Mr. Cool on space derby day!
Sizing up the competition. Here are 8 of the 10 rockets that were raced today. They were all really great and we had so much fun! We learned a lot about tricks to make them go faster. On the internet we had read about lubricating rubber bands and a lot of similar tricks, but I really like the way our pack ran the race. The scout masters provided identical rubber bands to everyone. They put the bands in and used manual winders and gave each rocket the same number of turns before being placed into the starting gate. The lighter the rocket is, the faster it 'flies'. We also got to see some of the weeblos and scout rockets. Some sand them skinny to the inner core. Some leave them fat and ream out the inside of the rocket to a larger diameter.
The actual apparatus for the race was really ingenious! It was two really tall saw horse type stands with wire strung tight between them. I believe the wire had been lubricated. On the starting side the rockets were attached to the hangars with the starting gate up...so they start at exactly the same distance. The pegs on the front of the starting gate hold the propellers. When the starting gate is dropped...off they go!
This is the finish line. It is hard to see in this photo but there is a small frame on the front of the horse that swings up to the wire. The sponges are slid flush with the finish line. Two judges stand on either side of the finish line...then the rockets impact the sponges to slow them down safely. They also draped a sleeping bag over the back to prevent fly a ways, and put one underneath to catch any that fall off. They really thought of everything!
The day was a huge success! We all had so much fun. The scout master's were so organized the event was run without a hitch! J's rocket came in 6 out of 10 overall. Here is a video of one of his wins. It was run as a double elimination so each match was run two times switching the wire (track) that the rockets were on.
We also went to a birthday party today AND had his friend P over while the dad's were working on the car....so definately a BIG day!
3 comments:
I am just starting to plan this with my Cub Scout Pack. Can you put me in touch with how to build the Space Derby apparatus, and how the event was planned?
Thanks,
Bob
Oh, my e-mail address is rfecht@hotmail.com
Thanks!
If you type 'space derby track plans' into google there are several helpful sites:
http://www.pack80.net/space_derby/Track_Plans/sd_track_plans.htm
http://www.depotdan.com/cub/cub.htm
Our pack has the derbys on a sat afternoon. We do not have an electronic finish line, so two judges determine the winner of each race. We use a double elimination system to determine the winner.
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