Egg drop celebrates ten years of ker-splat: a photo albumen
As surely as the swallows return to Capistrano, there comes a day each spring when egg-bearing contraptions descend from the Mesa Lab to the pavement. It's the NCAR-Bixby Egg Drop, launched in 1987. This year's contest between staff and Bixby School students drew 50 entries.
Returning as statisticians for the event were Bixby's Keely Rew and Graham Andrews. Also returning--in honor of the drop's tenth anniversary--were a number of favorite entries from over the years, reconstructegged specially for 1996, including:
• "Speggnik" (resembling a watermelon with fins), first submitted by Leonard Sitongia in 1989
• "LASER (Launched Aerodynamic Spherical Egg Recorder)," a Hula-hoop entry recreated by Chris Cantrell and Rick Shetter
Once the yolk had settled, NCAR's first-ever victory in 1995 was eclipsed by a smashing comeback for Bixby, whose entries survived the drop at a rate of 75%, compared to NCAR's paltry (poultry?) 28%. Call it shell shock. •BH
Most Eggsploded
Bixby: Landon Spear, 4th grade, "U-Fed"
NCAR: Rudy Montoya, NCAR Food Services, "Eggs to Go"
Most Eggological
Bixby: Mira Estin, 5th grade, "The Eggsect"
NCAR: Lawrence Buja and team, CGD Climate Modeling Section, "CGD-CMS-CCM-CSM" (the fifth year this entry has been dropped!)
Most Eggscellent
Bixby: Graham Andrews, 5th grade, entry unnamed
NCAR: Dennis Ward, COMET/UOP, "Comet Hy-egg-ku-ta-ke"
1996 Egg Drop photos: Peter Bockenthein
Other Photos: Carlye Calvin
William Bradley (ACD), pictured above, joined Tim Barnes (Education and Tour Program) for this year's launch duty.
This year's judges were Hillary Keyes and David Warner. David, the college-age son of UCAR's Lucy Warner, participated in the 1988 and 1989 egg drops as a Bixby student.
Bixby students let their sentiments be known with signs and yells of eggcouragement.
Graham Andrews, one of the egg drop's statisticians, doubled as the winner of the Most Eggscellent award for Bixby.
Can pigs fly? This one did, launched by William Bradley (ACD) in 1995 and again this year as a golden oldie.
From 1989 through 1994, crowds thrilled to see what amazing entry the SCD Pit Crew had concocted. Whether it was the "Eggzon Valdez," the "Whirl-egg-bird Helicopter," the "Dreggster," or the "Categgpillar", it was always a fitting grand finale for the contest.
Other issues of Staff Notes
UCAR
NCAR
UOP
Prepared by Jacque Marshall,
jacque@ucar.edu, 303-497-8616