end of the connector, and it creates at least a good a seal between bottle and Stratofins as the seal between the Stratofins and the Quest Aerospace nozzle that we're using. It's fun to use and decorate foam, cardboard or wooden fins when you first get into bottle rocketry. If you're wanting to conduct a range of experimental flights with different rockets or other changes of setup of other elements (other than the fins themselves) these are great. They are perfectly compatible with the Quest Aerospace launcher, and I haven't seen another launcher (store bought or homemade that they wouldn't work with, because they just replicate the bottle's threads on the aft side of the fins. The red color also makes for ideal visibility regardless of whether the sky is blue or overcast.

A little pricey for what they are, they do work great, and are a useful backup if the identical fins in their launcher kit get lost or broken. Of course, you can launch bottles with (or without) these, from about any launching stand, not just Relationshipware's, but they do stabilize the bottle in flight, and also make those bottles look like a "real" rocket. After experiencing a few launches, I'd say the likelihood of breakage is pretty small, and a single broken fin can be replaced 3 times from a spare set, as they are separately fitted. Most likely problem: loss on a windy day. Unless you have a huge open area to launch in, the bottles can go so high that the wind will carry them hundreds of yards, onto fenced properties, roofs, wood lots, weed patches, ponds, lakes or rivers, etc. Launching near Area 51? If the wind is blowing that way, keep the air pressure low! The Relationshipware launcher (with the "extra hole" modification) works so well that a spare set of fins is worth it to insure that increased altitude and "real rocket" looks aren't cut short by a mishap.

I bought a simple water bottle rocket science kit a while back for my son and we had a blast playing with it until we successfully "landed" the rocket on the roof of his school. I ordered these StratoFins to replace the fins that came in the original kit and am very pleased. Adding these fins to a 2-liter bottle rocket really makes the whole thing fly much straighter. You can still get some wind drift on the way up, but there's no tumbling at all on the ascent. The fins also add some drag to slow down the fall and the whole thing crashes harmlessly onto the ground. One really cool feature of these is that they replicate the 2-liter bottle's cap screw. This makes the design compatible with cable-tie launcher bases, which is awesome. The original fins we got in our kit did not do this so we were stuck using the kit's included rubber stopper as the launch mechanism. Another nice thing about these is that the fins themselves separate from the screw-on collar for storage and travel. The only minor change I would like to have seen is a more rounded lip along the edge of the fins for a more aerodynamic profile (not that I think the current design impacts performance much). Overall we're thrilled with these and look forward to using them more as we blast our rockets off to even greater heights.

Love it but the orange brand of lancher will require a slightly larger O ring. Ever so slightly larger so it won’t begin to loose it’s water/air psi. Worth it for amazing launches. Easily could be 5 stars but they left it up to 🫵 to chase down the larger O rings. 😘

Relationshipware has a very high standard of quality and the fins are well made and strong they base also screws on to the cool drink bottle nice and tight no leaks just perfect, I am a happy customer.