Finishing touches
Finishing touches
CATO Safety Officer Brad Oestricher checks mountings as Cadet Senior Airman Elizabeth Burton of the Thames River squadron connects the electrical wires to her load-bearing two-stage rocket. Photo by Lt. Col. Stephen M. Rocketto
09
July
2018
|
09:56 AM
America/Chicago

Thames River Cadets Triumph in Conn. Wing Rocket Match


Thames River Composite Squadron’s cadets managed to squeak by the 143rd Composite Squadron and the Danielson Cadet Squadron to take possession of the Commander's Cup in the Connecticut Wing’s 12th annual Rocketry Contest.

The contest began in 2007 when Col. Peter Jensen, then the Connecticut Wing’s commander, encouraged Lt. Col. Stephen Rocketto, director of aerospace education. to institute the competition. Jensen donated the silver cup that’s engraved each year with the name of the winning squadron.

The contest is designed to assist cadets in earning the Civil Air Patrol Rocketry Badge. Each class of entries features one of the rockets that must be built to earn the badge.

 

Here are the top individual performers in this year’s competition, held at White’s Farm in Durham:

Flight One

  • Cadet Airman 1st Class Catherine Masayda, 143rd Composite Squadron
     
  • Cadet Airman 1st Class Jeremiah Vandewege, 143rd Composite Squadron
     
  • Cadet Airman Luis Trinidad, Thames River Composite Squadron
Checking in
Checking in
Cadet Senior Airman Elizabeth Burton offers her rocket to CATO rocketry club members for safety inspection while Cadet Airman Silas Simmons and Cadet Airman 1st Class Jeremiah Vandewege check their entry cards. Burton and Simmons belong to the Thames River Composite Squadron. Vandewege is a member of the 143rd Composite Squadron. Photo by Lt. Col. Stephen M. Rocketto

Flight Two

  • Cadet Senior Airman Elizabeth Burton, Thames River Composite Squadron
     
  • Cadet Airman 1st Class Catherine Masayda, 143rd Composite Squadron
     
  • Cadet Tech. Sgt. Owen Guilliams, Thames River Composite Squadron
Helping hand
First Lt. Michael Kopycienski helps Cadet Airman 1st Class Xavier Dietz install a parachute on his rocket. Kopycienski is communications officer for the Thames River Composite Squadron, while Dietz belongs to the Danielson Cadet Squadron. Photo by Lt. Col. Stephen M. Rocketto
Watchful eye
First Lt. Bruce Richardson watches Cadet Airman 1st Class Jeremiah Vandewege install a rocket engine. Both are members of the 143rd Composite Squadron; Richardson is the unit’s aerospace education officer. Photo by Lt. Col. Stephen M. Rocketto

Flight Three

  • Cadet Senior Airman Elizabeth Burton, Thames River Composite Squadron
     
  • Cadet Airman 1st Class Seth Trotochaud, Danielson Cadet Squadron
     
  • Cadet Senior Airman Xavier Dietz, Danielson Cadet Squadron

Serving as judges were Jensen, director of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's Performance Measurements Directorate; Meriden Fire Department Lt. George Planeta; and Aerospace Education Member, who teaches at the Capitol Region Education Council's Academy of Aerospace and Engineering in Windsor and is a former CAP's Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year.

The annual event has been sponsored by CATO, the Connecticut organization of amateur rocket enthusiasts. The Connecticut Wing thanks CATO’s president, Eric Henderson, and vice president, Brad Oestreicher, for their generosity and support.

Judges and cadets
Judges and cadets
The judges and the winning Thames River squadron team gather for a photo – (from left) Meriden Fire Department Lt. George Planeta, CAP Aerospace Education Member Rachel Manzer, Lt. Col. Stephen Rocketto, Cadet Tech. Sgt. Cameron Wischman, Cadet Airman Silas Simmons, Cadet 2nd Lt. Ryan Schantz, Cadet Senior Airman Elizabeth Burton, Cadet Airman Luis Trinidad, 2nd Lt. Michael Kopycienski and Capt. Peter Jensen, director of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary’s Performance Measurements Directorate. Photo by Capt. Robert Guilliams