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Speed Record Clubspeed on wheels, water and wingsJust for the Record - August 2008contents: Lake Windermere Appeal against lake speeding fails.A motorboat owner who exceeded the speed limit on England’s largest lake has failed in a bid to have the bylaw overturned. More in Fast Facts issue 70. Is this bike the world’s fastest ...Kawasaki?
Bikes on the two-way run take 5-6km to achieve full speed before reaching the 1.6km stretch where the Swiss timer has the lights set up to record the time taken for the measured mile. A New Zealand man is about to find out whether his is the world’s fastest ... Kawasaki. Every two years on Lake Gairdner, a vast Australian salt flat, teams of motorcycle enthusiasts gather to challenge and defend the land speed record for production motorbikes. This month, Whangarei coach builder John Howe will learn whether he has officially broken the land speed record for production motorcycles on his Kawasaki ZX14, by clocking 358.9km/h on January 27 - beating the previous record by 1.8km/ h. More in Fast Facts issue 70. Austin Healey record car
The recently reported recreation of a new Austin Healey endurance record car based in the UK has taken a significant step forward over the last 8 weeks since its emergence was last reported. The car has had its development suspension fitted and the bodywork has emerged resplendent in a mesmeric shade of light metallic green, a colour previously verified as that of the Special Test Cars by both Roger Menadue and Geoff Healey. This has been a dream come true for owner Martyn Corfield, who has dreamt of owning one of the original early Special Test cars for years. Unfortunately this was not possible, as the majority were converted to full 100S specification, one remains in its original 1953 configuration and one SPL227B was scrapped in 1957, so a recreation project is as close as it is possible to get. “I have always longed for one of these early cars and to be able to restore it to full Special Test Car status. Of these cars the 1954 endurance record car held a special fascination and the lure of speed beckoned." Much more in Fast Facts issue 70. Flatfire
I have obtained some historical details about Ron Main’s cars: Aerodynamicist A.J. Smith wrote: Ron Main contacted me in Feb 1990 and asked if I could design a body for his new Bonneville racer. At the time, I was working directly with Bruce Crower as an aerodynamicist on his Bonneville Streamliner. I had designed a vertical fin for Bruce’s car that made it stable and easy to drive, and Bruce recommended me to Ron. Ron had a Bob Meyer dragster chassis and needed a clean body for it, so I drew from my aeronautical experience and drafted up a super slick, clean body that looked unlike anything currently racing at Bonneville. I began with the fundamental approach of minimizing the flow of high pressure air underneath the body; and so went with a super low, pointy nose slammed down to within 2” of the ground. The side (profile) view of the car uses a “laminar-flow” contour that offers the least drag. With a flat bottom that uses rubber belting around its perimeter, this becomes the so-called “ground-effects” design, similar to what I had worked with on Crower’s streamliner. Ground clearance winds up at 1” or less. Essentially, my goal was to cover-up (“package”) the car’s parts with a body design that did its best to part the air as gently as possible in front of the car, flow it smoothly around and above the whole length, then try to bring it all smoothly back together at the rear-end! I wanted to minimise high-pressure air going under the body. This would keep the car down on the salt’s surface, increase wheel steering authority and drive traction, and thus lead to driver confidence! We used a generously-sized vertical fin for directional stability. This was “Flatfire”. It set some records. It ran from 1991 through ‘97/’98. It pleased many and scared a few. Thanks to Ron, it looked great doing it. More about Ron Main's cars including Speed Demon in Fast Facts issue 70. |
