The Photo Finish

Here are some photos from Logan's Pinewood Derby last weekend.

Logan's car - "Fire and Flames"

Logan with his car on the track

And they're off - Logan's car is second from the left. Sadly, this is about as close as it ever stayed to the rest of the pack.

Logan and denmates

I Feel I Should Explain Myself

We're back from the holidays, all the gifts are put away or into use, and 2009 is well underway. Naturally, that means back to the weekly rush of activities and whatnot, and for Logan that means back into Scouts full speed.

Unfortunately, full speed was pretty pathetic. Last Saturday was Logan's first Pinewood Derby for Tiger Scouts, and we'd been working on his car off-and-on since Christmas. It was a pretty simple design, in fact most of the time and work was spent on the paint job. The idea behind the Derby is for the Scout to do most of the work, with assistance as necessary, and I wanted Logan to be involved and do as much as he could. I think that's a good way to get a lot out of his Scout activities.

What it is not, apparently, is a good way to do well at a Pinewood Derby.

Logan came in dead last. Out of 15. I take full responsibility, since it appears that the primary culprit was his car's inability to even cross the finish line. Not heavy enough, you see. The cars have a weight limit of 5 ounces, which means most cars clock in at 4.9 thanks to carefully attached weights. We had no derby car weights, and Logan's car was about 3.5 ounces. I correctly predicted that his car would accelerate just as quickly as the others (as gravitational acceleration is independent of mass), but I failed to account for the momentum it would need to keep going. Ah well, live and learn.

His car was also a little lacking in the appearance department, and that I'm a little more disappointed with. Not in Logan's car - in everyone else's. As I said, the Derby is supposed to be about the kids building the cars, for the most part. Most, if not all of the other cars at the race, were clearly the product of a lot of adult labor. From the car design to the paint job to the polished finish, there were some really, really well-done cars. Now, I have a fair judgment as to the abilities of a 7-year-old, and if those kids built those cars then I know of some high-paying skilled machinist jobs they can slide into TODAY.

So in the end, I'm rather proud of Logan's car. Logan designed it, Logan helped cut it out, Logan helped paint it, and Logan also seems to really like it.

But next year, we'll make some changes.