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Thoughts..

To: DrMayf@aol.com, <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Subject: Thoughts..
From: Skip & Joyce Higginbotham <saltrat@pro-blend.com>
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 20:43:53 -0700
Hi Mayf,
I have lost my files on Aero due to a large computer crash.......
Do you know the coefficient of drag for a '53 Stude? And how does it
compare with a Firebird?
Pretty frustrating when I can't find my stuff!
Thanks in advance.
Skip Higginbotham (Who has verified that the old and the new do not
mix......Talk about systems integration....a Vertex and an EFI......EMI?
#@$%*&^^  What fun.)


At 09:03 AM 9/8/00 , you wrote:
>I have been wathing both threads with some interest. After doing a little 
>thinking (very little, getting old), I remembered a cautionary note from deep 
>in the recesses of my mind on using Nitrogen to fill your race car tires. 
>When I first went to work for Boeing, about a thousand years ago, I worked in 
>Flight Test at Boeing Field. While thee there was a terrible accident in the 
>hangar. A mechanic had the task of filling a demounted 727,  or maybe it was 
>a 707,  main landing gear tire with Nitrogen. Boeing used a cart with I 
>believe it was 8 full K bottles (220 cu ft) of Nitrogen connected to a 
>manifold and regulator. He connected to fillinf hose to the tire, which was 
>laying flat on a pallet and began the filling process in which he set the 
>regulator to the proper pressure. The lunch bell rang and he went off to 
>lunch. He returned to the task right after lunch and when he reached the 
>tire, it exploded. It blew him completely in half with body parts going every 
>where. Of course he died instantly. Now, the investigation showed that the 
>regulator leaked and permitted the tire and K bottles to come to an equal 
>pressure, a very high pressure. The cautionary note for us is that the use of 
>nitrogen to fill our tires through regulators whic get very little attention 
>in the way of maintenance (prolly - assuming here), may prove to be a 
>dangerous task indeed. So if you go this way and it is a good way, be very 
>cautious in handling the regulator and oteher items and never leave the 
>system connected to the tire.
>
>On categories,,,did I read that to have another class, there needs to be at 
>least three cars requiring the new class. How many does it take for a new 
>category which may involve lots of new classes within that category? Are 
>there that many cars waiting to run and are now just running for time?  I 
>have no doubt that the organizational effort needed to conduct more classes 
>is manageable because it is just book keeping. The only added effort is in 
>training inspectors to recognize the non allowable hardware. Being somewhat 
>cynical, I have to ask this question: why is this being contemplated? How 
>many cars are there that do not have a class in today's set of categories and 
>classes? Is this just and end run to allow a few more people to become record 
>holders with their present cars which are not competetive? Since I have a 
>little bit of familarity with the girly Camaro of Keith's IU'll use it as an 
>example, hoping he doesn't get angry with me. Keith could very well go to the 
>salvage yard and acquire a more aerodynamic Firebird body fairly easily. 
>Transferring the mechanicals to the new car would involve probably just 
>effort and little outlay. I am sure that this capabi;lity exists for others 
>as well, so where's the beef? Why is beiong contemplated? Spell it out for 
>me? Actually I don't care, but there seems to be a hidden agenda here. And as 
>fo Keith he is going to build a monster BMS vehicle soon, so I am sure this 
>doesn't affect him very much (I hope, he was the only car I could think 
>of...and he is my bud).
>
>mayf


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