The winner of the third annual TARC regional qualification launch hosted by HARA at Bragg Farm 3/19/11 may have a score good enough to take them to the nationals. Madison Academy got into the single digits with a ‘9,’ which usually is in the top one hundred and means a trip to Manassas.

Madison Academy had two teams this year who were both making their attempts in this event. Team two got on the board first with a ’61’, and then team one went a bit high and broke their egg. Ridgeland HS from Georgia returned to fly with HARA this year to hit a ’23’ on their first attempt, but dropped to a ’39’ on the second try. Westlawn MS qualified for third place with a ’41’. All teams made numerous practice flights to keep the sky busy, with one team scoring an unofficial ‘6’ that didn’t count. MA’s team two got their ‘9’ on their second qual attempt. All egg capsules had to be recovered on a 15″ diameter parachute. The target altitude this year was 750′ but those flights that hit the 40-45 second duration window were rewarded with a zero time deduction.

Results of 2011 TARC Regional Qualification Launches

Tanner HS attended and made one practice flight.

Plaques were awarded to the top three places. Over fifty people were on hand to watch the launches in the best weather the regional event has had since it began two years ago. Vince Huegele and Bill Cooke provided the local officiating to qualify the flights as well as mentoring the teams throughout the year. If a team’s score is one of the top 100 best in the country, the team is invited on April 8 to compete for a share of the $60,000 prize package in a national fly-off in Virginia on May 14.

HARA has supported TARC since it began in 2003 and has coached five teams into the finals.