Kamsack and Canora air cadets joined together in Kamsack on January 28 for an exercise in rockets.
Wade Stachura, a second lieutenant with the Canora squadron who is its training officer, led the exercise at the Kamsack Comprehensive Institute.
“We began with a classroom activity,” said Karen Tourangeau, commanding officer of the Kamsack squadron. This is an inner-squadron air skills exercise.
After learning about rocketry and general aviation in the classroom, the cadets moved outside to the school grounds, where they ignited several rockets, watching them ascend up to between 200 and 300 feet.
Stachura, who said that the rockets were purchased as kits, explained how each one is ignited electrically. He explained that the fuel used in the model rocket is the same solid fuel as was contained in the solid fuel boosters that had been strapped to the space shuttle.
Soon, everyone stood back a safe distance, a countdown was initiated, and “fire,” the rocket shot into the air, with everyone challenging himself or herself to watch as it went up, shot out a parachute, and slowly descended to the ground. A cadet then stumbled through the snow to retrieve the spent rocket.
