Now, what does the cannon use? Lighters Fluid, The kind used in cigarette lighters. A very small container will do. Squirt a little bit in the side hole at the base of the bottom can. Then make a few little squirts down the barrel. Place an old tennis ball -- the older the better -- down the top can. It should stop inside the first can.
Then start throwing the cannon high in the air, spin it around, shake it up, and wave it all over. This is to mix the lighter fluid with air so it will ignite. It is now ready to fire.
Next place the tennis ball cannon on the ground pointing straight up. Light a match and poke it in the hole at the base of the canon. Woosh!!! The tennis ball flies fifty to one hundred feet in the air.
It was great fun. Once I had made my first cannon, I started making others. My friends and I experimented with lots of variations. We had cannons that were six cans high, some with double firing chambers, four firing chambers, and many other innovations. In our extensive research we found that the traditional three-can tennis ball cannon worked the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment