Hey Out There,
Been trying to pull up the scta-bni page and the server is down now for day
two. Anyone else having that problem?
Dave Haller
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas E. Bryant <saltracer@awwwsome.com>
To: David Haller <dhaller@techline.com>; Land Speed
<land-speed@autox.team.net>
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 1999 7:44 AM
Subject: Re: Spins
>Dave,
>I don't consider myself an expert in this area, but, I will give you my
>feelings on the subject.
>
>Driving a car at speed is a learned artform. I grew up in the Midwest
>before many country roads were surfaced for all-weather service. I
>learned to drive on muddy roads, snow, and ice. Much of what we do is
>very similar to those conditions. In those days, driving in mud or snow,
>we were concerned only with where the front wheels were. The rear of the
>car could swing from side to side without causing great concern. You
>learned that the throttle had a major controlling effect and you had
>better control with power on. We also learned that when you are using
>all the available power, control becomes more difficult.
>
>I have said this to set a basis for vehicle control where we run.
>Driving on the Salt is very much like driving on ice. You get into
>trouble by: 1) applying too much power too quickly, 2) over reacting to
>drifting off the desired course, 3) running out of power to accelerate,
>4) running unbalanced vehicles, 5) not getting enough seat time before
>travelling at high speeds, and the list goes on and on. One thing that
>concerns me is that too many are going really fast without going up in
>speed gradually. The purpose of the licensing runs is to help overcome
>the problem we had in the past of people strapping into fast cars
>without any experience at speed. But, let's face it, three runs don't
>create a seasoned driver, and there are cars capable of frightening
>speeds available to anyone who wants to run.
>
>Basically the warnings I recognize are, drifting or abrupt movement off
>the desired path of travel, too much tail wagging, wheel spin causing
>the back end to move out to either side, car not responding to steering
>correction, etc.. Bottom line, if you are not comfortable in the seat it
>is time to be concerned. We do this for fun, don't we.
>
>There just isn't any substitute for seat time. I came up through the
>ranks
>at Bonneville slowly from the 150's to approaching 250 MPH. It took me
>30+ years to join the 200 MPH Club. Of course I had my own agenda, as
>the
>song goes, "I Did It My Way".
>
>Good Luck with you project. Just don't feel you have to go too fast too
>quick.
>
>Tom
>
>
>
>David Haller wrote:
>>
>> Hi Tom,
>> Dave Haller up here in Washington. Getting my new car together. New
paint,
>> building a new air dam, putting on a more aerodynamic scoop and redoing
the
>> spoiler. Will move the ballast from the rear of the trunk forward and
low.
>> Really liked what you had to say about spins. Could you explain for me
and
>> the others out there what are some of the signs to look for are that tell
us
>> we are about to loose it,
>> Much appreciated,
>> Dave Haller
>
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