Bottle Rocket with Parachute Release Timer

Karl and I built this for our 9th grade bottle rocket competition. We added a parachute with a release timer so we could get extra credit for getting an egg to go up at least 100 feet with the rocket and then land safely. When the rocket shot off the launch pad, the sudden acceleration disconnected 2 magnets which set off a spring from a wind-up toy. When the spring had unwound to a certain point, a rubber band was released and the nose cone was no longer held down. With the nose cone disconnected, a large spring made out of plastic pushed the nose cone, egg capsule, and parachute out. The parachute deployed and the egg landed safely.