School can be a real Drag!

Ken Johnston
Editorial@RainyRiverRecord.com

While it is not mach 1, it was the fastest race car event Rainy River has seen in a long time.
The Rainy River High School Grade 9 shop classes researched, designed, built and then on Friday drag raced Co2 cars as part of their class projects.
Teacher John Laplante had the students look up the cars on the internet. The students then had to do some thumbnail sketches of cars they liked and from those had to develop blueprints to build a car. Out of blocks of cedar or basswood they carved up some really cool cars. Metal axles and plastic wheels were then added and fancy paint jobs of all colours were then applied. Some even added decals to further dress them up. A hole big enough to hold a Co2 cartridge was left in the back of the car, which when punctured would propel it forward.
Then on Friday an 18 metre track was constructed in the RRHS auditorium. It featured two pieces of 20lb test fishing line which were tied to the starting gate and finish line. Small eye-hooks were added to the bottom of the cars and then Co2 cartridges were placed in the rear of the cars. The fishing line track was then placed through the hooks and two cars were placed in the starting gate to race against each other.
Once a spring loaded trigger was fired the cars travelled at incredible speeds to the far end of the gym. Early on the times were in the 1.3 seconds to go 18 metres. By the end of the competition the fastest time belonged to the A side champion, Jason Yeo whose car travelled 18 metres in 1.153 seconds. That translates into 56.2 km/hr or about 34 miles per hour.
Stacey Olson won the B side competition with a final run speed of 1.436 seconds or 45.12 km/hr.
Winning the People’s Choice Awards for best designed cars was Delbert Kirkrude, Kyle Kuzyk and Stacey Olson. The Teacher’s Choice for best designed cars went to Curtis Scott and Clinton Weafer.