[ratpack] Re: LSR (was: Re: A good day at the fair)
- From: humminboid@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: ratpack@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 04:51:03 +0000 (UTC)
WOW! Streamliners sure look different nowadays. C.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Buck" <rbuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ratpack@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2010 8:54:02 PM
Subject: [ratpack] LSR (was: Re: A good day at the fair)
Hmmm...lemme see. The Burb has a speed limiter that's like a wall of jello at
100 mph. I know that from the salt flats. I've reached that numerous times,
running from one end of the course to the other...like at a private meet where
I KNEW there was no chance of other cars on the track and getting permission
from the timing stand. Shutter speed? Hmmm, again. The attached photo of the
Speed Demon (that was one of the teams I was shooting for) has a 1/5000th
shutter speed @ f9 and ISO 400. He (George Poteet driving) is running well
over 350 in that photo. It was all I could do to get the shots of him
approaching my location. No chance of getting a direct side shot...even with
the fluid head on the tripod (which helped a lot) I just couldn't stay with him
as he went by.
That was the fastest car on the salt, bar none. It (and the team, although
only Poteet's name will appear on the trophy) won the Hot Rod Magazine trophy
for top speed of the meet, 409 and change, although the car exited the last
measured mile (there are 3 of 'em on the long course) at 419 and still had more
in it. Bear in mind that this car is only running a 299 cubic inch motor. It
has a Dart aluminum block and cylinder heads, but is based on a Chevy
smallblock design. It has twin turbos, run thru an intercooler filled with
ice. The estimate is 2000 hp on methanol and nitromethane. It'll be a LONG
time before anyone takes the D/BFS title away.
They're coming back for the FIA meet in September. George is determined to run
450, so they're gonna run their "big" motor: 347 cubic inches, power estimate:
2500 hp. That would give them the C/BFS record (if it's submitted to SCTA
which they may not do at that event) AND the FIA ultimate piston-engined,
wheel-driven record which now sits at 415.896, set in 2008 by the Burkland 411
liner in 08:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/lsr/bsf2008/shootout/burkland/Welcome.html At that
meet, the Speed Demon (same team) got the record...I can't remember what class
it is, cuz it's an FIA class...if it was an SCTA class, it would have been an
E/FS (unblown) that had previously been taken away from Terry Nish by the
BAR-Honda F1 vehicle:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/lsr/bsf2008/shootout/demon/Welcome.html That was
after burning up the engine compartment due to an exhaust leak that burned up
an oil line. There's a photo of the makeshift shield that they put in place
during the 1 hour turnaround that kept the exhaust leak (from an EGT sensor
that they couldn't seem to keep from blowing out) from burning the valve cover
gasket...but directed it right onto the oil line coming out of the dry sump
tank:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/lsr/bsf2008/shootout/demon/part1/080922_0557r8_jpg.html
They rebuilt the car in days (it should have taken weeks) and it was virtually
impossible to tell that it had burned, except for a few charred places. If ya
look at the first section of photos, you'll see that there's an absolute
Chinese Fire Drill going on, since they not only had the leak, but had blown a
tire (front tires are in-line...and it was the front one) and hadn't practiced
changing the tire at all.
LSR has its own particular excitement in addition to the absolute speed...but
most people don't know about it cuz it's difficult to know when and where
things are gonna happen. Drag racing, you know that the action's gonna start
when the tree lights. Roundy-round racing is relatively easy to watch,
especially at tracks where you can see the whole course. Sports car racing
requires a little more cerebral effort but the races are measured in miles and
hours. But in LSR, the whole thing takes days of inaction punctuated by
moments of intensity beyond belief. If ya blink, ya missed it. I can attest
to that by being in one of the Porta-potties and hearing the Demon's unique
exhaust sound and realizing there was no way I could get back to the edge of
the course where my cameras were. Out of all the high-speed runs they made
(around 8) I only got 2 of 'em in the camera.
LSR requires one to contract "salt fever" which can result in retina burns from
staring at the white salt for hours on end...and coming back the next day to do
it again...and again. There's no prize money, either. In the case of FIA
records, ya gotta pay the French dinks who run it out of an office in Geneva.
Then they MIGHT get around to recording it and sending ya a certificate. With
SCTA, you can get a red hat for breaking a record over 200 mph or a blue one
for doing so over 300. Now that there are 3 or 4 guys who've set records over
400, they might have to get a different color hat.
That reminds me. The Target 550 liner (Treit & Davenport Viking 31) will never
hold an SCTA record. It's being built for FIA records only: flying mile and
flying kilometer. There are certain things the SCTA requires the builder to do
and Marlo and Jim Hume have decided that they have a better way of doing
things. I can't tell ya much more than that; I'm sworn to secrecy about 'em.
I'm also sworn to secrecy about another record/award they're shooting for, but
if they pull it off, it'll blow the minds of a whole buncha people. Gotta stay
tuned until 2012 for that one, tho.
Ok. Back to work. I'm only about 4000 fotos behind.
r
Sent from my Dreadnought using that barely tolerable Thunderbird email program
On 8/22/2010 10:42 AM, Michael Wells wrote:
Thanks for everything. By the way how fast was your shutter speed to capture
the burb' at record speeds on the salt? Can't wait to see the pics and hear the
stories from the salt. See you at the next race.
Dr Z
On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Ray Buck < rbuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
Outstanding, Herr Doktor. All 3 are great fotos. I'm just wondering if ya
didn't get dinged on the Falken Fire shot (which is OUTSTANDING) cuz the fence
bars aren't exactly vertical. Old skool rules, but ya never know who's doing
the judging and yer right...3 for 3 is pretty damned good.
In any case, ya done good and flew the Ratpack flag for us in Utarrr county.
Ohh...thanks for the deal on the tripod. It works out perfectly.
RtR
ps. story on the scaffolding trailer coming soon.
Sent from my Dreadnought using that barely tolerable Thunderbird email program
On 8/21/2010 11:04 PM, Michael Wells wrote:
Rat Packers,
The 2010 Utah County Fair was pretty good to me this year. I enter 3 pics, one
in Photo journalism (Falken Fire), one in Secinic (Old Farmhouse) and one in
Creative Art (Gliding Koy) all in the Advanced Amateur Class . The Old
Farmhouse won a third place ribbon and the other two won 2nd place ribbons. I
was a little disappointed that the Falken Fire pic didn't do better but all in
all 3 for 3 isn't bad. I've enclosed the pics so you can judge for yourselves.
Dr Z
--
Dr. Z
aka Michael Wells
MCWells Photography
mcwellsphoto@xxxxxxxxx
801-850-7279
--
Dr. Z
aka Michael Wells
MCWells Photography
mcwellsphoto@xxxxxxxxx
801-850-7279
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