High Altitude Balloon Challenge Earns Burke Civil Air Patrol Squadron Award

BURKE, VA — The Burke Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol reached for the sky with its latest award for participating in the High-Altitude Balloon Challenge.

The squadron was one of hundreds participating in the Civil Air Patrol's High Altitude Balloon Challenge, which sought to test squadrons' aerospace and scientific capabilities. The Burke squadron won an Innovative Science Experiments award with a $600 grant for aerospace for their experiment testing the strength of glue on the high-altitude flight.

Preparations began in May for the squadron's experiments before the Aug. 21 launch day in Anderson, Indiana. One of the Burke squadron's experiments tested the strength of four types of household glues each between two wood blocks. To improve accuracy, three samples had each type of glue. Control samples stayed on the ground while the others went on the high-altitude balloon.

After the squadron got their experiments back on Sept. 2, they tested the glue strength with a force gauge and compared the high-altitude samples to the control samples. The cadets found that three glues lost strength on the high-altitude flight, while one became stronger. The cadets concluded the one glue becoming stronger was a result of water being removed by cold temperatures and low pressure, which made the glue's basic elements even stronger. The glue samples reached an altitude of 87,000 feet on the high-altitude balloon, faced temperatures between -36 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, pressures from 0.3 to 14 pounds per square inch, and relative humidity from 5 to 99 percent.

This wasn't the only recent award for the Burke Composite Squadron, one of 22 squadrons in the Virginia Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. In September, the squadron won the 2021 Quality Cadet Unit Award from the Civil Air Patrol’s Virginia Wing. To qualify for the award, the squadron had to meet six out of 10 criteria, which could include maintaining a minimum number of cadets on the roster, ensuring that new cadets that joined promoted and earned their first achievement in eight weeks, and that a certain number of cadets had met their first milestone award, transitioning from cadet airman to non-commissioned officer.

The Civil Air Patrol is the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Virginia squadrons have around 1,800 members, 12 light aircraft, and 29 multi-purpose vehicles that can be provided to federal, state and local governments, emergency responders and law enforcement agencies for search and rescue, homeland security, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and counter-drug missions.

The Burke squadron, founded in 1987, has adult and youth members with regular meetings in the greater Burke and Springfield area. For more information, visit vawg.cap.gov/units/burke.