Event Coverage I fly at Picton Airfield in my rail!

Thanks Well worth a look.
don

 

A great story Don, telling of this adventure. Prompts me to look over throttle linkages w/a Sherlock's 'glass'.
Rusty's recharge is a hoot! May work for all I know...but keep an eye out for those durn "Eddy" currents!

 

I am starting to come around. Still pretty sore but was able to go out for breakfast and sit at a table for an hour. That is a big deal right now. I never in a million years thought this would happen. I am not one to go unprepared but I suspect that was the cause. Wife won't let me drive yet. Says I am still a bit unstable??????????????
don

 

hell Don we are all unstable according to our wives.......................

 

Perhaps but mine is a treasure. I hear her saying to folks who want us to do this or that "No that is the week Don is racing and he needs his time to prepare." I never said anything to her about that so she is a smart one. And she never said diddly to me about this mishap. No lectures. No funny looks. Just a "glad you're ok." I think I'll keep her. She does have a sign on her fridge that says "Living with a German builds character" whatever that is supposed to mean. When one of her friends asks why she allows me to do this stuff she says that it is "just his knitting."
don

 

Sounds like a great lady.

 

Iv'e always wondered why you straight shooter racers don't run a micro switch on your toe strap ( lift foot against switch ,kill ignition).....and really glad you didn't get hurt, congrats on spanking that bigblock for half a track!


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Not a bad idea! I had thought about one on the brake handle with the same function.
don

 

Now coming around a bit and doing some more thinking.
Normally we had no trouble stopping. If we got stupid we might go right to the grass but you learn quickly that once you hit the traps brake without hesitation. On my car since it is full auto I counted on the engine braking without realizing it. Had I had a manual valvebody I would have had none but since it was still an auto trans even though heavily modified it still slowed me down quite a bit. I didn't need more brakes because if I braked too hard before I could get it bouncing which in a rail is often a problem. However. Once I killed the engine the front pump is no longer pumping and the trans goes into a neutral condition as there is no longer internal hydraulic pressure. I hadn't counted on this. Already well past the normal braking point and going faster then I had ever gone with real estate running out at an alarming rate I was in big trouble. solution I think is a chute. Added safety. Not that expensive and cool too. Pay attention here. It could save your skin.
don

 

Don when I built mine one of the things I was thinking about is going out of control and how to put a stop to things without any thinking so my ignition sw is on the steering and all I have to do to shut her off is open my left hand against the switch and its off no thinking where the sw is ect. I don't even have to remove my hand from the steering hopefully I'll never have to use it in an emergency situation but.................

Ign off

ign on

 

These are the ideas that can save your life. Good set up.
don

 

Hopefully,
I would recommend to all that you assume you will get into trouble and make every effort to be able to survive. I have raced since July 1966 and had never had an incident until last SAT. I had told myself this was probably my last race driving and as I climbed into the car which is very difficult the last year or so I confirmed to myself this would be it if the fuel problem was gone and I would find a shoe or retire the car for something slower and easy to get in and out. I was hoping for a strong run to finish but you would wonder how and why this would be "the ONE" . I had heard that aircraft crash investigators say that most crashes involve a set of 3 or more unusual circumstances any one of which was not present the crash would not have taken place. I have a much better understanding of that now.
IE I had killed the ign fuel switch ASAP BUT I hadn't counted on NO Engine Braking because with a killed engine there was no trans function because there is no oil pressure in the trans when the engine is not driving the Front pump of the trans. Now we have two problems . Stuck throttle and no engine braking which I am used to. AND I and developed a bad habit of pushing the brake harder the faster I went. Sometimes I could remember to let it go and put both hands on the wheel however Saturday Rusty told me and I remembered immediately that it was so I was back to this old habit SO the brakes where already super hot having fought the engine for most of the run and being drums they loose a lot of their effectiveness being overheated. I know I shoved them as hard as I physically could but the motor easily overran them. I am at the age for me when my physical skills are starting to wain so I am not as quick and aware as I once was. . I don't normally run the car to the finishline with the new tunnelram setup because I didn't feel comfy going that fast with it. Obviously that instinct was right on!
So here we are with a stuck throttle at full power past the finish line on overheated brakes with no engine braking available and some old fart driving at speeds he has never gone before and no real estate much left to get stopped in.
Remove anyone of the above and we would probably have been OK!

 

Don, If you're done then that's that, but if it calls you again...
My FED is definitely not the fastest car on the planet, but like you safety was my main concern during the build and of course running it as well. I think my best is 9.36 @143 - 144. In planning to run this car I have watched many crash videos - not because I enjoy them, but to see what I can learn. So far I notice the main thing is that most drivers "stay in it" too long and even when they have a chute never seem to pull it. Because of this I pull the chute EVERY run. I do this for several reasons, first it WILL stop on the brakes, but you can SMELL them - they are working way too hard - Wilwood dynalites IIRC. AS you know a chute will immediately straighten out a car - lastly simple muscle memory - being a habit I don't have to THINK about it (or forget it either). I've made my fair share of mistakes too - like the time I didn't pull the chute lever far enough to deploy it. I glanced down towards the handle (big mistake) and before I could look up I could hear the stones hitting the bodywork. Yeah human nature - you automatically steer where you are looking. I learned that the hard way. It doesn't take much to move over @ 140. I moved over 10 feet in a millisecond - glad I was able to ease it back into the lane! Won't ever make that mistake again. Too much adrenaline resulting in hitting the brakes too hard - at just the wrong spot in the track (little bump) got me so airborn I could count the seconds in the air - off the brake in the air - on the brake when it was on the ground - up/down up/down up/down up/down - gets your attention real fast. They make single push/pull cables and that's what I run - I missed whether you run a toe strap, but I get that there was a bent shaft. BTW I run twin chutes - again twins for safety - My lever set up is such that if you pull one lever you get one chute - if you pull the other lever you get both. Lots of ways to mitigate safety and lots of ways to defeat our best efforts. We learn sometimes the hard way - sorry to hear about your flight - glad it wasn't worse.

 

I have thought long and hard about a chute. When I first built the car it was not that fast but with the last tunnel ram set up it picked up so much top end power (sometime I may explain this)I had stopped running it to the end because the speed was more then I was comfy with. A old friend who spent lot of time as a track manager and had bought one of my cars suggested at the very least a Jr Drgster chute would at least keep me out of trouble in a jam even though I was below the mandated use of one. I have also been in "the bounce" so I know very well what you are talking about and am aware because of that even just more brakes is not always a solution. I have also seen my friends on the v8 cars go in where I went in but only a few feet even though they have laundry. I asked why they didn't pull the chute and to a man they didn't think of it because as you pointed out they were not used to doing that. I think your point is excellent and a valid suggestion. Besides the crowd loves it. Thanks for the insight!
don
Re the dragster. I have completed every dream I ever had for this car so I can retire it without a whimper. I do have another slant six powered car 1/2 built but it is a gasser with a more mundane engine and is a just for fun ride. I can't mention or show it here even though it is a classic NHRA style gasser ( even though there were many done in the 60s here in US and Canada) because it doesn.t fit the magic slot appointed here for such builds. However it will allow me to keep racing a couple of times a year and will be easier to enter and exit and slower as well. I think it is a reasonable solution.

 

I would like to see the gasser. It can't be that far off.

 

x2 ..........f em if they can't take a joke, hell if you built it I bet its more trad than most

 

Magic slot? Really? You have contributed enough here that you have yer own slot..Please post..

 

Naw T'aint my boat. Twas when I first mentioned it some time ago that everything here went berserk and I don't want to see that again. This is a valuable resource for many of us so while I may cry in my soup occasionally I think it is one of the "verboten" makes.
Some of it is on the F.E.D. site which is a lot of the guys from here. They have a gasser page. And a build section.
Motor is done. A slant six with buick pistons, solid cam, a custom made one and an untried experiment. Rest including the head are cast offs from the rail's development. Frame is done in 2x4 1/8th wall steel with ladder bars coils and a 8 1/4 mopar diff . But the body shell is from the homeland of my forefathers. Actually it was given to me by a friend who builds gassers for hisself. Front end is an I beam (a rejoined 67 ford twin I set up.) Steering is 47 dodge/fargo. And 1/4 elip front suspension. Several from here have seen it in person or online and know. It is frustrating for sure. However I am hoping it will fill the need for speed in a easier way for me as I age in my hobby.
don

 

Hummmmmmmmm maybe I should try the chute just to make sure it works?????? good thought Hemi......

 

I do like the new car.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks Ian,
Got some photos relayed from Shane Featherstone Photography. One in particular is of me and Pat going at it hard with the big 427 injected Chevy rail trying to catch me and remember now we run heads up, no wossy handicap starts at Picton. .(eventually he did run me down but I made him work for it. ) The absolute thrill of being able to give a car like that something, anything at all makes the pain go away. This project has exceeded all my dreams and expectations. The photo is mag quality, front cover action stuff. I think I will order a large print for framing. Already had a nibble on the rail so this may work out nicely. Heard from another who took some video. He has it unloaded and says it is very good but is 20MB. He is going to try and u-tube it but is mailing me a stick. He used a handheld go pro to make it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/4408roadrunner?feature=em-share_video_user

 

Ha you caught him sleeping on the line.

 

That's racing!
Actually I rewatched it and I believe he left first hazed his tires and recovered. By that time I was rolling and the lil slant six had lots for him on the launch. Thing was starting to scare me so this was to be my last pass if it ran well.
don