Pinewood Derby, Part I Research & Development

For those unfamiliar with the Boy Scout tradition of Pinewood Derby (such as myself a few years ago) it involves a block of wood, a dream of a fast/cool car and lots of sanding, paint and wheel assembly. Then race day, boys hooping and hollering and parents, esp. dads, hyperfocused on a big screen projecting up the wall, displaying times and placement of racing cars.

Ben, being Ben, hit the computer and interviewed the resident Subject Matter Expert, The Partner, to research and develop a design for his car (final design at right). He chose a wedge design to streamline the car and increase speed through minimization of drag and the color yellow with, of course, racing stripes.

He then discussed the design and plans for building with his co-builder, and they began cutting and sanding the block of wood.

(This is where the pictures of Ben using the electric sander and sawing the wooden block would go. If Mommy wasn't made so nervous by the thought of her baby using sharp and dangerous tools that the pictures would have been blurry from the shaking.)

Since the Pinewood Derby includes a Sibling Class, Mina got a chance to design and build her own car and race. So she drew up a plan as well. Not quite as streamlined and built for speed as her brother's, Mina designed a car that looked like a big, purple bird. Eyes, plumes of feathers and all.

Mina's car crew was more expansive than Ben's, including me to purchase the bird eyes and feathers. She and I discussed types of birds, feather placement and color selection. The design was passed, pretty much without comment other than, "The car should look like a purple bird" to the The P for body development.

Which highlights another aspect of Pinewood Derby: the adult co-builder. Ben and Mina are fortunate in that they have a mechanical engineer, who spends his free time designing and building parts for race cars, as a co-builder; I think they're even luckier in that they have a co-builder who expects each to actively participate in the build and understand why each step proceeds as it does. Ben designed, sawed and sanded the wood, glued wheels, painted primer and two coats of final paint color on his car, added weights (in the back and he can tell you why), and accompanied me to the post office to assess final weight. Though he likes to win, Ben also has an appreciation for the development of the car from plan to race day.

A couple weeks, some elbow grease and a few coats of paint later, the cars were ready to roll.

Tune in tomorrow for Pinewood Derby: Race Day!