Andy,
Probably a combination of the "airplane wing" effect and the air being
funneled into the engine compartment through the radiator opening. I'd
love to have been a casual observer! :)
Joe
Andrew Mace wrote:
>
> On Sun, 3 Oct 1999, Joe Curry wrote:
>
> > Not much chance of that happening [bonnet popping up]
> > on a Spitfire! :)
>
> Maybe not. Maybe the Spit's bonnet is too heavy to do what a Herald
> bonnet almost did to me many, many years ago. I'd just gotten the
> "replacment" bonnet primed and mounted onto my Herald, but Mr. Way-Cool
> Senior in High School was too busy wanting to drive to the local wrecking
> yard for more bits to bother installing the chromed latches to secure the
> bonnet.
>
> While I don't know if the bonnet ever would have actually arisen to full
> open position while moving (had something to do, I think, with a low
> pressure area being created by air flowing over the top and around the
> base of the windshield while higher pressure air was underneath the
> bonnet), I do vividly recall the panic on my buddy's face as he first saw
> the bonnet's rear edge start to raise itself up. He and I were able to
> hold it down for the 25-mile ride back home without further incident, he
> having gotten whatever he'd wanted for his '65 Mustang and I having
> bought whatever it was -- a diff, I think -- for the Herald!
>
> Gawd, that was just too long ago, specifically around the time that Mungo
> Jerry first (and last) hit the airwaves (Hi, jonmac!).
>
> --Andy
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> * Andrew Mace, President and *
> * 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
> * Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org> *
> * amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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