Sunday, March 27, 2011

Pine Wood Derby

So we're a Scouting Family.
It started last year, when Louie decided he wanted to go camping and shoot arrows and yell Den yells.
And when our family does something...
We do it BIG!
Which means I'm the Den Leader.
And my husband is the new Cub Master.
We sound like Rick Moranis & Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters.
"Are you the Cub Master? I'm the Den Leader."

ANYWAY!

I don't mean to complain. We've had a lot of fun!
I've got a great Den of 9 boys. Woo Hoo!!!

So the Pinewood Derby was this weekend.
If you don't know about this, here's the set up. The boys get a block of wood, four wheels and four nails. They need to turn this into a racing machine. There are strict rules about axles and lube (seriously...wheel lube) and a bunch of stuff I don't get into. This is a job for Son & Dad. The car has to weigh 5 oz. Then we all get together and race them on this track. It's VERY high tech...figures out the mph,
whatever's and whatnot's. I show up, chat with some parents, munch on some doughnuts and take pictures!

I just noticed how crooked the wheels are! Oops!

Each Scout has an assigned number. They bring their car in. It gets weighed and put on this mat. No Touching your car after official weigh in!

Here's the track. The cars get loaded at the top of the far end. Then they race down the slope towards the finish line. This table to the right is where the track owner has his computer hooked up. There was a big screen off to the left that showed the boy's name, lane and finishing results. Hi-Tech!

Here is one of the rounds of racing. Louie's car is the yellow one. He came in second here. The boys each race four times with different cars. Then the computer compiles all their information and poops out who the fastest is by Pack & Den.

And here are the trophies! These boys take their trophies seriously!
Louie got one of the little ones...Fourth Place in his Den.
Not too shabby!

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