Champions.... Blast Off! (No, not the Astro band competition...)

Well, today's been a great day for me, and im really happy now...

Today, the school held a Rocket Launching Competition in the filed, and there were 16 teams competing, and my team was one of them. My team was called "Fender" as a tribute to the greatest guitar brand ever, (although Gibson aint far behind! I like both Fender and Gibson 'coz Mark Knopfler uses them. Brilliant guitarist!) My team was me, Alvin and Mortigou, but those 2 went off to their Dreams and Teams, when this competition was a once-in-a-lifetime chance... And im still upset now...

So anyway, today there was supposed to be no lessons, coz the Muslim students were supposed to go to the hall for a function, while the Moral students all dunno go where.... The 'rocketeers were exempt from all those, so we all went to the field. That meant i was alone, and i was facing a huge headache, on the parachute part of the rocket.. (P.S., this competition was divided into 2 categories: Trajectory (farthest flight) and Parachute (longest in the air) today...)

So the teacher gathered us all for a short talk on the competition, while i was frantically fixing the rocket.... Meanwhile, the other Form 4 Moral students went for a kerja amal (by Teacher Surilla) in the kindergarden near Sembulan (is it?) and they were doing something else. Right, back to the rocket.

First off was the parachute competition, and only a few teams joined. My first try was a failure, but luckily there was a 2nd run, and i managed to get the parachute to open, though it lasted for only 5 seconds in the air. The winner for that part was Chan's team, and congrats mate. 20 seconds in the air.

Then, the thrill begins. The trajectory competiton. The Fender Rocket was all set and ready to launch, but by the time my turn arrived, i was sweating.. The farthest so far was 97 metres... So i prepared for my rocket. Filled the water, checked; pumped the air, checked; and then it was lauch time... Poof, 78 metres was the 1st try, and then it looked gloomy, with the distance no match for the leading team, and the nosecone broken... But then nothing is impossible, like Liverpool's Champions League win.. (ok, that's kinda off topic, i know, but this shows that NOTHING is impossible...)

So i quickly repaired the nosecone and fixed a new one over the old one to make it stronger and more aerodynamic. Then the 2nd try came, and i can remeber every bit of detail as my rocket was about to do something very special....

I went to fill the water as Chan's team was getting ready his 'secret weapon' (a super rocket).... Then i waited for my turn, made some adjustments to the wing and nosecone, and then it was time. I placed my rocket in th launcher, tightened it, pumped the apir in, closed all the valves, adjusted the launcher angle, and then..... BANG!! Off it went into the air, and it went so far that i hardy could see it! I was excited, but not yet, coz they havenmt measured the distance at that time.

I went over to the far side to get my rocket and the distance. I jogged back to the starting point, and halfway i asked "how far?!" Then the reply was the best thing i heard. 112 metres!! Then ecstasy as i jumped and shouted in celebration! 112 metres! And that turned out to be the winning distance. So the Fender Rocket is the winner! Wow... Absolutely incredible!

To be honest, after the first try, it had look bleak and i thought i would lose, let alone go past 100 metres, but it did! And i was so happy! You should have seen me celebrate. It was like Liverpool winning the Champions League after 21 years! Absolutely estatic!

So now that Fender won, our team will represent the school in the school-level competiton.

It was one of the best days of my life, winning the rocket competition almost single-handedly! (after all, during competition day, I was the one who did all the work in helping it to be a sucess.. hehe!) Now i can still feel the win....

Yahoo!

Fender, 2006 Rocket Launching Champions!