Traveling at Mach 0.012

WOW! It is hard to believe that a year has passed since I was spending my days on the saddle of a bike. Today I am at the Paris Airshow on the beautiful LeBourget Airfield. This day brings warm sun, blue skies, and a cooling breeze to make it nearly perfect.  Why am I here, you may be wondering? I am here for this:

But more importantly, I am here to help run the annual International Rocketry Competition, in which winning teams of students from national rocketry competitions fly their rockets and present their experiences for the chance to become the 2015 International Rocketry Competition champions.  Tomorrow seven students from Russellville AL will arrive at the Charles de Gaulle airport ready to take on the world.  Our awesome sponser, Raytheon, and in conjunction with the Aerospace Industries Association, provide us with the resources to support this great event for the U.S. team. This is my fifth international airshow (had to miss last year’s event because I was pedaling across the northern tier of our great country).    Ok, I am rambling…

So I am sitting here in the sunshine passing time by looking at many people as they mill around the airshow; these people are looking at the displays, learning new things, and most importantly doing the necessary business of keeping our commercial and defense aircraft and space system industries thriving.  I wait and plan for the next three days of events for our U.S. student delegation (Christian, Niles, Andrew, Katie, Evan, Emma, and Chelsea). Wednesday, they will arrive; wide eyed and a bit tired I am sure.  Lunch in Paris to start them out. 

Hopefully they will get to relax some in the afternoon and evening because Thursday is presentation day. Up early and into the van for the short in distance (yet long at times for the duration). Meeting with groups at the airshow, some lunch and then we are into the competition. The presentation lasts 20 minutes. My guess is that it will be about 20 hours they prepared for this 20 minutes; maybe more. Thursday evening is dinner with the crews of the magnificant equipment shown in the photos.  Hopefully some sleep because Friday it is up early again for the flights of the students’ rockets front and center at the airshow. Another early morning in the van to the show, prepping the rockets for flight, thru some intense security, and onto the airfield for the contest.  Plans are for the students to meet some important people just before we set up for the countdown to their destiny in the contest.  We are hoping for 0 points and an unbroken egg; time will tell.