TARC 2012 Coverage. September/October $4.95 Canada $6.95

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1 TARC 2012 Coverage September/October $4.95 Canada $6.95

Team Amer R o c k e t r y C h a l l e n g e By Trip Barber, NAR 4322 Ten years ago the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) asked the NAR if we would partner with them to develop and run a one-time

2 Team Amer R o c k e t r y C h a l l e n g e By Trip Barber, NAR 4322 Ten years ago the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) asked the NAR if we would partner with them to develop and run a one-time national student rocketry competition to be their contribution to the 2003 national commemoration of the Centennial of Manned Flight. We called it Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) and it caught the imagination of students and aerospace companies alike in ways that we had never imagined was the tenth time that the NAR and AIA have partnered to keep doing what has become the world s largest rocket contest and the NAR s most successful outreach or paying forward program. Over its ten years to date, TARC has enrolled 6,816 student teams with over 60,000 members, from all 50 states. This year, 678 of these teams of 3 to 10 students from 7th through 12th grade were entered in TARC 2012, from 48 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That was well over 5,000 young rocketeers, competing for $73,000 in cash prizes plus the opportunity (for the 1 st place team) to get a free trip to the Farnborough Air Show in England courtesy of Raytheon Company, to fly against the winners of the TARC equivalent events in England and France. The purpose of TARC is to motivate students to have an interest in pursuing technical fields in their post-secondary studies, and to have a lifelong interest in rocketry as a hobby. In a 2010 survey of TARC alumni, 92 percent of participants said they would encourage a friend 20 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 Sport Rocketry

3 ica Loading rockets on the TARC Goddard launch range. Sport Rocketry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Thanks to our efforts rocketry is reappearing in clubs and classes in middle and high schools across the U.S.

4 The Madison West High School team watches their winning flight. Photo by Steve Schwartz. people to the hobby. TARC and the support that the NAR and its members and sections provide to its participants have changed all this. Thanks to our efforts rocketry is reappearing in clubs and classes in middle and high schools across the U.S. With each year that TARC continues we are building another piece of the next generation of American aerospace professionals, and the next generation of NAR members. TARC is a rocketry design and flight challenge event. The goal is to design, build, and fly a model rocket within certain weight and power limits that will take a raw egg payload to a precise altitude and return it unbroken after a precise flight duration. This challenge is designed to force the students to learn the interrelationship of weight, drag, power, and parachute size in determining flight performance. The weight and power limits, number of eggs, altitude and duration goals, and recovery system requirements are all changed a bit each year of TARC, to ensure that each year s teams achieve the event s learning objectives by having to start from scratch developing and building a new design. The TARC 2012 challenge was to take two eggs to precisely 800 feet (as measured by an onboard Perfectflite electronic altimeter) and return them in no less than 43 and no more than 47 seconds, using a parachute of any size for recovery. The rockets could weigh no more than 650 grams at liftoff and could use no more than an F motor for power, with the choice of motor or motors within that limit entirely to pursue careers in technical fields, and four out of five respondents said TARC has had a positive impact on their own choice of their course of college study. Often this direction had not been something that the student had previously considered; the challenge of a hands-on design and build rocketry project that roars off a launch pad at the end motivates young people toward technical careers in ways that classroomonly instruction cannot. Rocketry appeals to young people today (once they experience it) as much as it did back when the NAR was founded, but changes in the emphasis placed on handson hobbies and classes in schools and in the availability of places to fly rockets legally have made it harder to expose young NAR range crewman Harold Larson checks in a rocket. 22 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 Sport Rocketry

up to each team. This left the teams a lot of design tradespace to work with, and every design looked different as a result.

first hand that what looked easy on the computer was maybe not so easy to build and get to fly straight and reliably!

AIA, the trade organization for America s aerospace industry, lines up aerospace corporate financial support and uses it to provide full-time staff (the talented and energetic Anne Ward) to run the

5 up to each team. This left the teams a lot of design tradespace to work with, and every design looked different as a result. While most teams did stability and altitude prediction runs for their designs in rocketry software such as the Apogee Rocksim program, every team in the end had to actually build and fly and discover first hand that what looked easy on the computer was maybe not so easy to build and get to fly straight and reliably! The partnership between AIA and NAR, each doing the things that they do well, is what makes TARC work and endure. AIA, the trade organization for America s aerospace industry, lines up aerospace corporate financial support and uses it to provide full-time staff (the talented and energetic Anne Ward) to run the event s administration, plus professional public relations and Web services and all the first-class facilities and food support that makes the TARC Finals special. The NAR provides hundreds of volunteer mentors across the U.S. who work with TARC teams to teach them rocketry skills during each school year, then line them up with NAR section launch site support if required, and serve as the official observers of the teams local qualification flights. And NAR members serve as the volunteer staff for these Finals, traveling to the Washington, D.C., area at their own expense to operate every aspect of the flying range that supports the student teams competition flights. The TARC Finals are the final step in the year-long program. 678 teams entered TARC 2012 while registration was open between early September and the end of November Of these, sixty percent (409 teams) completed the full design-build-test cycle and got a flight in the air in their local area (officially observed and timed by an adult NAR member) to attempt to qualify as one of the best 100 teams in the U.S. and get an invitation to compete head-to-head in the Finals. Most of these teams made many test flights before declaring their readiness for one of their two allowed official for-score qualification flights and getting this flight observed by the NAR. As a result the score required to make the cutoff for getting an invitation to the Finals was an impressive This score is the sum of the number of feet by which their flight missed the target altitude of 800 feet, plus three times the number of seconds by which they missed being in the target duration window of 43 to 47 seconds. The top 100 teams were notified on April Trip Barber s Bullpup in the HPR demo. Photo by Chris Taylor. specials: 20% Off - All Aerotech 25% OFF - aerotech 54-98mm 30% off - aerotech 54-98mm orders over $2,500 Service Experience Savings We treat our customers as we would like to be treated. Sport Rocketry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

The Madison West High School team from Madison, Wisconsin, with their 1st-place rocket. Photo by Arno Tilles. The Kreuger School team from San Antonio, Texas, won 2nd place.

Every one of the top 100 teams was able to do this; they were truly eager and determined to come be part of the big event.

Finals are held every year at the Great Meadow Outdoor Ce

6 The Madison West High School team from Madison, Wisconsin, with their 1st-place rocket. Photo by Arno Tilles. The Kreuger School team from San Antonio, Texas, won 2nd place. The Festus (Missouri) High School team took 3rd place. Photo by Arno Tilles. 6, and had only a few weeks to round up the funds necessary to make the trip to the Finals near Washington, D.C. Every one of the top 100 teams was able to do this; they were truly eager and determined to come be part of the big event. The TARC Finals are held every year at the Great Meadow Outdoor Center in The Plains, Virginia. This is a tiny town in Fauquier County, fifty miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. Great Meadow is a beautiful 250-acre field events center and steeplechase course operated under stewardship of a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of open space for community use. Its primary use is as the venue for equestrian events such as the Virginia Gold Cup with tens of thousands of spectators, but after hosting ten TARC Finals and two NARAMs it has also become well-known to rocketeers across the U.S. as a rocketry venue. Its extensive built-in facilities such as fencing, parking, and a field-wide public address system make it perfectly suited to host large, highly structured public events like TARC, and its convenience to Washington, D.C., makes it easy for Congressional and Executive Branch government leaders, aerospace company executives, and national media to come out and see what rocketry and TARC are all about. The TARC 2012 Finals had the best weather of any in the program s history: low-80s temperature, clear skies, and little wind; weather variability was not a factor in the outcome. The teams that were there to compete represented 29 states plus the Virgin Islands and were from 72 different schools or other youth organizations (such as 4-H, Scouts, and church youth groups). Some schools with long-established TARC programs sponsored multiple teams (up to the limit of five) and had more than one team qualify for the Finals. After the usual Friday evening registration and all-participant assembly at a local middle school auditorium for pre-flight training on the Finals procedures, the teams were on the flying field by dawn Saturday, ready to start the rocket check-in process and eager to fly in their pre-assigned launch window time starting at 8:30 AM. Many arrived with weather instruments, inclinometers, and other techniques of adjusting every aspect of their rocket s trajectory based on test flight results and local conditions, to try to reach the precise target altitude. The NAR runs the flying range and every aspect of supervising and supporting the students at the Finals. We use a crew of 110 experienced NAR member volunteers 24 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 Sport Rocketry

TARC teams ready to fly on the Goddard range. Photo by Steve Schwartz. as full-time staff for the day, there to support and not to fly.

They were recognized this year with ten-year service plaques, but the accumulated experience that they represent is the key reason why the Finals run so smoothly every year; every NAR volunteer in

7 TARC teams ready to fly on the Goddard range. Photo by Steve Schwartz. as full-time staff for the day, there to support and not to fly. 22 of these volunteers have done this all ten years that TARC has been in existence. They were recognized this year with ten-year service plaques, but the accumulated experience that they represent is the key reason why the Finals run so smoothly every year; every NAR volunteer in every key range crew position knows exactly what they have to do, knows how to do it courtesy of some intensive training and management each year by NAR volunteer Jonathan Rains, and has nothing else to do all day except that one job. As a result the students and teachers who have spent the year laboring to get to the Finals are impressed and grateful for TARC 2013 Challenge Single-stage model rockets with a liftoff mass no greater than 650 grams. Maximum combined total impulse of rocket motors used no greater than 80 N-sec. Payload of one raw large egg, flown sideways, with the long axis of the egg perpendicular to the long axis of the rocket. Rocket body must have an outside diameter no less than 60 millimeters at the point where the egg is located. Recovery of the egg and altimeter must be with a single parachute of 15 inches canopy diameter. Target altitude 750 feet. Target duration between 48 and 50 seconds. Sport Rocketry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

8 The Madison High team checks in their 1st-place rocket. One of the Kreuger School teams from San Antonio, Texas. Photo by Steve Schwartz. The Hart County 4-H team from Mumdfordville, Kentucky, at check-in. Photo by Ray DiPaola. The Hig I P The contestant briefing was held on Friday evening. The Presidio (Texas) High School team gets their eggs. The Green Vale School team from Old Brookville, New Yo at the pad. Photo by Steve Schowiak. The team from Oak Park (California) High School are ready to fly. Photo by Arno Tilles. 26 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 Sport Rocketry

ndianapolis, Ind. hoto by Steve Schowiak.

9 Elena Christian Jr. High School from the U.S. Virgin Islands won the Team Spirit award. The River Hill High School team from Clarksville, Maryland, at the pad. Photo by Steve Schowiak. Student teams waiting for the awards ceremony. Photo by Chris Taylor. Covenant Christian h School team from ndianapolis, Ind. hoto by Steve Schowiak. rk, Jay Apt was one of the RSOs at TARC The NAR high power team preparing the HPR demo flights. Photo by Steve Schwartz. Sport Rocketry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Our national image as the face of the hobby and as the go-to organization for safe, educational rocketry is immeasurably better than it was before TARC began thanks to these volunteers.

10 TARC 2011 team from Presidio, Texas, High School at the White House. the quality of the support they get, and both they and the VIP visitors who flock to the event to observe come away impressed with the skill and professionalism of the NAR. Our national image as the face of the hobby and as the go-to organization for safe, educational rocketry is immeasurably better than it was before TARC began thanks to these volunteers. TARC and our hobby now have such a high national profile that a TARC team is invited to the White House each year to meet the President as part of his annual event to recognize the winners of national student technology competitions. Each of the 100 teams at the TARC Finals is pre-assigned a flight window of one hour in one of five rounds. These rounds are flown consecutively by using two back-to-back flight ranges, each with its own dedicated range crew, with a common pool of NAR timers led by former NAR President Jim Barrowman shifting from range to range. During the hour while one range is flying, the other range was open for teams to load their rockets onto the pads in preparation for flying the following hour. The two highly experienced Range Safety Officers, Dr. Jay Apt (former NAR Trustee and NASA astronaut) and Dr. John Langford A Nike Smoke lifts off in the HPR demo. Photo by Chris Taylor. TARC 2012 Flight Awards Place Team Name City State Rocket Motor Used Rocket Length (cm) Rocket Weight (gm) Flight 1 Score Flight 2 Score Final Score Students Prize School Prize 1 Madison West High School Madison WI F $9,500 $5,000 Team 1 2 Krueger School of Applied San Antonio TX F $8,500 $5,000 Technologies Team 3 3 Festus High School Festus MO F $7,500 $5,000 4 Spring Grove Area School Spring Grove PA F $2,000 $2,000 District Team 3 5 Liberty Middle School Madison AL E $2,000 $2,000 6 Goshen High School Team 1 Goshen IN F $2,000 $2,000 7 Green Vale School Team 3 Old NY F $2,000 $2,000 Brookville 8 Canterbury High School Fort Wayne IN F $2,000 $2,000 9 Clayton High School Clayton MO F $2,000 $2, Deford Dazzlers 4-H Club Deford MI F $2,000 $2, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 Sport Rocketry

(founder and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and current manager of the U.S. International Spacemodeling Team) ensured that their respective ranges were run efficiently and safely.

At the end of these, the 24 teams with the best first-flight scores (23.

The teams competed in this round to earn the final top 20 places based on the sum of their first flight and second flight scores, with the lowest combined

Throughout the day, excitement built as the initial scores came in and were posted; the teams who flew well on their first flight (and their families and

Over 30 of the teams once done with their first flight went off to participate in the timed rocket-building competition (we would call this event a kitbash )

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Everyone took some time to go visit the large number of aerospace company and university exhibit booths to explore opportunities for their future and the teams

Finally, at 2 PM, the top 24 teams were announced and each of these teams ran off to get their rocket ready for its second flight.

part of the follow-on NASA Student Launch Initiative program in the next school year. The final flyoff round went from 3 PM to 4 PM.

Chris Kidwell and the TARC version of the famous Contest Manager software he wrote to support NAR competition, a select group of expert NAR high-power rocket

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11 (founder and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and current manager of the U.S. International Spacemodeling Team) ensured that their respective ranges were run efficiently and safely. Between first flight at 8:30 AM and the end of the fifth round at 1:30 PM, all 100 teams flew in their windows. At the end of these, the 24 teams with the best first-flight scores (23.5 or better) were given a chance to make a second flight in a flyoff round between 3 PM and 4 PM. The teams competed in this round to earn the final top 20 places based on the sum of their first flight and second flight scores, with the lowest combined score being the winner. Throughout the day, excitement built as the initial scores came in and were posted; the teams who flew well on their first flight (and their families and supporters) were eager to see if they would get the second-flight opportunity that was their path to becoming the champion. Over 30 of the teams once done with their first flight went off to participate in the timed rocket-building competition (we would call this event a kitbash ) sponsored by Carl McLawhorn and his Semroc Aerospace company, or in the competition for teams that wanted to BORN AGAIN ROCKETS FOR BORN AGAIN ROCKETEERS MEGA-Sized Replicas of Many Original Rocketry Classics Up-Scaled 1.7 to 4.8 the Original Size (Kit dependent) A Set of Original Up-Scaled Water Slide Decals Uses 24mm Single and Reloadable Engines Easy to Follow Step-by-Step Instructions Authentic Landing Gear & Nose Cones Precision Laser Cut Fins & Parts BULLPUP SNOOPER (518) info@qmodeling.com VIPER STILETTO Laser Cut Tube Notches Robust Interlocking Engine Mount Premium Recovery System Included Assembly & Sanding Jigs (Some kits) Industry s Best Customer Service More Models on our Website VEGA NIKE-X ANDROMEDA QMODELING give six-minute formal presentation on their design-build-test process to a panel of NAR judges led by NAR VP Dr. Ted Cochran. Everyone took some time to go visit the large number of aerospace company and university exhibit booths to explore opportunities for their future and the teams enjoyed their free catered lunch and ice-cream social. Finally, at 2 PM, the top 24 teams were announced and each of these teams ran off to get their rocket ready for its second flight. As they went to check-in with the rocket, they were met by a NASA representative who gave them the material to apply for the opportunity they had earned to be part of the follow-on NASA Student Launch Initiative program in the next school year. The final flyoff round went from 3 PM to 4 PM. At the end of that round, while the scores were being calculated by Dr. Chris Kidwell and the TARC version of the famous Contest Manager software he wrote to support NAR competition, a select group of expert NAR high-power rocket fliers led by Ben Russell put on a flight demonstration of high-power rockets to show the students and spectators another aspect of our hobby s appeal. At 5 PM ev- ARA Press The Spaceship Enthusiasts One-Stop Data Shop! Reaching the End! These books have become the standard reference for fictional and theoretical spacecraft, but our stock is running low and they will not be reprinted. Order now and avoid e-bay inflation next year! Spaceship Handbook by Jack Hagerty and Jon C. Rogers 75 Fictional, Theoretical and Real Subjects. Over 500 photographs and illustrations. Detailed Data Drawings. 534 Pages. Only $59.95! (plus shipping) The Saucer Fleet by Jack Hagerty and Jon Rogers A massively detailed volume that contains complete biographies of all your favorite saucer productions: The Day the Earth Stood Still War of the Worlds This Island Earth Forbidden Planet Earth vs. the Flying Saucers Lost in Space The Invaders Detailed Data Drawings with cutaways. 320 Pages Only $49.95! (plus shipping) Please visit our website to order on-line. All Credit Cards and PayPal accepted. Call or write info@arapress.com for shipping options. Sales Tax added for CA orders ARA Press 785 Jefferson Ave. Livermore, CA (925) Sport Rocketry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

by former NAR President Mark Bundick) for team spirit, TARC rocket craftsmanship, team uniform, and sophistication of TARC mission design.

12 eryone gathered at the award ceremony (organized and scripted by NAR Trustee Dr. John Hochheimer) and recognized the TARC flight event champions, the winners of the rocket-building and presentation competitions, and the winners of special recognition awards (judged by a panel led by former NAR President Mark Bundick) for team spirit, TARC rocket craftsmanship, team uniform, and sophistication of TARC mission design. As several VIP speakers noted including Zach Lemnios, the Director of Defense Department Research and Engineering, while the event does produce a champion, every team that enters and The Madison West High School team represented the U.S. at Farnborough, UK. They placed 2nd behind the French team. flies in TARC can take pride in being a winner because of what they have learned. The TARC 2012 champions were a team from Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin, who followed an impressive score of 10 in their first round flight with some carefully-calculated adjustments that led to an even better second-round score of 2. A team from Madison West (different students) had also won TARC The rocketry program there run by NAR mentor Dr. Pavel Pinkas and teacher Ms. Chris Hager is structured, scientific, and rigorous and produces skilled and successful TARC teams every year; more importantly, these students go on into technical careers as a result of their experience. The Madison West team won $9,500 in scholarship cash for themselves (plus the trip to England from Raytheon), and their school won a $5,000 grant from Lockheed Martin Corporation. Second place in TARC 2012 went to a team of young ladies from Kreuger School of Applied Technologies in San Antonio, Texas, whose school was making its first appearance in the TARC Finals. And third place went to a team from Festus High School in Festus, Missouri, a school whose program regularly produces TARC Finalists as a result of good mentoring and instruction by NAR member Keith Vinyard. The final step in the TARC program Other TARC 2012 Awards Award Team Name City State Rocket-Building Competition Craftsmanship Gilmer County High School Glenville WV Creativity Seabrook Intermediate Magnet Program Seabrook TX Team Special Awards Best TARC Rocket Craftsmanship Casey Middle School East Amherst NY Best Dressed Team Albuquerque ACTSO Albuquerque NM Best Overall Mission Design Goshen High School Goshen IN Best Team Spirit of TARC Elena L. Christian Junior High School Christiansted, St U.S. Virgin Islands Croix Presentation Competition 1st Place Guerin Catholic High School Noblesville IN 2nd Place Greenwood Middle and High School Millerstown PA 3rd Place Williamson County 4-H Georgetown TX 30 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 Sport Rocketry

each year is the international flyoff at the Farnborough (even year) or Paris (odd year) Air Sh

TARC competition meets the champions of identical events flown in England and in France in the International Youth Rocketry Challenge event, sponsored by Raytheon Company and flown in front of the

The winners of the Team America Rocketry Challenge, Madison West High School, placed second behind the French team in the third annual International Rocketry Challenge fly off in Farnborough, United

13 each year is the international flyoff at the Farnborough (even year) or Paris (odd year) Air Show in Europe. Here the champion team from the U.S. TARC competition meets the champions of identical events flown in England and in France in the International Youth Rocketry Challenge event, sponsored by Raytheon Company and flown in front of the world s aviation community at these huge, high-visibility international air shows. The winners of the Team America Rocketry Challenge, Madison West High School, placed second behind the French team in the third annual International Rocketry Challenge fly off in Farnborough, United Kingdom, on July 13. Under rainy skies and gusty winds, students from France s LYCEE Louis Bleriot, the United Kingdom s Perse School, and Madison West High School representing the U.S., launched their rockets in a soggy cricket field adjacent to the Farnborough Air Show property. The International Rocketry Challenge scores a presentation and flight by each team to determine the winner. At the end of the presentation portion of the contest, the teams ranked: team U.K., team U.S., and team France. However, in a dramatic ending, team France flew their rocket to 822 feet with seconds recovery time for a final flight score of 22. Madison West was a very close second with a flight time of seconds and an altitude of 836 feet for a final score of 36. Unfortunately for the U.K. team, a low flight and a broken egg placed them third in the flight portion of the competition. In 2013, the International Rocketry Challenge returns to the Paris Airshow, where there is hope for additional teams to participate. TARC is now on into its eleventh season, its support from the aerospace industry secure because of its proven effectiveness in motivating young people to become professionals in their industry. The new flight challenge has been laid out (see the accompanying text box for a description), registration is open between early September and November 30 via the event website and the NAR is recruiting adult members to be mentors to help support and teach the teams that enter. Contact me at ahbarber@alum.mit. edu if you would like to join the 400 other NAR member mentors who continue to help make TARC the premier paying forward program for the world s best rocketry organization, your NAR. Are You Ready to Make the Jump? 18 chapters, 388 pages, 800 photographs and almost everything you need to move ahead in High Power Rocketry, Level 1 through Level 3. What are you waiting for? $32 free shipping 50 to all NAR/Tripoli/ CAR Members. For more information, contact Modern HPR Press at: Also available at Amazon.com Sport Rocketry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

How to Do Flight Testing for TARC. Trip Barber NAR TARC Manager

How to Do Flight Testing for TARC Trip Barber NAR TARC Manager The TARC Cycle Learn the rules and basic rocketry Design and fly your rocket on the computer Build your rocket to your design with real hardware