Lockdown Distractions

[deicer]

It's that time of year again....

 

[deicer]

 

[deicer]

[deicer]

 

[Malcolm]

[deicer]

Ever hear of the DC-5?

https://avgeekery.com/the-story-of-the-douglas-dc-5/

[Malcolm]

 

[deicer]

[Malcolm]

Well worth the visit:

Rex's Hangar - YouTube

[Kip Powick]

Interesting....recycle

 

 

 

[deicer]

If you're looking for that extra special gift....

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/nasas-quiet-short-takeoff-and-landing-test-jet-is-up-for-sale

NASA’s Quiet Short Takeoff And Landing Test Jet Is Up For Sale

Behind the Quiet Short-Haul Research Aircraft’s deteriorating exterior lies a fascinating chapter of flight test history.

 

 

[deicer]

 

[Specs]

From an industrial strategy perspective and perhaps even a military strategy perspective - wouldn't it have made more sense to pursue development of both designs rather than just settle on the F35? The X32 certainly seems like it would have appealed to those countries looking for a lower cost multi role combat aircraft.  What are the chances they'll still pursue development?

[deicer]

Now this is how to harvest Christmas trees....

 

[deicer]

This from a FB post....

 

Well, there seems to be a whole lot of car enthusiasts in this Group, so I thought I would Post this here. Drag racing must be one of the most expensive hobbies on the Planet ! A single barrel of fuel is over $750.00 U.S., and here is what you get from that :

What 10,000 horsepower does to a top fuel tire at launch.

TOP FUEL ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE

* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower (10,000 HP) than the first 5 rows at the Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1.2-1.5 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger.

* With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug.

This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH before you have completed reading this sentence.

* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 G's.

* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

* The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.

* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000 per second.

0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)

0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)

6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)

6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin ‘chutes at 300 MPH An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle.

The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).

Putting this all into perspective:

You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to launch down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches & starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums & within 3 seconds the dragster catches & passes you.

He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it - from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH & not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race!

That's acceleration!

 

 

 

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[Malcolm]

 

PAYING TRIBUTE TO ROYAL CANADIAN

Restored dragster a piece of racing history, with the national records to back it up

• Calgary Herald
• 15 Dec 2023
• GREG WILLIAMS Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or gregwilliams@shaw.ca Driving.ca

PHOTOS: BRYAN HODGES After restoring the Royal Canadian, Bryan Hodges put it on display at Standen's Limited in Calgary. Hodges takes it out occasionally to travel to various events.

One of Western Canada's most successful dragsters has been restored to reflect its former glory. The man behind the effort, Bryan Hodges of Calgary, knows the car very well. In 1970 and '71, Hodges occasionally crewed on what is known as the third Royal Canadian top fuel dragster.

Central to this story is Gordon Jenner of Calgary. In 1966, Jenner and partner Nick Kozak went to Los Angeles where they purchased a used dragster. They built a new engine and called the car the Royal Canadian, and with Kozak driving, raced it in 1966 and '67. This first Royal Canadian was destroyed in an accident while being trailered down the highway. A second Los Angeles car, originally built by legendary California constructor Don Long, was purchased by Jenner, who modified it, and named it, again, the Royal Canadian. This second Royal Canadian was brought to Canada where Jenner raced it until 1969. It was, however, stolen during a trip to Los Angeles.

Unable to locate the missing dragster, Jenner joined up with Calgarians Don Kohut and Mike Broome. The trio then bought a new 215-inch wheelbase dragster from legendary builder Long, powered by a 1957 Chrysler 392 cubic-inch engine. The team painted it burgundy and called it the third Royal Canadian. As the third Royal Canadian, with Kohut driving and Jenner and Broome twisting wrenches, the dragster was very successful.

“The Calgary based 1970 Royal Canadian top fuel dragster is the most historically significant Canadian drag racing car of its type,” Hodges says. “Amongst other accomplishments, it was the first Canadian fuel dragster to run a six-second ET in Canada, it set and held the Canadian national record in 1970, and it won the Canadian Nationals event the same year.”

The Royal Canadian ran again in 1971, but Hodges notes the team didn't continue into 1972. That's when Hodges enters the scene. Born in Saskatoon but raised in Calgary, Hodges had been tinkering with cars and crewing with various drag racing teams. He'd acquired quite a skill set with racing engines and built his own fuel-injected dragster.

“And I'd also occasionally crew with the Royal Canadian team,” Hodges says. “When they didn't race it in 1972, I bought the Royal Canadian car, minus the engine. I put the engine I'd built for my own car in that chassis and ran that combo from 1972 to 1976 under my own name — I didn't call it the Royal Canadian, that name wasn't mine to use and was always associated with Gordon Jenner.”

Hodges, who was called by his middle name Rod during his racing career, campaigned the dragster with a great deal of success. When he quit racing in 1976, he sold the car to a Calgary racer.

“I quit racing to focus on my career,” Hodges says, “but years later, in 2008, I travelled with Brent Seaman to the California Hot Rod Reunion (CHRR).”

There, Seaman was showing off the restoration of his Canadian drag race car the Outcast, a dragster he'd campaigned in 1966 with partner Gary Egbert. “We went back to the CHRR in 2009, and I became intrigued by the people restoring old famous dragsters.”

Having kept track of where the third Royal Canadian car had gone since he'd sold it, Hodges began pondering the feasibility of buying what remained of the car back and restoring it.

“I discussed it with my wife, Cheryl, and the only way it made any sense to do it was if Don Long, the original builder, agreed to take on restoring the chassis in order to maintain the car's legacy.”

Before confirming a deal with the then owner of the car, Hodges reached out to Long to ask if he'd consider rebuilding the chassis. After some discussion, Long said he would, and the deal was sealed to buy the remains of the Royal Canadian. Hodges picked up the pieces and delivered them to Long's Gardena, Calif., shop in March 2010.

“It took about seven years, but we pulled it off,” Hodges says. “I really wanted to pay tribute to the Royal Canadian legacy; it's such a well-known Canadian car that was raced very successfully by a group of Calgarians.”

Drag Racing Legend: Fastest Canadian has no intention of slowing down

Terry Capp’s moment of tranquil zen-like relaxation can only be found when the top fuel engines of an 11,000 horse power dragster roar to life. The fastest Canadian in the world lives in St. Albert.

Jackie CarmichaelSep 5, 2023 3:00 PM

•  

Terry Capp poses in front of a car Brad Larson

Listen to this article

00:11:12

ST. ALBERT - Terry Capp’s moment of zen-like tranquility only comes when the engine of an 11,000 horsepower top-fuel dragster roars to life.

The fastest man in Canada lives in St. Albert. He’s won multiple top fuel and funny car championships, and in 2004 set the Canadian quarter-mile speed record of 319.78 mph in 4.72 seconds driving the Royal Canadian, Ron Hodgson’s top fuel dragster.

But the secret to his phenomenal success can be found at the centre of the race-day storm.

In the pit area, the noise of the activity all around, the sound from the loudspeakers of the announcers talking to the crowds — all of it disappears.

And forget the chit-chat.

“I have to be focused,” he said.

“I’m not very hospitable or cooperative — I’m focused,” he said.

But once he’s belted in and the engine starts, he gets into the zone.

“All I hear is the motor, and I’ve got control of it,” he said. “You actually feel relaxed. It’s quiet, you’re in charge, it’s just you and that motor.”

First there’s the burn-out. You screech 200 feet down the track, and there’s a crew member in front of you, and one behind as you back up in your own hot tracks. The heat of your tires makes both track and tires sticky before take-off — and sticky is good.   

You can't drive that!

Some of the best memories of Capp’s youth swirl around cars — in particular, a 1932 Ford truck.  

His parents owned a general store and truck transport business in the country, at the south end of Lake Wabamun.

He knew the farm agent for United Grain Growers elevators and hitched rides with him to Stony Plain, where the young Capp would go to a boxing gym. He sparred with his dad a lot at home, so he had the gloves.

They’d go to Stony Plain in the friend’s original 1932 Ford Deuce truck, but on the way back to Lake Wabamun, Capp, then 12 and 13, was often the designated driver.  He’d deliver his friend home, then walk two miles to his own home.

“When you were a kid in the country, you’d drive as soon as you could reach the pedals,” he remembered. “When I was 14, my dad needed me to drive.”  

Father and son arranged to meet at the Stony Plain RCMP, where his dad padded his son’s age, vouching that young Capp was 16 so he could get a licence.

However, when they went to take the driving portion of the test, the policeman — a family friend — got a shock as he prepared to administer the test.

Then 14, Capp had driven to the detachment in a five-ton tandem axle GMC with an oil tanker on the back. The officer was aghast.

“You can’t drive that! You have to be 18 to drive that.”

At that point, Capp's father calmly avowed that his son was, in fact, 18.

Capp got his licence.  

In high school, Capp decided he wanted a 1932 Ford truck to remind him of the good old days. He found rusty old junker in a barn north of 97th Street, back in the days when that was the sticks. It wasn’t running — and it was his for $50.

He started to restore it, but lacked the funding to make it street legal. Eventually, with the help of a Chevrolet Corvette motor, he turned it into a hot rod. (He has since rebuilt it, and the poker-inspired vanity plate reads DEUCE WLD.) 

Capp and his buddies, including Hodgson, had a regular racing hub with the Capital City Hot Rod Association at the Supply Depot at Canadian Forces base Namao. A little snow fencing for safety and they were off to the races — literally.

Their Anglia B/Gasser, was a hit, and it took the  Western Canadian Championship Series in 1967. The old Anglia B/Gasser is currently in the Reynolds-Alberta museum in Wetaskiwin.

Capp and buddy Bernie Fedderly helped put Canada on the map for National Hot Rod Association in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Capp and Fedderly connected with top fuels champ Wes Van Dusen as sponsor and part owner for the Wheeler Dealer Car. Capp bought a 426 Hemi and put in a front-motored dragster. At the Saskatchewan International Raceway, car and driver made a 6.42 second run, reaching 225 mph to set a Canadian record.

The US Top Fuels Nationals in Indianapolis in 1980 were something of a watershed moment for Capp. Pitting his skills against such titans as Shirley Muldowney and Dick Lahaie in the last 32-car field ever, he beat Jeb Allen in 5.82 seconds at 241.93 mph, the quickest side-by-side race ever.

But his buddy and collaborator Fedderly got an opportunity to be crew chief in California. Fedderly would go on to become top crew chief for John Force.

Fresh from the win on American soil, it was time to reflect. At that point, after a meteoric career in professional drag racing,  Capp sat down with his wife Rachelle at the kitchen table and asked the big question: What happens to drag racers when they get old?

“The answer is ‘nothing,’” he said.

Diversifying for the future

In diversifying, Capp was hired to do a project with the accounting firm KPMG insolvency department, dealing with an automotive bankruptcy.

The fellow who hired him got a partnership opportunity at Coopers & Lybrand, and asked Capp to come work for him. One of their first projects together was for Capp to manage a dealership in receivership. It wasn’t so much formal training — a few courses in business and law helped — as innate skill and deep subject knowledge that made it a natural fit for him.

“Now you’d have to have more degrees than a thermometer to do what I was doing,” Capp said.

He and his partner sold their operation to drag racing legend Larry Minor in California.

They bought a fancy fast boat with the money, and tinkered around with that.

But like Michael Corleone in The Godfather, just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in.

In 1985, Hodgson came by with an envelope.

“I think we should go to the winter Nationals in February,” he told Capp. There were airline tickets in the envelope.

By May they had another race car. They were back in the game, and won the NHRA World Finals in Spokane.

After Capp reached official retirement age with the now-Price Waterhouse Coopers, he got the obligatory Rolex and a cheque. Then, the next week, they called him back to work as a contractor, which he does to this day.

He still has his competition licence, thanks to staying physically and mentally fit with the help of his home gym.

A lot of drag racers end up with perforated or detached retinas from the negative G-force that comes from going from 200 mph to zero in rapid succession.

“You don’t have a lot of room to stop, you need two parachutes, and when they come out, your eyeballs want to keep going,” Capp explained.

In his 70s, his vision is unclouded and there’s no sign of the career deal-breaker retinal detachment. He still has no need even for glasses.

“I don’t open my eyes until the parachutes are out,” he joked.

As might be imagined, Capp has seen his share of near-catastrophes.

There was the time he raced a new car on a new track (new to him.)

He’d been told there was a sand trap at the end of the track, and a mesh after that.

“I’m going to put this baby in the mesh,” he realized.

But as he approached the end of the track, he realized the mesh was made not of fabric or plastic, but of cold, hard steel.

“I thought, ‘If I’m going to hit this thing, I’m going to roll into it,” he recalled.

As it turned out, a hard left got him around the corner and away from the mesh, with the car taking damage to the body and frame instead of completely wiping out. The car was fixed in time for the next week’s race.

He singed his eyebrows in one close call.

His worst accident may have been in a funny car that caught fire. The Fiberglas exterior (the difference between a top fuel drag racer and a funny car) was lost in the flames — as were the parachutes.

At times like that, a driver is grateful for the fireproof socks, gloves — even underwear — layered under a 42-pound fire suit.

What it takes to win

The first defence against all of these is reflexes. Capp acknowledges that his are “killer.”

“When you’re going 200-300 mph, it doesn’t take much to deviate off. Your reactions are really important,” he said.

Having a grasp on mechanics is an asset. Capp has enough of a grasp that he can build a car from the ground up.

But a crew’s preparation is key, he said. When he’s hurtling down the track, he doesn’t want to have to second-guess whether or not he tightened the flywheel, he said.

Team is the first consideration, Capp said.

“You have to have a crew that prepares your car properly,” he said. “Driving is the easy part. The crew has to make sure you’re safe.”

As hobbies go, drag racing isn’t for the faint of wallet. It costs about $3,000 to make one run, Capp said, citing everything from 12 gallons of micro-methane for a quarter mile run to wear and tear on things like tires, clutches, rods, pistons and valves.

Just a gallon of paint for painting one of his personal cars costs $3,000.

“Driving is the easiest part,” he said.

Rolling forward

A career that spans five decades rolls on, in one form or another.

There’s always something going on with Capp and cars.

When he retired from driving his own car, he drove Ron Hodgson dealership-sponsored cars.

In August, the Hot August drag races at RAD Torque Raceway by the Edmonton International Airport — called on account of rain. But then last weekend, the Rock’n August car show and festival was hopping in St. Albert.

He often fills in as a driver in Canada for U.S. racing teams when an American driver has to drop out or can’t make it across the border.

He’s got a full-time job, and does hot rods on the side. He and a small staff buy vehicles and recondition them for resale.

He’s been on the cover of the NHRA’s National Dragster magazine four times.

He’s done it before, but does Capp have any intention of retiring again any time soon?

“I can’t, I won’t. I’m having too much fun,” he said.

[deicer]

[Kip Powick]

Elevator trim.....plus 65.....

[Seeker]

On 12/14/2023 at 8:18 AM, deicer said:

If you're looking for that extra special gift....

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/nasas-quiet-short-takeoff-and-landing-test-jet-is-up-for-sale

NASA’s Quiet Short Takeoff And Landing Test Jet Is Up Fr S

I saw that aircraft fly in 1986 at the Abbotsford airshow.  I didn't know what it was and when it approached showline centre I thought it was going to stall/crash because it was flying so slow, then it cranked around in a 360 degree turn at 200' and never left the triangle between the 3 runways!

[deicer]

Low budget refuelling...

[Kip Powick]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:44 AM, Seeker said:

I saw that aircraft fly in 1986 at the Abbotsford airshow.  I didn't know what it was and when it approached showline centre I thought it was going to stall/crash because it was flying so slow, then it cranked around in a 360 degree turn at 200' and never left the triangle between the 3 runways!

And 37 years later......."" Clearly stated under the item description are the words: “UNKNOWN IF AIRCRAFT CAN FLY, HAS NOT BEEN MAINTAINED.” and if you look  further the "MEL/No FLY " list is quite a read.

For $10,000.00 you are getting a bunch of plastic and metal that won't even guarantee you can recoup your "gift" cost  by stripping and recycle.

[J.O.]

On 12/15/2023 at 10:55 AM, deicer said:

This from a FB post....

 

Well, there seems to be a whole lot of car enthusiasts in this Group, so I thought I would Post this here. Drag racing must be one of the most expensive hobbies on the Planet ! A single barrel of fuel is over $750.00 U.S., and here is what you get from that :

What 10,000 horsepower does to a top fuel tire at launch.

TOP FUEL ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE

* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower (10,000 HP) than the first 5 rows at the Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1.2-1.5 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger.

* With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug.

This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH before you have completed reading this sentence.

* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 G's.

* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

* The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.

* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000 per second.

0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)

0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)

6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)

6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin ‘chutes at 300 MPH An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle.

The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).

Putting this all into perspective:

You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to launch down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches & starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums & within 3 seconds the dragster catches & passes you.

He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it - from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH & not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race!

That's acceleration!

This one is a bit outdated. Top fuel no longer runs the 1/4 mile - they reduced it to 1,000 ft after Scott Kalitta's fatal crash. Yet they still exceed the 330 mph top speed. It's mind boggling.

[deicer]

Betcha didn't know this....

https://www.livescience.com/62751-why-cosmonauts-pee-yuri-gagarin.html

Why Cosmonauts Pee on the Bus That Picks Them Up for Launches

The three-person Expedition 56/57 crew launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this morning (June 6). On their way to the rocket, the crew — or at least Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev — did something odd: Reportedly, as in the past, the bus transporting them would stop, and the male crewmembers will urinate on the back-right tire of their ride.

 

(Apparently, female crewmembers splash urine from a cup onto the wheel.)

 

Why? Apparently, they were paying tribute to the first human in space — Yuri Gagarin. The cosmonaut, who launched April 12, 1961, from the same cosmodrome, had to "go" on the way to the rocket … and the rest is history.

Various other Gagarin tributes also come into play for launch crews — they also visit Gagarin's grave in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow. And after arriving in Baikonur, they plant a tree in the same grove where Gagarin planted his; and they visit his office, which has been preserved since his death in 1968.

 

[Malcolm]

[deicer]

Genius standby travel hack....