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Re: A trick learned whilst Flying

To: "Pat Ryan" <psryan@novazone.com>
Subject: Re: A trick learned whilst Flying
From: Jack Wheeler <jwheeler@robus.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 07:37:39 -0500
At 06:57 AM 4/30/99 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>> I have discovered that landing on the grass helps avoid
>> most blown tires.  Another trick that I learned, on the fly,
>> so to speak (at Road Atlanta) is that an in-flight barrel roll
>> can be stopped by clouting a stout tree 15 feet in the air,
>> resulting in a wheels down landing.  Some checking of
>> the alignment may be wise afterwards.
>> The usual safety disclaimers apply.
>>
>> Hardy
>
>
>Man, I wish I had known about that grass thing.
>
>First time out in the new Silver Spit.  Road America, turn two, motor
>seized, slide for life, curbing.........full gainer with 1 1/2 twist, landed
>squarely on four wheels on asphalt with no slide...driver unhurt.  Workers
>flashed four 5.9's and one 6.
>
>Lesson learned......just because it looks like there was not much body
>damage doesn't mean the car shouldn't be written off.  Everything was
>bent......just a little.  Three flats and four ruined suspensions.  Four
>years later car still unfinished.
>
>Pat Ryan
>
>PS:  I worked corners at Road Atlanta for 10 years and never saw a car hit a
>tree.  Where can you get to the trees?
>
>
Pat, at the Runoffs in 1984, there was a huge pileup in the GT-1 race as
about 20 cars went straight off the track at turn 6 and into the woods.
The woods caught fire!  This melee was due to a freak thunderstorm which
hit first at the far end of the track (start/finish was still dry when it
happened).  Anyway, GT-1 was the next to the last race on Sunday, and guess
who was last?  That's right EP.

There we were waiting on the grid for over an hour while they put the fire
out, helocoptered out injured drivers, and hauled some of the hulks (the
ones they could get out of the woods easily) back and dumped then right
next to the grid (the better for us to see them).  When our race finally
started, the track was limited to one lane from turn 5 to turn 7, obviously
with no passing.  Since a number of the GT-1 cars were still in the woods
off turn 6, they didn't want anyone sliding off and joining them!

Yes, you can get to the trees at Road Atlanta!


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