Help Iowa's "Bird the Builders" team - Blast Off in 2026

We're a team of 4 kids from Iowa named “Bird The Builders.” We are building a rocket for the 2026 American Rocketry Challenge! We're trying to build a rocket that can fly exactly 750 feet high and come back down in 36-39 seconds. That's a really hard mission to be so exact!

We're competing against other teams from all over the United States.

We competed in this competition for the first time last year and with the help of generous supporters we were able to fly in the national finals outside Washington DC.

We are aiming to fundraise $800 to purchase the needed materials for our rocket, including:

• Body tubes: To form the main structure of our rocket.

• Nose cone: To protect the rocket's electronics and make it more aerodynamic.

• Balsa wood: For constructing fins and other structural parts.

• Launching equipment: A safe and working system to launch our rocket.

• Motors: To provide the necessary thrust for flight.

• Parachutes: To safely land our rocket after flight.

We also need raise money for travel. Going to Washington DC is expensive.

If you sponsor us, we will take a picture of our rocket and team with a sign with your name/logo, post it on our social media, and share the image with you to promote your sponsorship as well. Our parents will also post.

Sponsoring us is a good way to help kids like us learn about rocket science. You'll be helping us build rockets and maybe even win the American Rocketry Challenge.

We hope you'll say yes!

Thanks,

Bird The Builders

Eli, Yash, Trigg and Gavin

2024-2025 Competition Performance - National Finalists:

Our performance was outstanding. On our best flight the rocket reached 793 feet in 42 seconds, so close to the 2025 goal of 790 feet. The flight was only 0.3% off of a perfect run. We were selected as one of the top 100 teams from all across America to go to nationals and on our first try in the competition. We were so excited to get to go to Virginia to compete in nationals!

At nationals we had two launches. The first one was very straight and both parachutes deployed. Like many teams battling the strong wind our rocket drifted into tall grass and we weren't able to find the rocket. We had a back up rocket and were granted a relaunch. So we launched a second time and this time we were able to find the payload section of the rocket. That was the important part so we were able to get our score. The rocket went 837 feet and returned to the ground in 60 seconds.