[RocketsNW] Victor Falls launch report

[Greg Deputy]

I had the opportunity to spend the day at Victor Falls Elementary School
yesterday, doing a 'rocket day' with the 4 grade students.  What fun!

The morning started out with a build session where the 80 students partnered
up and put together Alpha III's.  We managed to get everyone's rocket built
in about an hour so glue could dry for a few hours.  They headed off to PE
for an hour, and then came back for a 1 hour presentation on rockets and
energy (they're studying energy in science this week) and a slideshow from
some past launches.  I had brought a couple rockets for display, and they
all got a kick out of 'Hold The Mayo', my 6" fiberglass L3 bird.  

After lunch and recess, it was time to launch.  Glue was dry, and the
weather was less wet than it had been all day.  No wind, and just a little
drizzle.  We managed to fly 39 Alpha III's in about 70 minutes, all off my
single estes launch pad.  (Note to self, next year try to borrow launch
equipment from club!).  We only had 2 failed ignitors, one rocket failure
(fin can was not sufficiently glued on, rocket came down in 2 pieces) and
all but 2 birds were recovered.  One lost to a tree, and another in private
property, most likely recovered by now after a visit to the house.

All in all it was great fun, the kids loved it, and I think I may have
sneaked in a little science learning.  And I'm sure the rocketry bug was
planted in more than a few young ones, and some parents.  If you ever get
the opportunity to do something like this with a school, jump on it!