News and Updates

WESO 2020 Cancellation Notice

Following the recommendations of the Health Department and State Authorities ordering the closure of schools and organizations/businesses to cancel large events, the WESO board has made the decision to cancel WESO 2020. While we know this cancellation will be disappointing to our students, coaches, and volunteers whom have already begun preparing, we must put the health and safety of our community first.

WESO is not planning to make any changes for the 2021 season, so teams can retain and reuse their resources. Head Coaches, please take necessary steps to ensure all equipment and materials are safely stored prior to the end of the school year.

Upon request, WESO is prepared to provide a refund for registration fees. However, if your school is able to forgo a refund, these fees will be applied to our fixed costs and to offset expenses already incurred through distribution of equipment and supplies provided in January and workshops that have already been held.

Hang Time

Q:  Can the students use dental floss for the parachute ?
A:   Yes.  We would consider dental floss to be a type of “string” which is listed in section B5 as an Approved Material.

Estimania

Q: One of our teams had an issue with another team walking off with a book that was part of a station. It cost a minute or more of their time. Will there be more supervision in place this year to ensure this does not happen again?

 
A:  We are unaware that this has happened in the past and will do our best to make make sure such things do not happen.

Pasta Bridges

Q1: Does all of the pasta and/or marshmallows have to be used?
A1: No.

Q2: Can you give some dimensions of the cup?

A2: The cup is similar to the 250 mL plastic beaker from the Potions kit. Dimensions are approximately 6 cm wide by 10 cm tall.

Q3: If a hand incidentally touches the inside of cup during loading is that a disqualification?

A3: No but the students may not intentionally touch the cup or hold the cup in any way.

Hang Time

Q:  I seem to be having a problem the rocket launcher for Hang time. When I pressurize the bottle with air, it launches by itself and does not wait for me to release the clip. Is there something I am doing wrong or is the launcher faulty?
A:  When you are setting up the rocket on the launcher make sure that you have removed the plastic ring from the neck of the bottle so the bottle fits properly on the launcher.  Attach the hose and then make sure that all 3 nozzle clips are fully hooked over the neck of the bottle. As you pressurize the rocket you will hear a click as the bottle jumps slightly against the nozzle clips.  You will know it is adequately attached to the launcher if after pressurization you can pull on the bottle gently with one hand and it doesn’t come off the launcher.
If you continue to have problems please let us know ASAP.  We may need to see a picture or video of your setup to help.
Here is a link to the AquaPort II User Manual.  Especially look at Figure 9 on Page 3.
(Please remember when reading the manual that we are NOT using water in any quantity or anything else inside the bottle – just air pressure.)
Here is a video of how to use the older version AquaPort I launcher.  Although we are using the AquaPort II the set up is very similar.