Most clubs aren’t exactly rocket science — but for the Aviation club, that’s all it is. From prototyping rockets to qualifying for national competitions, Aviation Club gives its members opportunities to explore the topic.

With an ultimate goal of competing at the American Rocketry Competition, Aviation Club began creating its rocket in August. Each member designed a model of the rocket on OpenRocket, a rocket designing software. From there, the club voted on which model to use and revised it together to meet all competition requirements.

The process of making the rocket spanned the last few weeks, with each member of the club focusing on different aspects. 

“Our group is getting the materials to build the rocket and organizing our members into small teams,” sophomore Jayson Park said. “Each team will focus on specific parts of the rockets, such as the engine and the motors.”

In the competition, the club’s rocket will need to take two eggs — oriented sideways — to an altitude of 790 feet, and safely return to the ground within 41 to 44 seconds. 

​​These structural and time constraints make the club need to focus on precision across the board. 

“A large part of the challenge is making sure the rocket is balanced,” sophomore Daniil Babinskiy said. “If you want the rocket to actually fly straight, you’ve got to make it spin stabilized. That’s very hard, but if you don’t put the spin stabilization, the rocket is just gonna tumble in the air and not go to the altitude.”

In an effort to address these challenges, the club prioritizes communication and strong teamwork to propel them through the competition. Last year, the Aviation club qualified for the competition, but ultimately failed to place. This year, under new leadership and goals, the club has higher hopes for its future. 

“Our leadership is way better than before,” co-President sophomore Michael  Zhang said. “I truly believe our strong communication and shared vision can transform our difficulties into milestones of growth.”

Ultimately, the most important component of the process willingness to share ideas with each other.

“It doesn’t matter, as an individual, how skilled you are if you can’t communicate your ideas effectively,” Michael said. 

For more information about Aviation Club, visit its meetings on Wednesdays in Room 631 during lunch.