land-speed
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

To: "LSR list (E-mail)" <Land-speed@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
From: Jon Hobden <Jon.Hobden@rdel.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2000 11:27:44 -0000
List

At the risk of stirring another hornet's nest, as an electronics engineer 
involved in radar design I am used to measuring time routinely to 
resolutions of 0.00000001 second  (though it's of no use unless that 
measurement also has ACCURACY traceable to National Standards).

But I have been intrigued for some time, following some discussions in Fast 
Facts on the numbers of significant figures quoted on speeds, as to the 
accuracy of the surveyed mile and kilometre courses.  Can anybody involved 
shed any light on this?   Somebody mentioned checking temperatures of 
"tapes" - does this mean that someone goes out on the salt and tries to 
pull a mile of measuring tape straight?   And how orthogonal are the traps 
to the axis of the measured mile?

And I'm not looking for an argument (was that a ten minute one or the full 
half hour?) but I think we're all old enough to remember the discredit done 
by the Bud Rocket "record" fiasco.....


Jon Hobden in Horley
(Donald Campbell's birthplace)


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>