You know as we evaluate John's Drop Box.... I think we could attach the
driver to this system so he doesn't have to wait as long for the Crew to
pick him up.... this way he could ride in the Air Conditioned truck down to
pick up the car... Think about the benefits.... if he happened to get a
record the celebration could start two or three miles earlier...
hey and if we pre-planed a particular steering wheel position the car could
even leave the course so the next car could run as soon as the crew
recovered the Weight box and driver compartment....
John you may have something here....
K
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> From: Joe Timney <joetimney@dol.net>
> To: John Beckett <landspeedracer@email.msn.com>
> Cc: land-speed@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Parachute lines
> Date: Wednesday, November 08, 2000 3:17 AM
>
> I want everyboby to know that John will be alright in a week or so...You
see he
> just came back from California and will be in rehab 'til next
Wednesday!!!
>
> John, you scare me sometimes.
>
> joe
>
> John Beckett wrote:
>
> > List
> >
> > Been busy thinking outside the box, so now I think I have it all
figured
> > out. The issue is one of ballast. Almost none in a drag car and perhaps
> > thousands of lbs. in some LSR vehicles. Well accelerating the mass is a
> > factor but keeping the tires glued to the salt is the other major
issue.
> > Ballast is the preferred method of maintaining that contact as it
doesn't
> > cause aerodynamic drag.
> >
> > Now the problem comes about when trying to slow all this mass. LSR
vehicles
> > weigh 3 or 4 times what a drag car weighs. Consequently when the chute
is
> > opened at high speed the strength limits of the materials used are
quickly
> > reached and things start to fail.
> >
> > So after discussions with another well known racer the following seems
to be
> > the answer. LSR vehicles need to be built with a rear door similar to a
> > C-130. Ballast is positioned on a skid which is placed inside the
vehicles
> > rear compartment. A drogue chute is attached to the skid, and when
deployed
> > will pull the skid and ballast from the rear of the vehicle. In this
way the
> > car may cut its over all mass by perhaps one half and therefore when
the
> > regular parachute is deployed the stress on the chute is considerably
> > reduced as well as the distance required to stop.
> >
> > A proper driving technique may be required as it is possible, depending
on
> > the skid and drogue design, that the skid may slide faster and further
than
> > the car itself. Therefor it would be recommended that drivers pull to
the
> > left dump their load and move quickly to the right and out of the way
before
> > pulling their main chute.
> >
> > Just some thinking way outside the box.
> >
> > JB
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