Chute Release--handles--levers--knobs--??

[Jon]

Being a bike I have to be able to pull my chutes without taking my hands from the bars.

Still tossing up between a second pair of clutch/brake type levers set above the clutch and brake or a pair of old school 10 speed pushbike gear changes to work with my thumbs.
Have the bits for both and think I will end up with the thumbs releases.

Not much help to you sorry Sparky but may help a bike person that finds this topic.

Cheers
Jon

[SaltRat]

Take look at the Marlo Treit build thread. Knobs and handles are pieces of Mammoth tusk. I double dog dare you to out trick that one.

DW

How about http://alphaclassics.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_34_38&products_id=552   ?  Fossilized walrus penis bone.  No, really.

We've drifted a bit, but thanks for the thread - it made me think. . . .

[Stan Back]

We considered it for our in-car raising devises -- "Jack on?  Jack Off?"

[Dynoroom]

Smith, I know you didn't ask for input on pneumatic systems BUT....

As I was teaching my boys how to drive the race car one of the issues for me was them taking their hand off the steering wheel. I know all us older guys grew up driving stick shifts and running at the grudge night drags. Well not so for my kids. Any way the button on the right hand side of the steering wheel is for the shifter. The left hand button goes to a simple servo that pulls the cable to the 'chute. It's worked everytime since the car was new in 2008. The one time it didn't work was due to a packing error. There is also a manuel pull right in the bottom center of the steering wheel. I know for us that has kept us from spining twice as the "pucker" factor had the 'chute out ounce each at Bonneville & El Mirage as the kid was learning how hard to get with the program at different vinues.

The first picture shows the steering wheel.
The second circles in yellow is the pull servo. The red arrow is the Co2 line. The blue arrow is the backup pull cable. 

[SPARKY]

Mike,  thanks for sharing-- the issues are all that have been stated-- we want controls close to the wheel-- but not snag getting out or poke in an upset thanks for all who have posted--  we may have to go with an air system---sure don't want to-- we made the driver area tighter in the pursuit of safety now we are living with the consequences.

[Stainless1]

Sparky, any reason you want manual only?  You know I am a firm believer in hands on wheel chute release.  The backup is manual as required these days, ours has been this way since Johnboy spun and couldn't get to the chute fast enough, 20 years or so.  This is what saved me from rolling when the car spun in 2000 at 220+, tracks showed only the right rear wheel was still on the ground when the chute hit and slammed the front of the car back to the ground 500 ft from where the incident started.  The view from the little car with the cockpit 5 feet in the air and moving sideways front end above me is nothing I want to see ever again.  

The silver guarded button at the left top of the wheel is chute, the button under it is shift, the red cross handle on right next to the up/down shifter selector is the manual pull.

The actuator is a GM door locker, the cable attached is the manual portion, if the electric fails, then the backup is cable.

electric actuated pic

[Glen]

Back in 1968 I built a air release chute system for my dragster. A small air tank, a Bimba cylinder and a cable attached to the pack. The cylinder was mounted in a piece of stainless tubing that was slotted for a manual over ride. The air supply was plumbed to the rod end of the cylinder and a push button switch was mounted on the steering wheel. It never failed and the over ride was tested as well.  This was a Don Long chassis and had a foot and hand brake linked together as well. 

[PatMc]

Just rambling and only part related:

First, I'm a play racer, I do it for fun, but I like winning when I race.

A successful top fuel drag racer told me this (champion roadracer had told me something similar):

You have 2 parts of your brain, the automatic part, and the decision part.

The decision part must have as little to do as possible if you want it to react quickly and correctly.  When it's working right, everything seems to go in slow motion.  When it's overloaded, everything seems to happen too fast.

So the goal is to put as much of your seat time into the Automatic part of the brain.  If you have to think to deploy your chute, you're not going to drive as well.  And this applies to all the driving tasks.  If they are not automatic, they are slowing down the critical decision part.

Driver Comfort - When you are uncomfortable it uses your Decision part to send it's input.  It's very difficult to keep this part fully automatic, perhaps impossible.  You try to keep it down as low as possible.  The more comfortable you are, the quicker and better the Decision part does it's job.

Cliff Notes -  Put the chute release somewhere where you don't have to think about it, or move very much to do it.  You need to get the chute deploy into the automatic part somehow.
I'll admit I don't have it stored there for the "end of run" deploy.  I've worked on the "Danger" part instead.  When I thought I was on fire, I did 1, 2, 3 and waited to see flames.  Never got to 4 or five.

But I'm not that experienced with LSR, especially zero seat time in anything except something the size of the Short Bus that took me to school ... 

[jl222]

  Chute handles and fuel shutoff are mounted right of driver on our 222 Camaro. fuel shutoff is on longer lever

and just forward of dual chute levers with primary cute lever adjusted behind 2nd lever to avoid hitting both
at same time. Motion is foward and we can hit chute and fuel at same time.

             JL222

[PatMc]

DOH!!!  Too late to edit my post.

With our truck and trans:

The engine can run full blast with no fuel if it hurts the turbo.  Killing power and fuel will have no effect.

Our transmission freewheels with the engine off, but neutral helps if the trans is the issue.

Hence my strange emergency shutdown sequence.  Cars with gas engines or manual type transmissions might be safer for a different order.


Trivia - Yes, a diesel engine will run with no fuel at all.  If the turbo seal to the compressor fails, and the boost is less than the oil pressure, 250F+ oil is atomized into the inlet track, and the engine will run at max effort until the oil sump is dry, obviously this is really dangerous and a serious fire hazard.  You might think gasoline or methanol is bad-arse, but once you get engine oil / diesel lit, the odds of your fire system working are slim.  There are two fixes:  You either shoot foam or halon into the intake tract (halon for me), or you put a guillotine air cutoff on the engine.  These are sold by companies that deal with oil field safety in mind.  If there is a natural gas leak in an oil field, you can't kill the engine.  It will breath the gas and run off it.  This is a requirement for diesel truck/tractor competition as well, and some of the race shops have them as well.  IIRC, I put in a suggestion about this, but it was not used.

Why didn't I use a cutoff?  I did at first, it cost $800.  The second event I ran it at, it lost a screw, and shut me down during the pass.  No more of that BS.

[hotrod]

When I was a little kid my Dad worked at Ringsby Truck lines in the shop.

They had a runaway diesel engine on a test stand, which he was right next to, he hit the emergency shut down and it ate the butterfly valve that was supposed to kill the air flow. He was in a bad spot (only exit involved jumping across a grease pit) so he took the next best option and fed the engine double handfulls of shop rags until it choked.

He got a pat on the head from the shop foreman for his quick thinking.

Larry

[GH]

Sparky, here is what I made for the #787 Studebaker, It always worked great and I never had any problem moving the right hand away from the steering wheel, maybe it was because I didn't go very fast.

[Stan Back]

We made an effort to make everything a PULL.  Fuel shut-off, fire bottles, chute.  Just grab anything and pull -- even if you're not sure what it is.  We think there's some merit there.

And, yes, I know we should all rehearse it -- but in a panic . . .

Stan

[SPARKY]

Well thanks to SS#1 and Mike LaFevers  I will be going to a air cyl for primary chute--I have come full circle---back to the oringanal plan---the manual back up wll be a LANYARD that runs by the wheel on either side right for the primary chute and left for the seondary!!! it will be detachable and will be an"ATTTACH" before flight!!!!

[WOODY@DDLLC]

it will be detachable and will be an"ATTTACH" before flight!!!!

Could you use a small motorcycle clutch cable or compression release handle on or near the steering wheel? 

Sparky, think I would just go for the high speed taxi and skip the flight!