Flight Daily News

Air Traffic close to Farnborough is being diverted for an hour on Friday - to avoid rockets.

But this is no terrorist attack. Aircraft are being kept clear of airspace above the Rushmoor Arena as it hosts the student rocket contest showdown as part of the Farnborough air show youth day, where the winners from the UK take on the US champion team.

The UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKAYRoC) has started the countdown, for what has been dubbed the Transatlantic Trophy between the 2008 winners of UKAYRoC from Horsforth Secondary School, Yorkshire and the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) winners Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Both Teams will have to build and test their rockets with the mission requirements of carrying 2 raw eggs to reach exactly 750ft with flight duration of exactly 45sec from lift-off to touchdown - and bringing the eggs down to earth intact.

TARC is sponsored by AIA and the National Association of Rocketry while AIA member company Raytheon is funding the fly-off and has paid for the US team to attend the air show as part of Enloe’s first-prize package.

“This fly-off is an exciting way to build on the importance of TARC and UKAYRoC to the teams, their teachers and parents,” says AIA CEO Marion Blakey. “We expect this event to bolster the goal of both contests, attracting young people to careers in the aerospace industry.” The fly-off is scheduled for 0930 on Friday morning.