W.J.,
Just to report that my Cooper-Climax (sports racing class not monoposto much
like Lovely's Pooper) did some flying at Deer's Leap at Westwood. The car was
originally prepared for land speed record runs in the US. Most of the underbody
was covered with fiberglass body work, but with a J.A.P. engine it didn't reach
really high speeds for that size engine and thus was not approaching lift-off
speeds...
I learned early in my career with that car that she was eager to fly if
exceeding certain speeds at Westwood's Deer's Leap with its new Coventry-Climax
1100cc engine.. The first time she did it I was not prepared for the upward
motion of the bow as in hitting a big wave. Fortunately, it was much like the
stall warning in an aircraft. She was warning me when she headed skyward
giiving me just enough time to get off the accelerator and bring her back to
earth on the edge of the track the right side up.( That was back in 1966.) I
soon got a hold of a saw and cut off the rear body extension making it look like
its cousin, the Cooper Bobtail.
Cheers,
Mike
"McNaughton, W.J." wrote:
> I seem to recall the first real flying Can-Am was a Sadler at Mosport that
> became airborne when it crested the hill on the backstraight(stopped as a
> pile of junk in a big dustcloud at the marshalls flag station at corner 8)
> and the first aerobatic flying Can-Am was Hugh Dibley in a Brabham (I think)
> who did a back flip at St Jovite. Spoiler tabs on the noses and tails
> followed shortly thereafter with wings and downforce bodies a couple of
> years later.
>
> Bill McNaughton who since he saw the first one I guess is really showing
> how young he was when he started marshalling.
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