Pinewood Derby 2011

(Michael blogging...)

Carter is now the only kid left in our house who is involved in Cub Scouts (Justin is now enjoying Boy Scouts). This week was his first foray into making and racing his own pinewood derby car.

I started him out by asking him what kind of a car he wanted to make. This perplexed him at first -but he soon discovered that he needed to design, cut, sand, paint, and add wheels to his car. He surmised this when he opened his kit to find a mere block of pine wood and four loose wheels.

Carter's initial plans were for a car that was more like a vulture with with wheels than an actual car. Not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm - but also wanting his to finish the project this decade, I was able to talk him into a more simplistic concept of a lightening bolt in the front with racing stripes on the sides. He acquiesced, but was adamant that the colors were to be red, black, and white - which, as they are Trail Blazer colors, was just fine with me.

I helped him make some cuts with the hacksaw and a chisel. Carter then did the bulk of the sanding, painting, and spraying of the car with an acrylic coating. He needed a little help to get the wheels hammered in place; however, he undertook every phase and task with his typically zeal and aplomb.

The whole process took place over several weeks time and he never bored or tired of the task of doing the step in his car creation. He had actually been given the kit by his Den Leader back in December and Carter wanted to dive into the project right away. I had to contain his zeal for over a month in order to make sure we were doing things properly. There are, as I found out, strident and unflinchingly rigid rules and guidelines about weight, dimensions, materials, and lubricating powder. It was clear from the get-go that this would be no overnight little project.

When race day came - his car weighed in almost a whole ounce underweight. This typically means that such a car will not go as fast as other "heftier" models. Nonetheless, Carter wasn't interested in adding washers or coins, as per my suggestion, to the car to weigh it down. He was happy with it the way it was - and so I encouraged him about it no further.

At the race itself, his and about 50 other car in the pack were to be lined up atop a 50 foot ramp and released. Gravity would do the rest. His car was in the first racing "heat" of the den meeting and...finished in last place by a comfortable margin. When I turned to see Carter's reaction - he clenched his fists, grinned, and proclaimed, "That was fun." He spent the rest of the meeting dutifully watching each ensuing race and cheering. He was very happy to learn that ALL scouts who entered a car in the derby got a free Dilly Bar from Dairy Queen. Awesome!

One thing I did notice that day was that many of the other cars that entered in the race were obviously made by a work effort of 95% dad and 5% kid. These cars looked like Formula-1 prototypes. While they were far more streamlined and sexy and a more sure bet to perform well - they (in my mind) didn't serve the purpose of having young scouts make the cars in the first place. I felt strangely proud of the fact that Carter's car (while a slow-poke car to be sure) was truly of his own making.

Carter has already begun laying plans for his pinewood derby entry next year. Perhaps I'll let him pursue that vulture-car design after all. We'll see...