Author Topic: Australian Belly Tank  (Read 3171407 times)

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Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #420 on: February 09, 2008, 04:01:12 PM »
If as it looks the meet doesn't go ahead I have decided to take the time to go over to Sth Australia and check out another of the salt lakes in the area of Gairdner. If you look at this map

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&z=5&ll=-25.335448,135.745076&spn=31.154942,45.834961&om=1

, find Woomera which is Nth and slightly west of Adelaide ,there is a lake called Island Lagoon just south of it . Going there and doing a GPS plot and some hand auger core samples might be worth , something............

there will definitely be a bigger push for an airfield meet but whether it is Mangalore where we were in October remains to be seen......

DG and group from down under, maybe they will just give you another month to get finished.  I saw everyone was "getting pissed"  and then remembered that might mean you are drinking....  :|

If you do get "wetted" out, start looking at the car for improvements and a nice stretch of road to do a little more testing...  :roll:

....always the hot-rodder :roll: :roll:
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

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Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #421 on: February 10, 2008, 03:50:05 PM »
We had the DLRA six monthly meeting yesterday , many long faces ( giddy-up!) ....there was a general sense of disbelief mixed with the acceptance that on top of all the difficult factors involved in this variety of motor-sport there is the strange and as yet not fully understood nature of the salt lake .Is it a tidal effect linked to the moon cycle ? is it just the groundwater flow ? There has been very little rain on and around the Lake Gairdner area and the lake doesn't have any large tributaries so after seeing shots of the surface and hearing reports about how hard it was at Christmas time it came as a shock to hear it was so soft that a 4WD got bogged on it on Saturday.

Bob Ellis our Queensland delegate mentioned that there is a salt lake forming in Queensland and it may well be usable within the next 100,000 years which is a relief .He did though mention that they are close to establishing an airfield meeting at Stanthorpe in southern Queensland.

Members from all over the country are offering suggestions as to alternative venues , there are some probable alternatives but they all have their own particular problems, none are as big and none are close to major towns except one in Western Australia but that's nearly 2000 miles from the East coast where most of the members are and it's only good for a five mile straight.

On the bright side though it was good to go to the meeting ( fellow sufferers group) and catch up with all those members who aren't regulars on the club message board and talk about our rides. Our tank has created a bit of interest and it was great to able to discuss the build , some of the recent changes and what's in store with the other tank owners and builders.

Still pretty cut up though.
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline Reverend Hedgash

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #422 on: February 10, 2008, 09:35:24 PM »
Gee. Four and a half years of thought, development and construction (and leaking wallets) and still no fun bit...

Another year?!?? Ouch!

This raises a few tricky questions.

The main one being do we ditch the Commodore V6 and go the Alloytec 190 that we have?
We have done so much to get this current motor sorted with heat shields, vacuum scavenging, upgraded springs being the most recent. Do we ditch this work for an engine which is more powerful but far more complicated?

Also need to spend a bit on getting the extra bits we need to make it go... so it just feels like a waste of money if we don't use the one we have prepared.

As I write my feeling is to finish off everything else to the best of it's ability before opening this new can of worms:
  • new diff with a lower ratio (quickchange?)
  • new neater seat that allows better vehicle entry/exit
  • complete canopy trim details to the new neater design
  • complete bodywork, bog and paint
  • remake headrest (neater)
  • design and build trailer
  • new front rounded profile detail to air inlet
  • update fire extinguishers to 15 lbs for 200mph rule
  • build supercharged motor (Commodore V6) for quick class change at Lake
  • Tee-shirt design and badges and merchandise (and why not?)

I haven't given up hope for this year yet. Let's hope the visit in March proves a miraculous hardening of the surface and away we go!

rH+








Offline Dr Goggles

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Parachute safety net
« Reply #423 on: February 13, 2008, 08:18:03 PM »
There was a post recently elsewhere on the site about a safety net  that I think may have been used at El Mirage made from webbing with chutes attached to capture cars that had overshot....I couldn't find it .

Can anyone help me with a description or better still a photo of this or a similar device. Thanks .
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline JackD

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #424 on: February 13, 2008, 08:59:45 PM »
The net you are speaking of was likely the one built by Stroud.
I only saw it used once on the salt when course conditions required return runs be made in the direction of the dike and stopping was more urgent than with the typical roll out distance available.
It was built like what you see on some Drag Strips that are a bit short to accommodate the fastest vehicles.
Unlike a catch net on some runways that are dampened with an inertia wheel, this was used with parachutes that deployed from the pull on an anchor point.
An option to that if you were in the need for an emergency area to stop at the end of a runway for example, would be a sand trap.
Airports usually have some distance beyond the pavement that is leveled and a sand trap might also help them.:wink:
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Offline Glen

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #425 on: February 13, 2008, 09:14:46 PM »
Jack is right that Stroud made it. It was two chutes mounted in a tube on each side of the course in the shut down area. There was a net that you would drive into and deploy the chutes to stop. The BMW liner drove around it and went into the dyke. Another who I wont name said he would not use it because he was afraid the net would trap him under it and he could not get out of his car. I still think it's a good idea. It is owned by USFRA.
Glen
Crew on Turbinator II

South West, Utah

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #426 on: February 13, 2008, 09:19:26 PM »
thank you Sirs,
the help is always much appreciated

I was wondering about it because we will definitely be having a few airstrip meets this year , a device like you described could no doubt make it safer and the turn around quicker than having to drag cars back from the boonies with a tractor or something....

Meanwhile on the DLRA site there has been much gnashing of teeth and waving of canes......There are some of us who believe that the lake is affected by tidal influences on the groundwater and so believe that the lake is more likely to be soft during a full moon. After speaking to a few "locals" i have now heard a bit of anecdotal evidence that backs this theory up.... Greg Wapling the webmaster  of the site is encouraging people to seek out as much data and research as we can . Knowing the annual cycles , how the ground water level affects the surface , the average daily temps and what the probability of rain , certain winds , and Keith Turk hearing about the meet is will make for a better and more likely meet.....

http://www.dlra.org.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=772
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #427 on: February 13, 2008, 09:21:13 PM »
oh yeah...... :wink:
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline JackD

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #428 on: February 13, 2008, 09:40:46 PM »
The chemistry makeup of the natural surface varies quite a bit with respect to the ability to handle moisture.
When the Bonneville Salt Flat was less depleted, the water could be just 1 inch below the surface and the heat of the day would bring it above the surface and we actually ran at speed through bits of standing water.
The white stuff we have now turns to grease with the least bit of moisture and rock hard if it is too dry, and that makes it difficult to groom.
El Mirage has not suffered the same mining fate but the lower water table from the growth in the area has reduced it's ability to maintain a usable surface.
Even the dry lake bed at Edwards (Muroc) has large cracks from the lower water table that would require a lot of work to make suitable for use.
Yours is a natural cycle and ours is more of a human touch.
We feel your pain :x
"I would rather lose going fast enough to win than win going slow enough to lose."
"That horrible smell is dirty feet being held to the fire"

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #429 on: February 18, 2008, 05:36:54 AM »
BTW Jack I have nearly nailed the 'chute door anxieties.........I had made some little spring loaded tubes that overshot the hinges preventing the doors from rebounding , they worked well.However like all the other spring ideas I had they load the doors unnecessarily  and made the packing of the 'chute and the closing of the doors a bit messy too.My next bright idea sounds complicated but I am going to make small air-rams instead of the spring loaded ones. Once the doors open it will release a micro switch sending power to one of those little compressors that run air horns , these will operate in the same way.With the doors half open they will be pressing against them but once the doors go beyond 90 degrees they will overshoot the hinge stopping the door from returning , the air charging will only need to work til they reach this point , I haven't quite nutted it out yet but there will be a further way of switching out the compressor....maybe I'll just hook some horns up to a relief valve :-D :-D.The advantage is they will be unloaded when the doors are shut .

After mucking around with it for a long time I decided that the spring drogue puts more than enough pressure on the doors and the catch works fine with the amount of pressure it is under , didn't want anymore......this picture is the catch with the release cable which runs down to a solenoid .



I can hear a rumbling......Jack?
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline JackD

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #430 on: February 18, 2008, 08:50:54 AM »
Skip fireball electric and go all the way straight to some brake line tubing that uses hardware store mini cable like you might use on a throttle, and is operated with a handle.
The business end can be spliced to a hard wire and even something as complex as a return spring can be installed over the line to cause it to stay in place better when not in use.
A very famous streamliner car had the electronic whiz bang model actuate at the starting line the first time , and dump the clean laundry on the dirty ground. 

"Over time, and over complexity, sometimes causes over doing, that often results in premature done, with no easy fix." (me) :wink:

For the device that keeps the doors open, and limits their travel, make an over center linkage from flat stock that won't return without a human touch once they have been activated.
"I would rather lose going fast enough to win than win going slow enough to lose."
"That horrible smell is dirty feet being held to the fire"

Offline Sumner

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #431 on: February 18, 2008, 11:47:40 AM »
.................. go all the way straight to some brake line tubing that uses hardware store mini cable like you might use on a throttle, and is operated with a handle............................

Thanks Jack, just the solution to a couple things I need to do.  I'll have to take back all, well at least some, of the bad things I've been saying about you  :evil:.  Have fun on your "date" in Portland,

Sum

Offline JackD

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #432 on: February 18, 2008, 12:36:24 PM »
Air horns are great for the return road, and herding spectators away that tend to crowd your space.
My favorite is the person that has not recovered from bumping his head on the hood yet , and is already grabbing his chest. :-D
"I would rather lose going fast enough to win than win going slow enough to lose."
"That horrible smell is dirty feet being held to the fire"

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #433 on: February 18, 2008, 03:46:10 PM »
Skip fireball electric and go all the way straight to some brake line tubing that uses hardware store mini cable like you might use on a throttle, and is operated with a handle.
The business end can be spliced to a hard wire and even something as complex as a return spring can be installed over the line to cause it to stay in place better when not in use.

That is the method upon which our canopy release relies , works well. However , the route to the cab from the tail is a "wong and linding woad" past many hot spots ...adding that to the necessity to make a handle in an accessible spot within reach pushed us toward the electrickery in order to be ready for the now not happening event.

A very famous streamliner car had the electronic whiz bang model actuate at the starting line the first time , and dump the clean laundry on the dirty ground.

A very famous two wheel BGS did that here......I seen it , I'm quickly becoming convinced............ 

For the device that keeps the doors open, and limits their travel, make an over center linkage from flat stock that won't return without a human touch once they have been activated.

Because of the shape of the tail at that point the path of the doors as they open is not perpendicular to the centreline , so far our efforts in that style haven't really done the bizzo....the doors travel through 180 degrees meaning that the linkage needs to go somewhere when the doors are closed and not be in a position to become entangled in the "linen"...........

Air horns are great for the return road, and herding spectators away that tend to crowd your space.
My favorite is the person that has not recovered from bumping his head on the hood yet , and is already grabbing his chest. :-D

ahhh the air horn is King when....

1./ someone is working on a hot motor.
2./ someone is working on live electrics under the hood
3./ in the car next to you is the person who has been winding all over the road ....and they are STILL talking on their mobile....with their window down
4./ you see two people who DEFINITELY aren't meant to be in the same place at the same time , don't forget to wave!
« Last Edit: February 18, 2008, 03:56:39 PM by Dr Goggles »
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline JackD

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #434 on: February 18, 2008, 04:19:55 PM »
The air horn is really fun when 2 people are doing each other , in the same place, at the same time. :-D
The brake line tubing is easy to route with no tools, can be joined or terminated with a coupling for easy removal in segments, and stand a lot of heat.
The handle or tab to actuate can be very small and you won't need much lever action mechanical advantage to do the job.
I think I remember Howard N. built a sliding bar with a small tab bent out at the end and no mechanical advantage like you might get with a lever handle.
"I would rather lose going fast enough to win than win going slow enough to lose."
"That horrible smell is dirty feet being held to the fire"