Pinewood Derby

 

Save the date!  Pack 1910's Pinewood Derby is scheduled for Saturday, April 23.  

Cars were distributed at the January Pack meeting.  If you haven't picked up your car yet, what are you waiting for?  The Pinewood Derby Rules will be distributed shortly to ensure your car meets standard height/weight/length requirements.  You must use the wood, wheels and axles in the kit you receive.  Wheels must remain flat.  

Winners at each den level will receive a trophy and we will also have a grand champion! It's sure to be a GREAT day!  More information to follow!

As stated, our Pinewood Derby is set for that Saturday.  Registration and vehicle check in will be Friday, April 22 from 630-830 pm at the church.  We will be setting up the track so you can try your car out, make any last minute repairs and check that baby in!  The official scale will be there (you are shooting for no more than 5.0 ounces) and we will be checking car dimensions to be sure everything is in compliance for the big race!!

The race will be at 9:30 am the following morning.

The building of a derby car is meant to be a bonding experience for Scouts and their family. We realize that age and experience can have some limitations in the building experience.  If you want to try to use a rough percentage as a guide, Tigers should be able to do at least 20% of their car.  Wolves should be able to do at least 40% of their car. Bears should be able to do at least 50% of their car and Webelos should be able to do most, if not all, of the process for their cars on their own with a parent present to provide guidance and ensure safety.

Knowing that the best things a parent can give their children are roots and wings.  Let the building experience be something that he takes command of.  However, we don't want our awesome families to miss out on the experience, too.  So, while we want to encourage you to let your son build his car.  We want YOU to build your very own!  We are having a open heat at the end of the race for everyone else who wants to build a car.  Siblings, moms and dads are welcome to enter!

There are all kinds of ways to enhance your car's performance.  I've collected some for you here to check out.

Improving upon the weight distribution of the car once you've cut the body out. Check out Pinewood World.

Are you a physics geek that wants to know the whys behind the how?  Check out this and this.

How to make a fast car?  Check out this link for secrets to speed.

A favorite blog of mine actually summed it up quite nicely

All the speed in your son’s car will come from POTENTIAL ENERGY being converted to KINETIC ENERGY. When the car is at the top of the track, ready to go down, it is full of potential energy, or the force of gravity pulling the car back to earth. If the track were to suddenly disappear, the car would fall to the ground, converting the potential energy to movement, or kinetic energy.
Theoretically, the fastest the car can go is the speed at which it would be traveling as it fell right before it hit the ground. Of course, your car (or your son’s car) won’t be going that fast since it loses some of it’s kinetic energy to FRICTION and other forces. Friction losses come from the rubbing of the wheels against the side of the car, against the axles, and against the track. There is also a little bit of friction from air, called drag. Energy is also converted into rotational energy, i.e. the spinning of the wheels.So in essence, we want to maximize the potential energy in your car and minimize the losses due to friction and other forces. While I can’t give away all our secrets, here are a couple of tips to do just that.

Need to find a template to cut your car?  Check out here, here and also a ton of designs here.  Oh, and since Minecraft is SO big, how about instructions for a Creeper car. Find that here.

Dremel actually has an interactive tool online where your son can pick out the design and it will give you a printable template for which to build his car!  How cool is THAT?  There are all kinds of stickers and decals available at hobby shops.

Need a good video to show you some tips for building your car? Check out this guy and his son's video.  They've put together an informative one to share.

There is so much good information and ideas out there!  Just let your fingers do the walking!  You'll be overwhelmed in no time!  Here is the Boy's Life link to all things Pinewood Derby.

Oh, and if you wanted to find a cool collection of Star Wars themed derby cars, look no further!  Click here.