On Saturday 15th of November the Scouts did their first all section rocket launch! The day was a great success and enjoyed by all. This event was could not have happened without the support of the Irish Rocketry Society, who supplied the rocket motors and expertise as well as Ricardo and Anna Gatica who's garden became a rocketry range for the day!
Building and launching a rocket is a requirement to achieve the higher levels of the Air Adventure Skills badge so it was with a great sense of excitement that we unboxed the kits in a classroom in St. Mary's school in our Friday meeting on 14th Nov. To fly successfully the rockets had to be built carefully following a set of fairly precise steps. It took about 90 minutes to complete the rockets after which the scouts returned home to decorate them before the launch the following day.
Thankfully conditions held dry and clear for the launches. Just before launch the rockets were fitted out with their solid rocket motors. These motors, though tiny, are capable of propelling the rockets to a very surprising height reaching a velocity of over 120 km/hr just after launch. After apogee (the highest point of the flight) a secondary charge fires, expelling a carefully folded parachute. It is illegal for non-licensed citizens to purchase rocket engines in this country and unsafe to handle them without training and so we were very fortunate to have the assistance of the Irish Rocketry Society on the day. We are happy to report that all rockets were successfully retrieved. Admittedly some were easier to get back than others with a variety of long poles and other solutions being used to fish rockets out of tree branches etc.
Launching rockets isn't just a matter of pressing the button and standing well back. These rockets can climb to quite an altitude and before launching permission must be sought from land owners, the Irish aviation authorities, the Gardaí and the fire brigade. Again, the Irish Rocketry Society are well used to all of these necessary steps and were able to assist us with the paperwork and permissions.
With permissions granted, rocket engines loaded and a packed lunch on hand all that remained was to launch. The scouts had a great day and hopefully learned a little bit about the incredible world of rocketry as well. We understand that, as a result of this day, Ashbourne are one of the first scout sections in the country to do a whole section launch of this kind.
Making our rockets
5..4..3..2..1.....Blast off!
Whooosh!!!