Welcome to Flying Start Challenge
Flying Start Challenge is a STEM competition for local schools in the South West of England which is run and sponsored by eight aerospace engineering companies: Airbus, Atkins, BAE Systems, GKN Aerospace, Leonardo, MBDA, Rolls-Royce and Safran Landing Systems.
The challenge is designed to allow students to develop their knowledge of flight, and gain some hands on engineering experience. Whilst doing this, we aim to provide an opportunity for pupils to build on their soft skills such as teamwork, communication and problem solving, whilst also having fun.
The aim is for teams composed of four students to design, build and test a model glider that they will present at their regional Fly-Off, where each team will have the chance to fly their glider against schools from the same region. Teams will be judged on various criteria such as the distance flown, innovative design, use of recycled materials, and more which will be detailed in a poster presentation. Winning teams from each regional Fly-Off get the chance to compete at the Grand Final held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil!
Grand Final 2019 – what a day!
And… breathe!
On the 27th March 2019, the Fleet Air Arm Museum hosted the Grand Final, and what an amazing day it was. The pupils involved were tested all day, through a combination of presentations, engineering activities and of course the fly off!
The committee would like to say a huge thank you to the museum staff for helping us to host another incredible day. Along with this, a special thank you to our guest speaker John Sorsby who delivered an excellent speech regarding his job as a commercial pilot, the EDT and RAeS, our VIPs and of course the volunteers – without all of you the day could not have been such a resounding success.
Read the full 2018/19 Grand Final article HERE!