interesting rocket

[dieselgeek]

Some great pics and info in this thread.  Man I love the historical stuff...

Is there some place online I can do more reading about the Budweiser car?  Where did it end up?

edit - found it.   Interesting reading!! 

[Ratliff]

Some great pics and info in this thread.  Man I love the historical stuff...

Is there some place online I can do more reading about the Budweiser car?  Where did it end up?

edit - found it.   Interesting reading!! 

Some say the one in the Talladega museum is the real car. The Smithsonian was told the one locked away in their warehouse is the real car.

Here's a link to a bunch of photos of the Budweiser car taken on the last day.

http://www.artemisimages.com/gallery.aspx?photomode=3&categoryid=4255

Here's some commentary on the car on Dave Mann's Roadsters.com site.

http://www.roadsters.com/bud/

[PorkPie]

There are four rocket cars.

first was the SMI Motivator - which used a different rocket system. run by Kitty O'Neil (Hamilton) and damaged by Hal Needham. This car is owned by Nina Rindt

Based on this design the first Budweiser was built and run at Bonneville with Stan Barrett on the wheels, car done a 45 degress turnout under full power and was bend like the SMI. This car is in Talladega Alabama. modified to match to the Edwards car.

Third car was the second Budweiser which run at Edwards with the added solid rocket booster.
Car was in the Smithsonian - was moved into a barn in Indiana - after they found out that the car never broke the soundbarrier.

Fourth car is a mock up of the first Budweiser, slightly modified to the Edwards version but not so like the Talladega modification. biggest different is on the top of the front - just behind the front wheel is a one piece cover which is by all the original cars a two piece.

This car is in the Nascar museum from Richard Childress, the team owner of the late Dale Earnhardt.

The fourth was built for commercial and than modified to go on tour with the other two to satisfied the car shows.

The SMI was to the time when the first Budweiser were built in Europe and stayed there - was for a while also on car shows but was not seen the last years.

[Ratliff]

There are four rocket cars.

first was the SMI Motivator - which used a different rocket system. run by Kitty O'Neil (Hamilton) and damaged by Hal Needham. This car is owned by Nina Rindt

Based on this design the first Budweiser was built and run at Bonneville with Stan Barrett on the wheels, car done a 45 degress turnout under full power and was bend like the SMI. This car is in Talladega Alabama. modified to match to the Edwards car.

Third car was the second Budweiser which run at Edwards with the added solid rocket booster.
Car was in the Smithsonian - was moved into a barn in Indiana - after they found out that the car never broke the soundbarrier.

Fourth car is a mock up of the first Budweiser, slightly modified to the Edwards version but not so like the Talladega modification. biggest different is on the top of the front - just behind the front wheel is a one piece cover which is by all the original cars a two piece.

This car is in the Nascar museum from Richard Childress, the team owner of the late Dale Earnhardt.

The fourth was built for commercial and than modified to go on tour with the other two to satisfied the car shows.

The SMI was to the time when the first Budweiser were built in Europe and stayed there - was for a while also on car shows but was not seen the last years.

The Budweiser car that ran at Bonneville is the Budweiser car that ran at Edwards. That hard turn by the Budweiser car was made at Edwards when one side of the hybrid motor's exhaust nozzle burned through.

[PorkPie]

Ask the journalists who were at Bonneville and had joy to see a rocket car coming directly to the press stand at high speed - this car was toasted - the Edwards was the second version of the Budweiser car.

Sorry, but your archive is here not correct.....

[Ratliff]

Ask the journalists who were at Bonneville and had joy to see a rocket car coming directly to the press stand at high speed - this car was toasted - the Edwards was the second version of the Budweiser car.

Sorry, but your archive is here not correct.....

I have tapes of the original CBS broadcasts.

The team left Bonneville because the rear wheels were hitting soft spots and digging in. Each time a rear wheel dug in it would yaw the car, throwing the weight onto the outside rear wheel so when that wheel dug in it went even deeper, making the next yawing motion more severe. The team became worried this cycle could accelerate to the point where the car went totally divergent.

When you see photos of the Budweiser car at Bonneville, the first thing you notice is how they were running on wet sloppy salt.

http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,4046.0.html

The design Dick Keller created in 1974 for Tony Fox provides an illuminating contrast to the Budweiser car. Keller's design had a 108 gallon fuel tank, an 1,800 lbs dry weight, and a 7,500 lbs thrust monopropellant motor compared to the Budweiser car's 138 gallon fuel tank and approximately 3,000 lbs dry weight.

[PorkPie]

I trust a William "Bill" Frederick and Stan Barrett more than a CBS tape......

[Ratliff]

I trust a William "Bill" Frederick and Stan Barrett more than a CBS tape......

William "Bill" Frederick also said, depending on when you asked him, the hybrid motor developed 24,000 lbs or 18,000 lbs of thrust. If the hybrid motor had generated that much thrust, he would not have needed the sidewinder solid propellant booster.

In these photos of Rutan's SpaceShipOne, you can see what the exhaust flame looks like from a hybrid motor developing an honest 17,000 lbs of thrust.

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/gallery/flight_general/13p_boost

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/gallery/flight_general/13p_boost_alpha

[Ratliff]

Some photos of Hal Needham with the SMI Motivator at Mud Lake in 1977.

[Ratliff]

Their new website goes online next week.

Here are some recent photos of the car courtesy of Carolynne Campbell.