Blasting off skywards with two chicken eggs for passengers, hundreds of budding rocket scientists watched their makeshift missiles take off on Saturday.
Eleven teams of GCSE students from across 18 Essex schools were competing for a place in the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge final.
The Stow Maries Aerodrome event marked the county's first ever attempt at launching homegrown talent onto the big stage following an Essex County Council-funded initiative.
"It's amazing to see so many students, parents, teachers and individuals represented here today," said Fiona Marriage, the skills manager for STEM, a three-year-old council project encouraging youngsters to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
"We've had a great level of support from teachers in the school who have been running lunchtime and after school clubs to make this work and I couldn't have asked for more.
"Throughout the day people have now been approaching me asking what is next? What is the next STEM challenge?"
This year's rocketry challenge demands youngsters build a missile, usually made of cardboard, weighing about 250 grams and no more than three feet in height, able to launch two eggs into the skies.
The team which ensures their rocket flies as close to the target altitude of 825 metres and as close to the 48 to 50 second maximum flight duration wins.
The two eggs on board, released by parachute as the missile begins its descent, must also float to the ground completely untouched.
A combination of three small motors and a fuel capsule containing aluminium oxide or a variant blasts the missiles upwards.
"It really is pretty difficult," said ex-RAF chief and UK Iraq invasion commander Sir Brian Burridge, who oversaw proceedings as a guest speaker.
"The whole point of this is engineering, which is about solving specific requirements for a customer.
"Someone might want to go higher than somebody else but right across engineering you have to meet these specific requirements, which these teams are doing.
"I'm extremely impressed just looking at the results today and seeing the accuracy of the leading scores.
"Chelmsford County High School for Girls, they were
within 10 metres of the height requirement and five seconds off the time requirement which is tremendous – and their eggs didn't break."
The County High team were crowned Essex champions, while the remaining Chelmsford teams from Great Baddow High School and Chelmer Valley High School completed the top four places.
"This is unexpected, very unexpected," said Courtney Canning, 16, from the all-girls school, whose team, also made up of Abi Bowler, Vivien Hasan, Sophie Oldroyd and Hannah McDonald, were still adding finishing touches to their rocket on the day.
"For a while I didn't even think there would be a rocket," joked Abi.
Adam Francis, 15, of Great Baddow High School, said: "We didn't expect to do so well, we were just so happy to get one that worked."
The top placed Essex teams from the county heats will find out if they have made it to the national final in Surrey on June 24, and a chance to play for the global final in Toulouse, later this month.
