This is getting so cryptic that even I am having trouble keeping all the cards in my head.....
I just received a really neat little piece of writing by Charles Bukowski from Pete J Quick, SOS team member and all round good guy( yeah, the one who posted a bunch of photo's , drove the push truck, saved my mind , travelled to and from and still doesn't want to kill me).....
It came under the heading "good advice for lakester builders", I don't think he needed to be so specific......this is not an exaggeration. Last week I sent a copy of something I posted a few years ago concerning my idea of succinct advice to someone about to embark on a special construction odyssey to Jon ( he of the Australian streamliner bike build)........ first we have idle thoughts from the ring master at the Idiot Wonderland.........
I've got a couple of suggestions and they are by no means aimed at you personally.I'm going to put them down line by line because I'm not(for once ) up for an essay right now.
It has been said many times here , everything has been thought of , lots of it done, some of it worked.....so find as much LSR history as you can...the good the bad and the ugly, the bold and the beautiful,look at 'em and read what they did.Some very clever people have been at this game, there have also been some mad ones and some very rich fools, learn from their experiences.
If you're going to be true to what you wanted when you started you first have to finish.This can be horribly expensive, if you bite off too much you'll have a half finished thing that has sent you broke.
This game is a battle between power and drag, you need to convince traction to be your friend. Power you can get at the shop,most people have more than enough.Drag is something your design will dictate and your design is prey to thousands of different factors.Keep it simple , have a reason for everything you do, not a hunch.
The rules. There are very specific minimum requirements related to safety, learn them off by heart and begin your design there. They dictate the smallest possible area you can sit in.
Learn the basics of aerodynamics, it's not likely you'll ever get to a wind tunnel so apply the knowns, the unknowns are bad science .
There are a lot of records up for grabs in the DLRA, but you're not the only person building something........have a really good look at the Budfab motorcycle streamliner, something along those lines is conceivable, aiming for 300 is a serious step for a self confessed newbie.
Go for it brother. If it wasn't for a shipload of naivete we would never have finished our car but that said I feel like the blind bloke who just walked across the freeway, I survived but I dunno what I was thinking when I started.
Next, Mr Bukowski:
“If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”
― Charles Bukowski, Factotum
The interesting thing for me has been the discussions with Jon about the motivations in building something in the special construction game......I still agree with what I wrote, aero is it, there is nothing else. But, as for the whole pursuit? Mr Bukowski nailed it......when you're down the far end, and you've "delivered the mail" as it were it all seems well worth it, but man o man there are some dark days in-between........