Well since you ask Flyboy, here?s an opinion from across the ocean about somebody who, as most people know, is actually ?one of yours.? I think you?re being slightly disingenuous in a later post when you imply that you were just trying to start the debate with your comments. The tone of your original post seems reasonably heartfelt. But at least you had the grace to own up to getting it wrong about Fossett not attempting things that have been personally or physically challenging as well as financially challenging.
I don?t know any of the other regular members of this forum other than by reputation as racers at Bonneville. I?ve visited Bonneville many times, but never as a competitor, and as I think you are finding out this is a tight knit community open to new comers but with a healthy respect for others irrespective of what they want to achieve. As Pat Kinne says on another thread; for some, building a vehicle will be enough, for others turning up to run every year does it for them, others want a Bonneville record or a red hat. I was there when my friend Jim Travis finally made it into the 2 Club after years of racing and you never saw a more contented man even though he already had the respect of many of his peers. For a few, the ultimate goal is what many consider to be the pinnacle of land speed racing - the record for unlimited vehicles. I say many rather than all, because as some other threads about rules and the clubs that apply them for those wanting to run at Speedweek highlights, the hot rod approach to going fast at Bonneville now has little to do with the unlimited LSR. That doesn?t mean that one is better than the other, simply that they are as different as they are similar.
For me, Bonneville racers still epitomise the hot rod spirit. The person who gets hold of a vehicle or a bunch of parts and then applies varying degrees of ingenuity, science, technology, others people?s knowledge and money to the goal of going fast commands my respect. And that doesn?t matter if it?s a 50cc bike or the Vesco team with Turbinator. Sam Wheeler?s bike is a great example. It?s built to aerospace standards but it?s essentially built to hotrod principles in my book. Sure there are people and companies with deeper pockets who turn up to run at Bonneville, but that doesn?t guarantee success. I?m proud of what the JCB team did and I?m even prouder that they did it the way that they did. They had no need to run at Speedweek. They could have done all their runs in private but they wanted (Andy Green especially) to run at Speedweek and take their chances as part of probably the greatest collective gathering of speed knowledge on the planet. And it could have gone horribly wrong. Ask those who remember the Kenwood electric project that spent a fortune but bombed completely. You?re right about one thing in your first post. If I?ve read your posts correctly, you used your money to buy an off the shelf Japanese product and technology to go to the heartland of hot rodding and buy yourself a record. I accept of course that you still need nerve and skill to ride the bike. I don?t deny you the right to do this in the same way that I don?t deny Steve Fossett the right to try the same with the unlimited record.
I?ve been lucky enough to meet, and in some cases work with, many of the key players involved in the unlimited record. Apart from a desire to achieve their personal goals, the one thing that Art Arfons, Craig Breedlove, Ken Norris, John Ackroyd, Pete Farnsworth, Dick Keller, Ron Ayers, Glynne Bowsher, Richard Noble or Andy Green all had in common from what I learnt about them, was a genuine desire to see others get involved and succeed. And they have respect for others. You are being na?ve if you think that breaking the ThrustSSC record can be done simply by applying ingenuity and know-how. Ask Craig, Ed Shadle or Rosco McGlashan and they?ll tell you that it also needs somebody like Fossett with the interest and the money, whatever his motives. Even so, it doesn?t have to be as much as you might imagine. In a recent article, Jay Leno says that SSC may have spent ten of millions in order to get the record. In fact, it was ?2.5m or about $4.5m ? a lot of money but probably only Ferraris catering budget for the year.
The biggest corporate sponsor stumped up 10% of that budget while all the other companies that Richard and others tracked down provided much smaller but still much needed amounts. The biggest single sponsor was the Mach 1 Club (made up of around 5,000 individual enthusiasts) and the merchandising sales at events or via the website which collectively provided 20% of the budget.
So I for one welcome Steve Fossett and his money into the fray. It?s about time that somebody other than one of us from over the ocean had a stab at taking the record again. And since you mention your respect for those involved in the war-bird movement or racing at Reno, then take a closer look at Fossett?s press release. His aerodynamicist is Eric Ahlstrom of Renaissance Research in Reno. They?ve designed a plane very similar to the MachBuster of ten years or so ago for racing at Reno. He?s also part of the Rare Bear crew. Of course, this doesn?t guarantee success. As they may find out, all the money they have may not be enough to get the job done, but we should applaud them for trying.
Robin
