Just a reminder to those concerned about LSR car weights and stopping from
high speed at Bonneville.
The fastest car (not an automobile) in the World weighed in at over 10 tons
and from over Mach 1 (760 mph) was brought to a stop by parachutes. So the
strops were almost as thick as a mans wrist and they had some double chute
failures when the flames got at them, but most times they worked well. The
worst over runs were apparently 1.5 miles. (Andy Green did have the back
up of some substantial brakes).
Having seen the work of safety nets on films of NHRA drag racing events
(shredding the vehicle bodies) I am glad we did not have to have such a net
in place for the rocket bike when we ran two ways at Bonneville in 1999.
Malcolm Pittwood.
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