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Object and Background Welcome, visitor
Last updated 5 October 2001
Pinewood Derby season is upon us once again. The latest updates to this
page include the photos of our various cars. I still need to do the
"brag page" of trophies, the detailed drawings and the "links" page.
Maybe this fall...but no promises! Please check back at this site for
future additions and illustrations!
The Pinewood Derby is a Cub Scout activity, but other groups, such as the
YMCA's Y-Guides and other elementary-age youth groups have similar
activities, albeit with slight variations in name and rules.
Fundamentally, the object is to provide a competitive activity where parent
and son (speaking here in the Cub Scout sense) build a small gravity-powered
car which is raced against other cars down a sloping ramp. That is, of
course, an over-simplification but as in most activities, the difference
between the general idea and the specific implementation is huge.
Many Packs and Districts also have "design" categories where the cars are
judged on appearance and finish, rather than speed. Although the cars
featured in this site look good, they are intended for go, not show!
The bottom line is that this site describes the process of building a
highly competitive car that will be ready to race not only at the Pack level but,
if built and "tuned" carefully, can make a more-than-respectable showing at a
District level.
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Follow the Rules
First, all cars must meet a certain set of rules and pass a
technical inspection to ensure that they are not cheating. If you are serious
about winning, it is important to understand not just the spirit of the rules
but also the limits of interpretation in order to build a car which
exactly meets the rules and uses the rules to best advantage.
This description categorizes various levels of modifications. Having reviewed
the rules for several different Districts within the Greater St. Louis Area
Council, there are comments and cautions about techniques which may be
applicable in one District, but not in others. If you are outside the St.
Louis Area Council, or if you are building a car for a totally different
organization, be sure to carefully review the rules provided by your
organization! There is a great enough variance among different Districts
and organizations that no single site can account for all of them. We do not
want anyone's son or daughter disqualified on a technical violation, so it
is critical to understand which of these techniques are applicable
and which are "illegal" according to the rules under which you have to race.
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