Year 5 at Westwood! (5/23/2003)
Westwood Elementary School Build and Fly 2003
On Friday, May 23, about 75 Westwood Elementary School
fourth-graders launched about 26 colorful Estes Generic E2X's,
watched by a couple of other classes. They were assisted by MASA's
Ted Cochran and Alan Estenson. This was the sixth consecutive year
that Ted has helped out with this event, and the second time that
Alan has helped..
With Ted's assistance, the kids had assembled their rockets in a
previous building session.
The launch weather was warm & sunny with only a light breeze.
The launch commenced at 2:00 with a brief safety talk and kids were
soon prepping rockets. Six pads were used to make sure that every
rocket would be flown by the 3:30 deadline.
Nearly every rocket flew well, with just two misfires and a
couple shock cord separations. All of the rockets stayed on
the school grounds and none were lost to the trees. The group
with the highest duration time was awarded medals with astronaut
pictures for the runners-up.
The kids were also treated to an assortment of demonstration
launches, including Ted's UFO and Silver Comet, and Alan's Gemini
DC, 2-stage Longshot, and CiCi boost glider. The launch
concluded on time with Alan's flight of his pyramid "Khufu's
Revenge" on a F21, and nearly everyone left with a re-flyable
rocket.
(In case you're wondering how there could be two "Year
5's" in a row, it's because there was a miscount somewhere in
the past...)
(Ted Cochran)
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