• Home
• News
• Events
• Testimonials
• Downloads
• Contact

Project X

This year's exciting RAF Waddington Schools' Challenge, entitled 'Project X', which was run in partnership with The Lincolnshire & Rutland Education Business Partnership, saw Year 8 students from schools throughout Lincolnshire working on a real life challenge based around the requirement to design and build an aircraft model and mechanical release system which will be able to safely deliver precious cargo.

This tough challenge was extremely popular with 10 schools being represented at the final on 12 November 2009.

The students were set the task and had been working on their prototypes in class during the weeks and months leading up to the final, each school was also assisted by personnel from RAF Waddington. The students were set a brief to build a lightweight, simple aircraft to carry an aid package, in this case represented by an egg, to be dropped, undamaged, to a set target. Students also had to research, design and build a release mechanism attached to the aircraft, so that the egg would be released from the mechanism at a specific point, to allow it to land safely in the target 'drop-zone'. The teams were judged on both accuracy and whether their cargo was delivered safely!

After a fiercely competitive competition, the deserving winners of the challenge were a team of students from Cherry Willingham Community School.

As well as taking part in Project X, all of the students were also invited on a guided tour of RAF Waddington which included weapons demonstrations and viewing the RAF dogs at work, as well as for many of the students' highlight of the day, having their photograph taken next to one of RAF Waddington's AWACS planes.