UkRoc is a youth rocketry-building competition aimed at 11-18 students who are challenged with the task of designing and building a model rocket that could reach a set altitude, while returning to the ground safely under parachutes.
After registering our team our first challenge was to source funding. We needed to raise £200-300 per rocket, plus money for travel and insurance. With a donation from Hycrome Aerospace Ltd, donations from students and with support from school, we soon reached our target! Our next challenge was to order cones/tubes/fins/motors and more to build our rockets. We dedicated several days over the Easter holidays to come into school and after many hours spent cutting up wood, gluing hands together and some fancy decorating, we had built three complete rockets.
Students, accompanied by CRGS staff Dr Brown and Miss Flook, arrived at Elvington Airfield near York and were greeted by the UKRoc team. We were led into a large tent filled with other school teams and with a little help from professionals attending the event, we finished preparing our rockets, adding motors along with a protected egg that we would learn was not nearly as ‘protected’ as we thought!
Amazingly, our first launch was perfect – reaching a height of 999 feet and returning to the ground safely without a single scratch on the egg. Our second flight, using a different rocket, successfully took off and reached 950 feet but the parachutes didn’t deploy. Despite this, the rocket miraculously only lost a fin and, with a few adjustments, was able to fly again. Our third flight was the most interesting as we were able to use our largest rocket. UKRoc regulations state that rockets with a mass greater than 650g are not permitted to fly (to ensure safety of the flight), and our rocket came in at exactly 650g. The suspense was immense as we crowded behind the safety barrier – and with great cheers the rocket flew high in the air, before crashing down to Earth. Sadly, we could not save this rocket and its maiden flight was its only flight.
We were then able to fly our first rocket again. As the previous launch had been successful – we were hopeful. Everything was replicated, other than the weather which had turned showery. The rocket again reached its target height but the parachutes didn’t deploy causing it to hit the ground and shatter on impact (though some spectators claimed to have seen the rocket being struck by lightning)!
Despite working with professionals on our final flight – who gave us smaller, lighter parachutes – we were saddened to see that our parachutes still didn’t deploy. This rocket, however, landed vertically in the ground, completely intact, serving as a great reminder of the amazing day it had been. Everyone said they would be eager to try again next year which, with the experience and knowledge gained from this year, should be even more spectacular!
We would like to thank Hycrome for their generous sponsorship and Fort Vale who have recently donated to help fund next year’s event.
Jacob Wilson
12MJB
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