Flying to the Sky with Stomp Rocket® Stunt Planes

 
I always loved physics lessons when I was in school. One reason for this was because our teacher would often take us outdoors for her demonstrations, sometimes launching things into the air as well, which always went down well with the class.

She obviously understood that learning was best done by having fun, something that the makers of the Stomp Rocket seem to have cottoned onto. Kids love launching things into the air, and if it’s powered or propelled by them, all the better.

These days, a parent’s first thoughts might be something like a budget drone; I’ve got to admit that we bought one last year for our eight-year-old, Harrison. But it was a disaster because we all just stood around watching it for minutes, on end, while his little sister nagged him for a go on the controls. It almost always ended in tears.

We had none of those issues with the Stomp Rocket Stunt Planes though. Our kids were more than happy to take it in turns launching – and chasing – the stunt planes, as they whizzed through the air at high speed, often on improbable flight paths. Designed by aeronautical engineers, the Stomp Rocket Stunt Planes kit includes three different planes.

There’s a looper, which makes crazy loops, and proved to be the most hilarious for us. It would baffle six-year-old Ella after she jumped on the pump, then stared ahead of her looking for the plane, only to have it appear again from behind her.

Then there’s a glider that is capable of covering pretty large distances. We didn’t measure the exact distance we launched ours, but let’s just say that in hindsight the best place for the maiden flight wasn’t our back garden. Luckily, we’re on good terms with the neighbour – two doors down – and she gladly returned the glider when the kids asked if they could retrieve it.

Finally, there is a “Wild Cat” stunt plane that seems to defy physics as it flips, twists and soars through the air.

All three planes are great fun to launch and made the perfect gift for Harrison’s ninth birthday. Not only did he and his sister have a great day launching them at a local castle but they got plenty of exercise while doing so, running, jumping and chasing after the planes. Far more fun than just walking or playing hide and seek there like we usually do.

Stomp Rockets rightly market themselves as STEM friendly toys and you can quite easily incorporate a science lesson into the fun, and with the kids being so inquisitive half of the science lesson is led by them anyway.

“Why does it fly further when you jump on it, Daddy?” Harrison asked.

Cue a lecture from me about how squashing the pump creates high pressure, that wants to move to low pressure through the tube and how the change in velocity is proportionate to the force applied.

Okay, I didn’t quite word it like that, or lecture him on Newton’s Third Law of Motion, but he got the gist of both, and saw the link between how hard he stomped and how far the rocket flew.

Likewise, we were able to learn together that the angle of the launch pipe affected the distance travelled with two of the rockets, while it altered the loop for another. We even threw in some basic aerodynamics, such as how the shape of the planes would alter their flight path or how firing into the wind had different results to firing across the wind or away from it. Then we went into the castle ruins and compared results with how they performed with no wind.

So we had a great first day with the Stomp Rocket Stunt Planes, and I have a feeling we’ll be having a lot more. Our neighbours might be seeing a bit more of us as well!

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