Still available? Anybody ever use it ? All the in's & out's ! Persoally...I got nut'in but wanna learn 6sally6
it is a 1963 Rupp. It is a clone of Captain Jack McClures kart that he drag raced back in the 60's. My kart was built about 20 years ago with New old stock Turbonique parts
From what I understand, the Thermolene fuel in the Turboniques is isopropyl nitrate. If my chemistry is right, this stuff is like nitromethane - it burns as a monopropellant, with no need for air. I'm guessing the two small tanks on the kart are for Thermolene, but what is the larger tank for? Mebbe nitrogen to pressurise the Thermolene tanks? Cheers, Harv
My understanding of those engines is they are either full thrust or off. Once started they go to full thrust and to stop the fuel supply is turned off no in between. I did see the kart run one time at Detroit Dragway. It’s rather like lighting a fuse and holding on.
Aw, come on. We know your not chicken. All us Hambers got to watch you ride that insane motorized Tricycle, you built. Think we need to take a Hamb poll. LOL. Bill
Some more digging, and some good info from here (https://www.ekartingnews.com/forums/topic/the-ultimate-barn-find-turboniques-twin-t-16-rocket-kart/) that I will paraphrase: The two spherical rocket chambers have rocket nozzles coming out of them and aiming backward. The chambers have spark plugs run from a 12V motorcycle battery. One of the small high pressure steel bottles with regulators contains oxygen. This is use to commence the fuel combustion. The second small bottle contains nitrogen and pressurizes the fuel tank. The large tank contains Thermolene fuel. The run sequence is: Turn on the spark plugs just before the run with a toggle switch mounted on the steering wheel. Step on an electrical switch mounted to the right fixed “pedal”. This opens solenoids to release oxygen into the chamber, and nitrogen into the fuel tank. Thermolene enters the chamber at 600psi and ignites in the oxygen via the spark plugs. The oxygen-rich combustion is similar to: C3H7NO3 + 3.25(O2 + 3.76N2) → 3.5H2O + 3CO2 + 12.72N2 The increased chamber pressure backs out the oxygen supply. The Thermolene runs lean, acting as a monopropellant and brings it’s own oxygen to the show. As a monopropellant, it makes lots of gaseous intermediate products (i.e. the amount of gas exiting the back of the kart goes nuts) similar to: C3H7NO3 → + NO2 + CH3 + CH3CHO Backing off mid-run would let oxygen into that hot chamber full of weird chemical intermediates. Good chance for a large bang. Change undies. Cheers, Harv
Land Speed Record Snowmobile from 1971 Boss Cat I: The Boss Cat I was a Turbonnique powered sled said to have 1000HP and ran 125mph. It had a 800cc Kawasaki engine buried in the ch***is, used to move it around in the pits and to get it moving off the line until the Turbonnique was engaged. It had the world record speed in 1971 of 126 mph. The Boss Cat I was at the Boonville, NY speed runs in '72 driven by Dale Cormican. After he fired up the 800cc motor to launch the sled, Dale nailed the throttle and the track started to spin a bit. The rocket booster fired and gave him a very quick launch for about 50 feet. Dale, then, backed off on the throttles to re-gain traction & then hit it again. The Boss Cat immediately exploded and caught on fire. A problem occurred due to the fact the throttle linkages for both engines were run together. (If the regular snowmobile engine loses traction and the rider backs off the throttle to re-gain control. He will also back off on the rocket engine because the linkages are hooked together. This in turn loads the rocket chamber with fuel and can cause a violent explosion, if given full throttle again.) That explosion could easily killed Dale. The Boss Cat had caught fire, but Dale had a protective fire suit on. The Arctic Enterprises crew went into action and grabbed him by the helmet & shoulders & started removing him from the seat. After they dragged Dale out of the ****pit, they took him over to a waiting station wagon for medical attention. Dale escaped with his life. The Boss Cat did not.
Yup, throttle-modulation was the problem. None of this off/on/off/on/etc. Either all off, or all on, 'till it ran out of fuel or you(or something) shut the throttle off completely. Once. Or you're done, along w/some rather spectacular & exciting pyrotechnics... Guy in FL that concocted n sold these, got into a *lot* of trouble, iirc. Too bad it didn't work better, w/a few safeguards/better-engineering. Life could've been more interesting. Neat concept, in any case. Even if it does rank near(or maybe above) the very top of Moores' Principle. Marcus...
I had to Google Moore's Principle, but I think I got it wrong? "The number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double every two years with minimal rise in cost." Cheers, Harv
Yeh, man, I followed the build on the internet and was able to see most every little detail. Then one day a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Marlos' shop with him for the first public viewing and open house, less than a ten minute drive so said yes, glad I did, a work of art for sure.
The first two pictures, Dad took at Oswego Drag Raceway in 1967. The rest of the pics I found all over. From what I can tell the blue Dart was the first one, and a look like wewetaken at Great Lakes Dragaway.
Notice how the electric supercharger in the video looks like the Oberhausen supercharger because it was designed by the same guy who started Turbonique.
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