Gosport pupils switch to rocket power for competition

Year Seven pupils from Bay House School and Brune Park School took part in the Bloodhound Race.

The students were tasked with designing a rocket-powered car, figuring out how best to design it to maximise speed.

Schools that produce the fastest times advance to the next stage of the competition.

Design technology teacher from Bay House School, Andy Stewart, said: ‘Pupils are given a block of foam and some wheel blanks and are set the challenge of designing the fastest car for the race day.

‘They need to understand the forces involved in propelling their cars at high speeds and how to optimise their car design to deliver the fastest times.

‘The Royal Navy supplied some engineers to support the launching of the cars on the race day held at Bay House School – giving interested pupils a chance to find out what life is like as an engineer serving in the Royal Navy.

‘Even the rain couldn’t slow down the cars, with their rocket motors not being limited by the slippery conditions.

‘With our best times submitted we are hopeful that teams from both Bay House and Brune Park will have a good chance of progressing to the next round held at the dockyard in Portsmouth.’