2012 Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge Finds International Glory

While the world was counting down to the opening of the 2012 Olympics, many eyes were turned to the third Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge which this year found international glory.

As the late sunrise illuminated the launch site and the crystal clear blue sky appeared from the darkness, we all knew that the scene was set for another fantastic challenge. As the many amazing helpers arrived, the range was swiftly set up at the Queensland Rocketry Society’s LA2A launch site. With the AYRC helpers brief completed and teams rolling in, you could see in the distance, many hot air balloons taking advantage of the beautiful weather.

With the teams starting to prep their rockets, it was with great pleasure to announce to the crowds, some very special guests with our first ever international competitors all the way from Ahmedabad, India. Two representatives, Viren and Brijesh and their mentor Pratham were present at the challenge and arrived two days earlier to work on their rocket. Having limited availability of materials in India, the team brought their paper drawn design and plans to give the Australian’s a real run for their money. There was lots of excitement with the many new experiences including the use of composite reloadable motors and other commercially available materials.

The primary teams took to the pads for their first round and the audience quietened in anticipation of the first lift off… The countdown began and all of a sudden there was a ‘pop’ followed by a gentle whooshing sound as the rocket sat on the pad thrusting nowhere. It was an interesting start to the day and moved onto the next rocket. With a now higher level of anticipation, the countdown starts once more and again there was a ‘pop’ followed by a gentle whooshing sound. We quickly put a hold on launching to check out the two rockets and both had spat the nozzles. A quick inspection of the other C6 motors showed that there was a faulty batch of motors all with cracked nozzles and/or the nozzles were not attached to the motor casing. The teams hastily swapped the other motors in the primary school rockets and repacked the two rockets with the failed motors.

Back to the pads and as they say, third time lucky, the first rocket finally lifts high into the sky with cheers to be heard from miles away. A number of consistently great flights meant the judges would be working hard today carefully checking all aspects of the rockets and their flights.

With the first round of the primary challenge out of the way, it was time for the secondary schools to take the stage. The quality of this year’s builds were exceptional and it was clear there had been many hours put into each and every entry. One by one, the raw egg payloads were lifted with definitive purpose and you could see that this year’s teams meant business. It was fantastic to see how the experiences of previous challenges had clearly been learnt from with teams applying new techniques for more precise outcomes. Some teams had complex clustered projects which proved to be troublesome on the day, nevertheless all participants had great fun.

The defending champions from Aviation High did not disappoint with a near perfect flight and recovery, though with an altitude of 716’, the High Flyers conceded second place to Grace Lutheran College’s Grace2 with an altitude of 738’. Canterbury College’s Sunny Side Up secured third place with an altitude of 673’. A number of other teams, including team India came close to the target, however unfortunately returned cracked eggs resulting in disqualification.

The second round of primary flights were just as impressive as the first and this year saw a clean sweep from Beaudesert State Primary School taking out all three places. It was again a tight result between all competitors with Beauy Brothers in first place, Beauy Beauties/Sisters in second place and Beauy Black Knights in third place.

The spool completed its 19^th flight as the first demonstration this year and as always intensely grabbed the interest of all onlookers. Australian Rocketry’s ‘company ute’ flew on a H123 Skid Mark motor followed by Ari's Ariel on an I211 White Lightning.

To say it was a great day really is an understatement and many teams and teachers are already thinking about next year’s challenge. The success from our Indian comrades means there is also discussion of a future entry from some new participants. A huge thank you goes out to all of the helpers who make this event so successful each year and I know all participants are grateful for their efforts which is indicated by the constant growth of the Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge.

Now it 's time to hit  the drawing board again and start planning the 2013 Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge which is sure to be full of excitement and new surprises.

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2012 AYRC Schedule and Directions

The 2012 Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge schedule is available for download under the 'Contest Info' tab above.

AYRC 2012 will be held at Queensland Rocketry Society's LA2A launch site. The following map and directions guide you from Jimboomba to the launch site.

1. From Jimboomba, continue travelling south along Mount Lindesay Highway (Route 13) for 9.5 km (7 min’s)

2. Just past the sign for Cedar Vale, turn right into Cedar Grove Road.

3. Continue along Cedar Grove Road for 5 km (approx 5 min’s)

4. You will come to a 90degree turn to the left approx. 300m past LA2 (If you have not been to LA2 before, you will know when you reach the 90degree turn.)

5. Continue another 1.28km, past the milk farm (No.39) and turn right onto a small dirt road where LA2A is located.

If you have GPS navigation, the launch site is located at the following coordinates:

27°51'45.38" S, 152°57'21.22" E

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2012 AYRC Special guests from India

This years Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge has just received confirmation that we will be having some very special guests all the way from Ahmedabad, India, attending and competing.

After lots of communication between AYRC and the Indian team, we are excited to have participation from an international group which we believe will be a great experience for all participants.

We look forward to their visit.

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2012 AYRC Applications & Handbooks

The 2012 AYRC Applications and Handbooks are now available to download by clicking on 'Downloads' above.

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AYRC 2012 DATES SET!

The 2012 Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge dates have been set.

The Fly-off will be held on Saturday 28 July 2012 with a rain date set for Saturday 04 August 2012.

Keep an eye on the site for updated information.

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Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge Heritage Listing

It is a great honour to announce that AYRC was recently contacted by the National Library of Australia who requested permission to archive the Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge Inc. publications into Pandora, the National Heritage Archives.

"The National Library has selected your publication for archiving because we have judged it to be an important component of the national documentary heritage."

This is a very historic event and a huge thanks needs to go out to all those that help and support this amazing event. With 2011 now out of the way, it is time to focus on next years challenge which is sure to be even bigger and better.

Everyone involved should be proud to be a part of this.

Click here to visit the official the National Library of Australia's Pandora site.

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GET READY TO LAUNCH!

AYRC 2011 = BEST ROCKETRY CHALLENGE YET!

After a magnificent sunrise, it was 6am, 2 degrees Celsius and frost on the ground. The Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge (AYRC) team of dedicated helpers sprung into action to set up the site for what was destined to be yet another amazing event.

It almost seemed right on cue... clear blue skies, banners flapping in the gentle breeze and the range almost completely set up, the massive golden 16 seater hot air balloon with a little jump makes its touchdown just next to the range. Unplanned, it was certainly a great way to start the day, making for some spectacular photos.

Having grown the challenge from last year and increased the contest criteria, all the teams arrived with a fantastic vibe of enthusiasm ready to fly their incredible rocket vehicles. Group leaders were kept busy with the many finer inspections and last minute adjustments to make sure rockets were safe and ready to launch.

As the launches started, the traditional August wind decided to rush through, throwing yet another variable in the equation of carrying the raw egg payload to the desired 750feet. The official eggs were individually labelled and handed to contestants who one by one rose to the challenge with a number of terrific flights. Unfortunately, even with many accurate and great flights, many teams quickly discovered that recovering an unbroken egg is not as easy as it sounds.

It was great to see so many students thinking outside the box with their innovative design techniques and willing to try unique ways to carry the delicate payloads. For many, this was the first time they had ever launched rockets and to really spice it up, using altimeters for the first time too made this fun challenge even more exciting.

Only two teams on the day managed to return a completely unbroken egg, which clearly set first and second places. Despite some hairline fractures, the battle for third came down to two teams whose eggs were still good enough to crack on the BBQ and eat for lunch. It goes without saying, the judges had much deliberation to work out third place.

With an altitude of 659feet, congratulations to Aviation High – Aviation Diamonds for taking out this year’s challenge. Beaudesert SPS – Beauy Beasts, after winning last year’s challenge, came second and Canterbury College - Year 12 secured third.

The primary school challenge was just as exciting with some impressive looking and performing rockets. It was great to see a number of all girls teams again this year breaking any stereotypical model of a male dominant field. This year the Beaudesert SPS – Beauy Beauties won the challenge after placing third in last year’s basic challenge. In second place was Beaudesert SPS – Beauy BFFs and Rochedale South SPS – Rainbow Rockets followed closely in third place.

As always, there is a number of demonstration flights. This year we flew a spool twice as it is always a crowd pleaser and definitely an interesting vehicle leaving the spectators full of curiosity before launching. A ¼ scale Patriot on a H250G and an AMRAAM4 on a J420R were flown as the L1 and L2 HPR demonstrations which both added another huge WOW factor to the day.

There was a lot to learn and with the hands on approach it seems there are a few budding rocket scientists in the making. Teams are already discussing how they would do things differently and are looking forward to next year’s challenge where they can fine tune their skills.

I would like to personally thank all of the wonderful sponsors and everyone who participated and helped on the day. It is because of all of you, that the Australian Youth Rocketry Challenge is so successful. Along with the success of each year’s challenge, it was exciting to also announce the news we received during the week that AYRC has been selected by the National Australian Library to be archived in Pandora, the Australia Heritage Archive. This is notably a huge part of history for rocketry in Australia and something that everyone should be proud of.

Planning for next year’s challenge has already begun and information will be released as early as October this year. I look forward to seeing even more teams next year for what is going to definitely be the biggest AYRC yet.

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