CONTEST EMAIL ARCHIVES

Date: 05/30/2006

Subject: Students count down to rocketry challenge

Students count down to rocketry challenge

Two teams from York recently qualified to compete in the finals of the world's largest model rocket contest.

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY PRESS
Hampton Roads Virginia
May 18, 2006

Teams from two York County high schools recently qualified to compete in the finals of the prestigious Team America Rocketry Challenge, the world's largest model rocket contest. Nearly 7,000 students on 678 teams attempted to meet the requirements of the contest, but only the top-scoring 100 teams qualified.

Each year, the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry sponsor the challenge, created three years ago to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight. It was designed to be a one-time event, but overwhelming interest turned it into an annual contest. The goal is to promote aerospace studies among students in an effort to attract more young people to careers in the industry.

The Grafton High School team includes junior Ryan Kennedy; sophomores Matt Fenelon and Nick Henson; and freshman Robbie Curtis. Members of the York High team include junior Chris Kapuschansky; sophomore Trevor Ottofaro; and freshmen Daniel Gilman and Kei Lamberson.

The contest requires that students design, build and test a model rocket that can fly for close to 45 seconds and achieve an 800-foot maximum flight altitude with a payload of one raw egg. The goal is to successfully parachute the egg back to the ground, unbroken. The top 10 teams will share a prize pool of $60,000 in savings bonds and cash. The first-place team will win a trip to the Farnborough International Air Show in London, courtesy of the Raytheon Company.

"No one on the two teams, myself included, had much model-rocket experience before entering," said team supervisor Dennis Miner, a former Air Force fighter pilot now employed at Jefferson Laboratory. "We have all learned a lot about what it takes to make a model rocket perform to the competition rules."

The two teams used a special model-rocket software package to design their rockets and test them on a computer. They then built the rockets according to the design plans. Many practice launches later, the rockets were tweaked in preparation for qualification flights.

"Both teams suffered failures during the practice flights that required a rebuild of their rockets, but they put in the extra effort to get ready for their qualification flights," said Miner.

The Grafton and York teams qualified for the national fly-off, scheduled for Saturday in The Plains, about 45 miles west of Washington, D.C.

For more information on the event, visit www.rocketcontest.org

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