Speed Record Club

speed on wheels, water and wings

Just for the Record - November 2008

contents:
Motor Sports history comes to Tacoma
Formula Gravity with the VXR Nimbus World Land Speed Record
Yves Rossy, the world’s first “flying man”
Another supercar!
Bonneville Private Meeting
The Cody Flyer Project
Elvington speed weekend

Motor Sports history comes to the Tacoma Dome & Exhibition Hall in November!

To write about northwest motor sports is always a pleasure. To write about a show that is certain to become nationally recognized is a dream come true for this writer.

The dream will become a reality November 7th, 8th and 9th at the Tacoma Dome and Exhibition Hall when the doors open for MotorSports 2008, the largest, most exciting and energetic show of its kind ever seen in the northwest! The lineup of motor sports vehicles and dignitaries is overwhelming to say the least. Can you imagine 300 Vintage Classics, Concourse, Custom, Dragsters, Go-Carts, Hydroplanes, Indy Cars, Midgets, Motorcycles, and other special interest vehicles under one roof? Well it’s true and you, your family and friends will not want to miss this supercharged event.

The organizers of MotorSports 2008 have done a superb job of providing the general public with a once in a lifetime motor sports show. Rumor has it that this is just the beginning of what will be a nationally renowned show and in our backyard. The following is but a sample of what to expect in November.

For further information, call Doug Danstrom at 253.922.5111 or Walt Kaplin at 253.858.8739. View our website at: www.motorsports2008.com

Robert Stanley

More in FastFacts 71

Formula Gravity with the VXR Nimbus World Land Speed Record

Formula Gravity’s VXR Nimbus which is a schools and colleges engineering project and part of the Learning Grid, set a World Land Speed Record at the International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA) World Cup Event at Eastbourne on Sunday 14th September 2008 at 62mph. Speeds were verified by Tom Worsley, Chairman of the IGSA. The team took three days to build up to 62mph, with tests and modifications to the racer going on the whole time as we tried to get the final speed. Both of our drivers James Oakley 18 from Cambridge Regional College and Jonny Ackroyd 16 from St Benedicts School Bury St Edmunds achieved the goal of 62mph. We were right at the limit of the machine and of driver skill.

The team are so grateful to the organisers of Go Fast Speed Days fantastic event for helping us reach our goal. Go Fast Drinks, the International Gravity Sports Association, Eastbourne Council for a fantastic venue and Lush Longboards. I would also like to give special thanks to all the gravity riders who tolerated us on their special days. The atmosphere and friendliness at the event was incredible. The track provided by Eastbourne Council was absolutely perfect giving our drivers a track that most F1 teams would envy. The organisation of the course and the safety systems in place gave us the ideal setting for the record.

I suspect that this record will not stand for long but I hope that we can set a bench mark for the growing sport and that we can encourage others to take up the challenge. There is still room in the world for young drivers with an engineless soapbox to achieve the ultimate.

We hope to renew our new found friendships next year perhaps with a new racer at Eastbourne. Joined I hope by lots of other racers from schools and colleges.

David Ackroyd, Director Formula Gravity

Full report and photos in Fast Facts issue 71.

Yves Rossy, the world’s first “flying man”

On the 15th May in Switzerland, Yves Rossy demonstrated his flying wing by spending nearly ten minutes flying round a valley after jumping from a plane, descending using a parachute after his first public flight.

On Friday 26th September, 2008, he again jumped out of a plane at 7,500ft before unfolding his 10ft span, carbon wing, powered by four German-built model aircraft engines. Each engine provides 200lb of thrust, enough to enable Yves to climb at 200ft per minute with the 110lb machine. He crossed the English Channel in approximately ten minutes, becoming the first human ever to fly using a powered wing. He plans to develop the engines further to allow longer flight times, with a possible venture over the Grand Canyon in the future.

Another supercar!

Jan Fatthauer has developed the Porsche 9ff Gt9. It is a radical, 4 litre, flat-six cylinder twin turbo version of the Porsche 911, and with it Jan aims to break 400km/h. The top speed set by a supercar so far is 256mph by the Shelby Super Car, and Jan is hoping his car, which produces 987bhp and 711ft lb torque will exceed that mark. The 9ff reaches 186mph slightly faster than the Bugatti Veyron, and Jan has already “tested” the car late at night on an autobahn, reaching an estimated 250mph with ease. He claims to have gone faster at the Papenburg test track in Northern Germany, though I have no confirmation as I go to press that this is official. Oh, and by the way, price is £300,000!

Bonneville Private Meeting

Mike Cook ran an “invitation” only meeting at Bonneville from the 22nd - 27th September in association with Top Oil. The original intention was to get the worlds fastest five cars and five motorcycles in a “shoot-out” to establish the fastest on two wheels and four. In the end, five cars and three motorcycles competed, but these few provided more than their fair share of drama! What follows is a summary of the main events.

The contestants were:
Cars: Burklands streamliner, Speed Demon, Mormon Missile, Nish streamliner and Buckeye Bullet.
Motorcycles: EZ Hook, Top Oil Ack Attack, Leo Hess Harley streamliner.

On the 22nd, Speed Demon, driven by George Poteet, set an opening speed of 386mph, with an exit speed of 390mph, the fastest ever four-cylinder car. On his return run, George encountered technical problems, which caused a fire. He still had enough speed to set a new FIA two-way record of 345.522mph, subject to ratification.

On the 23rd, the Mormon Missile diesel streamliner went down at 300mph, and then returned at 307mph for another FIA record! The next day saw Tom Burkland get in on the action with a pass over 400mph, but chute problems and a hitch with the throttle linkage meant he had trouble stopping as he could not shut off the engines. Tom used an extinguisher in the inlet to shut them off, and got stopped safely, though with not much margin left! Sam Wheeler joined in the fun, running an entry speed of 352mph into the timing trap, but then went off course in the middle of the timed mile with a problem which prevented a return run.

The Mormon Missile went down at 299mph, and returned at 342mph, but had the chute out at the 7 mile marker with a bad fire in the cockpit which gave driver Lynn Goodfellow burns to his face and hands. On the 25th, Speed Demon, equipped with a normally aspirated engine, ran 248 and 253mph to again give the team an FIA record, this time eclipsing the speed previously set by the Honda F1 team in this class.

Leo Hess crashed the Harley streamliner shortly after the start, receiving severe leg injuries. The Nish car had valve problems very early on, which prevented them from getting a serious run in during the meeting.

The meeting provided plenty of excitement, and proved to be a big success, but the crowning glory had to be the new world record set by Rocky Robinson in the Mike Akatiff-built Top Oil streamliner. Rocky exceeded 360mph on each run out of the timing mile to set a new average of 358.881mph for the outright mile record. This surpasses the record set by the BUB 7 streamliner in the epic battle of September 2006.

Full report and photos in Fast Facts issue 71.

Cody Flyer Project

Progress Report September 2008

Its now been three months since we last reported on progress with the Cody Flyer Project which was during the run up to and preparation for the Farnborough air show held during 14th to 20th July. All the airframe parts and accessories were moved from the ‘badger’ works to the Pioneers of Flight Pavilion within the show complex for the project team to assemble and complete the replica in time for public display during the show. This was a mammoth task and all credit must be given to the dedication and hard work of the project team during this period. In the event we succeeded in displaying the replica in a more advanced state of completion than had been originally planned. For example both the top and bottom wings were clad in fabric although we had to pin some of the fabric in place rather than sew it as we knew we would have to disassemble it again for transport after the show.

During the show the Cody Flyer was displayed along with replicas of two A V Roe machines and a Wright Flyer and for those interested in historic aviation this was a totally unique event unlikely ever to be repeated again. The level of interest from both aerospace professionals and the general public attending the show was high and the FAST display team were kept very busy all week with questions and photo calls, etc. At one point descendants of all three pioneers (Amanda Wright Lane, Peter Cody, John Cody and Eric Verdon Roe) had their picture taken in front of the Cody Flyer. Thousands of visitors passed through the pavilion air show week to marvel at all the machines and were impressed particularly by the large size of the Cody Flyer.

www.codyflyer.com

Elvington speed weekend

During the latest meeting in October, at the former RAF Elvington airfield, near York, Jack Frost recorded a best speed of 251.4mph over a standing start distance of just over 1¼ miles on Saturday 4th. The next best was 226.1mph by Harold Wolfenden on another turbo Suzuki Hayabusa.