Glen,
You are correct about varied vehicles, that is why after a long discussion
during the rules meeting it was decided to leave the rule a bit open.. (I
know many of you would argue about this not being the best, but after an
hour...) I have been on the scene of many incidents at Bonneville, El
Mirage and Muroc. The most scary thing for me as a safety member is to roll
to the scene and have electric fuel pumps still running with the lines
ripped off of them, it was fear for both myself and the guy still in the car
that made me champion this rule.
While the idea of solenoids sounds like an ideal fix, I must agree with the
comments from the list about failures. After spending 10 years working with
Aircraft and ground support electrical systems I would not suggest solenoids
as the answer.
The best idea is the Morse cable used in the pull fashion. Mount the switch
close to the battery if you can. Keep those good ideas coming!
Mike Manghelli
SCTA Prez
Lancaster, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: Glen Barrett <speedtimer@earthlink.net>
To: Steve Pitt <steve@seattleconstructioninc.com>
Cc: land-speed@autox.team.net <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, February 07, 2000 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: Cut off switch
>The problem with our type of racing is there are not two cars alike. Each
is as
>design of its own except for most stock bodied vehicles, all others are
special
>construction and require a different approach.
>Glen
>
>Steve Pitt wrote:
>
>> A local group involved in vintage sports car racing require emergency
>> switches on all cars. They don't specifically identify a location but
say
>> it should be "easily accessible" and clearly marked. The majority of
these
>> cars have the switch mounted at the real because that is usually where
the
>> battery is located. I would think that a single location for all cars
makes
>> the most sense and that the I.D. marking should be consistent, say a 6"
(?)
>> diameter painted red circle around the switch. This would at least
>> guarantee some consistency in emergency situations.
>> Steve in rainy, wet Seattle
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
>> > [mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Glen Barrett
>> > Sent: Monday, February 07, 2000 4:15 PM
>> > To: land-speed@autox.team.net
>> > Subject: Cut off switch
>> >
>> >
>> > One thing all need to remember regardless of where the switch is
mounted
>> > and identified with a decal or whatever, a fire or a panel can be torn
>> > off in an incident and making it difficult to locate. The emergency
crew
>> > at the lakes and on the salt spend time in the inspection area to look
>> > over all of the cars, streamlined bikes and any thing unusual that may
>> > create a rescue problem.
>> >
>> > The big thing that we have to cope with is distance we need to travel
>> > to the incident as we don't have the man power or equipment that large
>> > and big budget racing associations have.
>> >
>> > The program we have the, Emergency Response Team is a group of regular
>> > volunteers that work together and learn from all incidents and try to
>> > incorporate all we can from the experiance into our rescue trailer.
>> > There is no easy answer to the mounting of a switch or if a tank should
>> > be in a steel container or the placement of a water tank in or outside
>> > of the drivers area.
>> >
>> > The main thing is to put yourself in the position of the rescue teams
>> > and the patrols and fire personnel that will be there to extract the
>> > driver from the vehicle involved in a incident. Just things to think
>> > about.
>> > Glen
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