Just before Christmas the BLOODHOUND Education Team ran a series of workshops at the Technical Centre, during which children (and their parents) came along to hear about the Car and to build and race model rocket cars of their own.
Here are some of their stories. If your family would like to experience the BLOODHOUND Engineering Adventure too, please sign up for the next series of workshops which are running in the school half term holidays from Wednesday 10th to Friday 19th February.
A Great British Project
By Max and Tim
“What a brilliant day! My son Max had been looking forward to this for weeks, watching BLOODHOUND videos on YouTube every day. He really enjoyed building his rocket car which achieved 46mph.
“It was great how you involved everybody, especially the kids. You certainly have inspirational talents. Max now knows how a jet engine works and I’m sure there will be a few engineers from among today’s participants. In fact, if you had been my Maths teacher I might have been an engineer rather than a builder!
“Congratulations for making it a great morning and thanks to all the team. Max will be going back to school in the New Year armed with poster, model and his rocket car to spread the Gospel. We will continue to follow the Project with great interest.”
A Great Afternoon
From Sarah, Iris and Felix
“What a wonderful afternoon! We now have one rocket scientist and one engineer in the making :) The talk you gave was perfectly pitched for all ages. It was brilliant to take part in such a fun and inspirational day. Iris and Felix haven't stopped telling everyone about it and have taken their rockets into school for show and tell.
“Thank you so much.”
A Great Christmas Present
By David and Franz
“My 6 year old son is a bit of a car enthusiast. Santa is obviously aware of this and so for Christmas he was lucky enough to receive two tickets to visit the Technical Centre.
“After we arrived we sat before a large screen with around 60 or so other visitors and then the presentation began, which was amazing. Although it was geared toward the younger members of the audience, the gentleman that gave the presentation – the ‘Chief Inspirer’ –had the children and adults laughing all the way through, despite presenting on a subject which may seem a little dry. I, for one, am not a car enthusiast, but I found his telling of the history of the world land speed record and the construction of BLOODHOUND quite exhilarating.
“Overall the main focus, simply put, was ‘to be the best’, but a couple of things that really stood out to me were ‘pride in British industry’ and ‘pride in British achievement’.
“After the presentation we were taken through to the workshop next door and there before us was 13 metres of slender, state-of-the-art car – BLOODHOUND SSC. It’s a truly magnificent sight. One of the engineers then hosted a Q&A, after which we were allowed to look around the Car and in the cockpit. There were several other engineers and ambassadors milling around answering questions.
“Also in the building was the fastest rough terrain fire engine in the world, which was quite impressive in its own right but, I have to admit, totally overshadowed by BLOODHOUND.
“We were then told we were all going to get the chance to beat a different kind of land speed record. Everyone got given a 40cm block of foam and the kids were told they could design their own car which would be cut out by the engineers. Around 30 minutes later everyone had designed and built their own cars, and we went outside where the cars were each fitted with a small detonator. Then they were set off, one at a time, with speeds recorded on a speedometer. The fastest car travelled in excess of 50mph!
“Everyone got to keep the cars that they had built, plus they were given posters and other keepsakes to take away.
“This was not only a fun and educational day out, but also a chance to be part of what may be looked back upon as an important part of history – I was so glad I had the opportunity to experience this with my son.”
Book your place on the next BLOODHOUND Rocket Car Experience workshops here.
