F1 for beginners
Two weeks ago, members of the Formula One Challenge Club gathered on South Island School's basketball court to test-drive their Formula One (F1) cars for the first time.
A computer was connected to a 20-metre-long wooden race track custom-built to test these foot-long model cars.
A red and yellow car were put in position at the starting block. The computer remotely controlled a needle on the block which fired carbon dioxide into the cars' cartridge to provide the power they need to shoot to the end of the track.
The 12 students from Years 7 to 9 are now busy designing and manufacturing carbon dioxide-powered model Formula One cars for the F1 in Schools Challenge, a competition open to schools around the world.
Jonathan Ku, 11, is something of an expert on model F1 cars.
'It takes about 1.2 seconds for a car to reach the end. Last year's winning car took 1.13 seconds,' he said.
'We had to change the tyres on one car, because we needed the car to lift off the course for it to go faster.'
'I like being part of this team. I like to see the cars being tested.
'It's hard to find inspiration for the cars. Once you find a successful design, we modify it to make it better.
'We also put it through a virtual wind tunnel to test how the wind [affects] the car,' Jonathan said.
The Challenge is run by F1 in Schools Limited, a non-profit-making organisation based in the UK.
Student teams compete against each other in a World Championship to determine the fastest and best engineered car in the world - just like in a real Formula One competition.
'We were the first school in Hong Kong to take part in this competition, along with [sister school] West Island School, last year,' said teacher William Hughes-Caley, who runs the Design and Technology Department at the international school in Aberdeen.
The competition will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in February. South Island School will be flying over a team of six to take part in the competition.
'There will probably be up to 21 countries taking part in the championship this year,' he said.
Each student must design a carbon dioxide-powered model F1 Car of the future using a computer design programme. The design is then sent to another machine that cuts a piece of wood into shape.
Then the students customise the car with their own designs.
'For the concept design, they researched fast animals and fast machines to get an idea for shapes, and then they incorporated them into their design,' Mr Hughes-Caley said.
Team captain Alastair Fielding said the team is called the Hong Kong Dragons.
'I designed the team shirt for our team. We have to have a uniform for the competition. It's good being part of this team, because they work better than our old team,' the 12-year-old said.
'It's freaky going against other people from around the world. But we still hope to get into the top 10.'
