Art Arfons "Green Monster" memories

[Sam Hawley]

Hi everyone. I've just received a great e-mail from Bill Woodall, manager of Advanced Tire Engineering at Firestone back in the 1960s when Art Arfons was going after the LSR. Bill kindly wrote up some of his reminiscences of working on tires for Art's "Green Monster," and included an eyewitness account of Art's 600-mph crash in Nov. 1966. I've added this as a new page on my "Land Speed Record" website. Here's the link:http://www.samuelhawley.com/woodall.html

P.S. Bill is no slouch of a builder himself. He's fabricated a real Sopwith triplane!

[manta22]

Sam;

Thanks for posting that info. It is a great story.

I'm surprised that Art used tapered roller bearings for wheel bearings. A 600mph run on tapered roller bearings is not a good idea, as can be determined by consulting a Timkin bearing manual. These bearings carry very heavy loads but are limited in RPM. A better choice would have been double- row ball bearings lubricated with oil.

Regards, Neil   Tucson, AZ

[MAYOMAN]

In 1970, The Blue Flame used Timken tapered roller bearings lubricated with oil for wheel bearings. The Blue Flame set the world land speed record at 630.388 miles per hour, hitting a peak speed of around 650 miles per hour. Timken engineers recommended this application and there were no problems with wheel bearings throughout all of the runs, several over 600 miles per hour. Bearing temperatures were monitored after each run and, again, never a problem.

[manta22]

Mayo;

Not a good choice. See: http://www.timken.com/sites/newproducts/en-us/typee/Documents/Tapered_Roller_Bearing_Load_Rating_Selection_Table.pdf

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Glen]

the blue flame was much lighter , rocket powered, no rotational loading /unloading where the Arfons jet was much heavier and and had the wheel loading. Not looking for a argument.

[MAYOMAN]

I don't mean to suggest there have been no improvements in bearing technology or lubricants in the past 40 years. Quite the opposite is true, especially with ceramic bearings and synthetic lube.

The discussion was regarding the Green Monster incident in 1966. In 1969 Timken's engineering department specified we use their tapered roller bearings with an oil bath for lubricant on The Blue Flame. This was their choice for a wheel design speed of 750 miles per hour.

The Green Monster spec sheet indicates it weighed 6,500 pounds before the dual rear wheels were used. So, it probably weighed 7,000 pounds in 1966. Empty weight of The Blue Flame was 6,500 pounds also, but with 2,000 pounds of hydrogen peroxide it started with an 8,500 pounds load, and also weighed around 7,000 pounds at 600+ miles per hour.

Granted, the rocket did not add a torque load as did the J-79 on shutdown, but that wasn't the discussion. Also, Art had told me that the bearing problem was the result of grease not provided the necessary lubrication, causing the bearing to seize.

[manta22]

Mayo;

Thanks for the additional information; this certainly explains the wheel bearing failure-- grease is not sufficient lubrication for a tapered roller bearing at high RPM. Manufacturers recommend low viscosity oil for high RPM applications. Art was right.

Regards, Neil   Tucson, AZ

[johnneilson]

Ceramic hybrids are amazing, but you cannot just run them everywhere.
They are application specific just like any other bearing.

Had a few fail in less than 10 minutes run time, not from overloading, from changing speed too quickly.

Theoretically, less drag than std steel, never proven on dyno or lap times.

John