UK Lakester build G/GL

[Lemming Motors]

Mold number two was laid up with a lot more fibreglass glass, extra strips around the edges and overlaps in the lay up for reinforcement - I expect 5 or 6 'panels' to come out of this.

10 wax layers (one hour apart) and once started the wooden wedges made short work of separation - phew. Almost no csm fibres visible through the gelcoat too.

[Lemming Motors]

Hijacking my own build thread to post some automotive porn. The Lakester took over my hobby time (and garage) and so the 56 Apache project has been languishing in a rented garage.

Gary did my roll structure weld up so I sent the pickup to him to have the chassis replaced (rear of the El Camino / Camaro front clip) and a new 350 crate engine fitted. This is intended to be a grocery getter not a show truck; the chassis and engine etc is painted the same colour as the alloy wheel centres - Gary suggested the anti chrome look and I love the wrinkle black instead of polished alloy.

The cab and tray are straight-ish as imported, it was under the skin where all the bodges lived (some of them life threatening) so it became a much bigger project than expected. For now I am going for an unfinished rather than rat look - body and paint will have to wait but at least it will be driveable and a 56 pickup towing a Lakester will be something you won't see often in the UK.

Keep on Truckin. 

[Lemming Motors]

First part laid up in the roll structure cover mold.

I used a single layer of 300 grams per square metre (gsm) and two of 450 gsm chopped strand matt ( 1oz / 1.5oz) but for future reference I think I should have gone 3x 450grams.

The piece came out of the mold cleanly and I could not resist a mockup - small things and all that.

[Lemming Motors]

Parachute arrived today - gosh there is a lot of it with all the lines etc. and its always exciting unwrapping parts.

Has anyone ever done a video of packing a parachute in a tube? I have seen some on using a pack but wondered if there was anything special about tube pack.

I assume (?) the more compression on the sprung pilot the better the  discharge.

[Stan Back]

". . . the more compression on the sprung pilot the better . . ."

Yep. I doubt we could "film" a video of ours -- it took 2 men and a small boy to get it in.  First meet in the Street Roadster showed that the lead needed to be lengthened.  The air behind the car was so confused, the chute would not blossom for some time.  Probably not the case with a slicker car.

[Elmo Rodge]

My Chute packer.

[Elmo Rodge]

It contains the pilot chute so it doesn't stick out the sides and pushes everything past the retaining pin. Just clips on my push bar.

[ggl205]

Very clever ER.

John

[Stainless1]

LJ, the pilot just needs to fall out of the tube when the restraint is released... it will catch a little air and the car will drive away from it pulling the chute out of the tube... depending on the length of the lines it all happens in less than a second. 
Here are 3 Pork Pie shots of the pilot coming out... the car is traveling about 220MPH and the shot is from more than a quarter mile away. 
With any luck you will be able to hire him to take some shots of your chute deployments and slow down, a lot can be learned from pictures.  Of course all of these were followed by open or almost open chute pics. 
If I find one I'll throw on a pic of my chute packer... 

[Elmo Rodge]

I used to use a 2x4 with a slot cut in the end but I was about to start breaking ribs from pushing with them while I fought trying to get everything tucked in. 

[Stainless1]

Don't know why those pics shrunk up so much...
but here is what we use...
I'd show you how it works, but it rarely does... but somehow the chute gets packed.  If the tube is bigger than it needs to be don't worry, the tube gets smaller as the week goes on.
You can borrow it if you need to at the salt....   

[Speed Limit 1000]

Thanks for the kind word      The new Bockscar has a larger tube and the chute is easier to pack. You must make sure all the risers are combed with your fingers so everything is flat. You have to keep pushing it in to the bottom of the tube till it is all in with room for the pilot. A little ball bat helps to push it tight. You are welcome to look us up on the salt for a demonstration.
 

[PorkPie]

I like to support Lemmings.....

when the lakester shows up at the salt and I'm there, too....I will take care that he get the necessary picture series of his parachute to figure out if everything
works right.....safety first....

the #31 pic was from around 3/4 mile and also later the day as you can see the heat blur....I stand behind the 5 1/2 mile marker....
the #21 pic was from around 1/4 mile...not far behind the 5 mile marker.....

[PorkPie]

important...going deep inside.....

[Lemming Motors]

Thanks gents, vielen Dank.

Elmo - the mechanical packer with the retaining pin is a nice development.
Bockscars packer looks like a serious piece of kit too 
Stan - do you use the small boy to crawl inside the tube to push everything to the front or do you leave him in there and you give him a prod and he throws the pilot out into the breeze?

I may have to modify the retaining bolt / bush assembly as the delivered chute has some soft leather (for wear presumably) over the anchor loop and I think it might be a bit tight - future experiments will confirm.

Lemmings would be very grateful for pictures of Squeeze of Lemming but 2021 is not looking hopeful for a variety of reasons, sigh.

Anyhoo - off to the garage to get high again - mmmm styrene fumes.