Allen
Doug Rose built his "Green Mamba" jet out of 2-inch square tubing, plopped a
J46 Westinghouse into it and ran it (gosh, I think he is STILL performing
car burnings at oval tracks) for 17 years without a frame problem. That
included a variety of trips off the end of the dragstrip where we spent more
time dressing blades in the compressor section and touching up the paint
work than dealing with compromised welds. The Mamba probably too at least a
half-dozen trips into the weeds during its heyday.
Doug was a Navy man whose welding skills were rooted in carrier mentality --
strong and beefy. I don't believe tube or square is better, what matter is
the desing and construction, visual what what you think you want to build
and then look at from triangle point of view -- the more the better. This is
rather simplified, but what Joe detailed explains the point perfectly.
NHRA gave Rose great pain over this square stock, including a court case
that NHRA lost, they claimed the square stock was not up to minimum
standards which was pure poppycock. Of all the jets that got mangled, the
lightweight, tube jobs topped the list. When I was running the jet, we would
call the lightweights "Flexiflyers" -- because they tended to do just that.
Be Vigilant,
"LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth
LandSpeed Productions
Telling Stories with Words and Pictures
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