Engineering II: Nazareth Area High School Tech Ed Dragster Races

As raceday came closer and closer, Our Engineers at Nazareth Area High School sought to finish their metric dragsters they had worked so hard on. Some had pride riding on the line, others had tasty-kakes riding on the races. Last Period rolled around, and we got started setting up the track...

Setting up the Starting Line. We had to measure Precisely 66.5feet and then find an electrical outlet to plug in the system. Duct tape ho!

Setting up the fishing line and the finish gate. Our cars have Screw Eyes on the bottom of them that will be guided through this line. We do this so that the cars stay on the track and won't spiral out of control.

A student Engineer placing his car on the starting gate. The car must touch, but not go over the red line. We will then insert the C02 Cartridge, place the bottle-neck of the cartridge inside the starter (black box) and adjust height where necessary. After that, velcro it down, flip the switch and the system recognizes that the car is ready and is safe to launch.

Taping Down the Fishing Line. We put this foam pad here to stop the cars when they cross the finish line. Some end up turning on their left or right side, others land nose first (face first) or some, if too dangerous, will go right through....

Two cars starting off the starting gate. This is about 0.10-0.20 seconds into the race. I had to use a special program to freeze frame this so you could see the C02 being burst out by the starter puncturing the cartridge. What is neat is, it looks like these minitarue cars break the sound barrier, however they in actuality did not, car speeds ranged from 35-45mph, FAST for something under a foot long.

First place car. The car was so fast, that my $400 camera had trouble keeping up with it. I believe this car was 0.10-0.20 seconds faster than my car. Another Engineer would have taken first place with his time at 46mph, however his car was illegal because... he didn't paint it!

The Best for Last, Revenge of Firebird (III). I received 3rd place in recorded times. You can't see the other car in the other lane because our cars were neck and neck, but we had a difficult time keeping up with both cars. As the cars crossed the finishing line, I heard a lot of woahs. I exclaimed YEAH! of course. Not because I thought I had won, but because my car didn't fall apart =).