Rockwall-Heath High School Claims Transatlantic Victory At 2011
Paris Air Show
Student rocketeers from France, the United Kingdom and the
United States competed Friday in the Fourth Annual Transatlantic
Rocketry Challenge. The four-member team from Rockwall-Heath High
School in Heath, Tex., posted the best score to win the
international fly-off. Worksop College from Nottinghamshire,
England placed second. College Leonard de Vinci-St Aubin from
Bordeaux, France placed third.
Rockwall-Heath HS Rocketry Team
"This has been terrific," said team president John Easum. "We
knew we had a great design and had calculated the variables, but
until you shoot the rocket, you really can't be sure. What a way to
end our team experience with the Team America Rocketry
Challenge."
The international rocketry challenge is the culmination of three
separate competitions: the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC),
UKAYRoC and the French Rocketry Challenge. Each contest brings
together teams of middle and high school students to design, build
and launch model rockets. This year the challenge was to launch a
rocket that launched to exactly 750 feet during a 40- to 45-second
flight. The payload, a raw egg, had to return to the ground by
parachute undamaged. As part of their score, teams also had
to give an eight minute presentation on their rocket design to a
panel of international judges. The winning score represented a
height of 745 feet and a duration of 43 seconds.
Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the
National Association of Rocketry in the U.S.; ADS, Tri Polus Ltd,
Space Connections and the Royal Aeronautical Society in the UK; and
GIFAS and Planete Sciences in France, the programs are designed to
encourage students to pursue careers in aerospace.
"We're thrilled with the team's success," said Marion C. Blakey,
president and CEO of AIA. "It's quite a feat to make it to the
national fly-off in the United States and now to have won the
international challenge is quite impressive. We're looking for this
group of young people to help take this industry to new heights in
a few years."
Raytheon Company, a major event sponsor, has sent the TARC
winning team to air shows at Farnborough and Paris for the past six
years. The company is hosting all three teams as they tour the air
show and Paris.
AIA created the Team America Rocketry Challenge in 2003 to
celebrate the centennial of flight and to generate interest in
aerospace careers among young people. The success of the program
encouraged UK aerospace industry leaders to create the UKAYRoC in
2007 with similar goals in mind. France joined the international
rocketry challenge at the 2010 International Airshow at
Farnborough.
Winning Rocket Launch
Members of the U.S. team from Rockwall-Heath High School
are: John Easum, Landon Fisher, Michael Gerritsen and Colt
McNally.
Members of the UK team Worksop College are: Cameron Bagley,
Keith Lam, Jackie Lai, Ben May and Calum Semmence.
Members of the French team College Leonard de Vinci-St Aubin
are: Alexandre Dessaints, Gauthier Decultot and Marie Gruet.
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