On Wed, 08 Jul 2015 18:12:50 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 23:35:40 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Wed, 08 Jul 2015 10:24:36 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 10:11:35 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 20:05:50 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On Mon, 6 Jul 2015 21:10:52 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"John B." wrote in message
news:e66mpaddcegepe73k9sbl7qclagtj88m8k@4ax. com...
On Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:50:24 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:


But... at least from all I can find, the Solar Impulse is very much
a
powered glider. Powered with an electric motor(s) true but as an
airplane not a really new thing. It is made of new materials and
self
charges but what else?

It flew 2/3 of the way across the Pacific, to Hawaii, in one hop and
flying at night -- on solar power.

But so what? Is it really important that something is powered with
electricity flew? Good Lord, electric powered model airplanes have
been flying for some time now. It is not new!

Some time ago some blokes flew a human powered airplane across the
English Channel and everyone clapped their hands and shouted, but so
far I haven't seen that technology used commercially.

After all Solar power has been used by a great many people for a
considerable period and noticeably it is not really a reliable
source
of power. When the sun runs away and hides your lights go out.

That's why it got headlines. That's what will stick in some people's
minds when solar power is discussed.

The Rutan Voyager flew around the world in 1986
without stopping or refueling and was airborne for 216+ hours and
flew
26,366 statue miles.

Right. It got some headlines, too. But it wasn't solar powered. It
isn't going to create a new awareness for gasoline. d8-)

Yup. New awareness. Well, they have a solar powered land racing, I
believe in Australia is, something like 3,000 miles long. And it has
been going on since 1987. Has there been new awareness in the car
industry?


John B.

I worked as lithium battery tech for an electric vehicle engineer who
had helped build one of those solar cars, possibly Sunraycer. He
wasn't particularly excited about the practical value of solar powered
transportation.



Years ago I was on th periphery of Formula Ford racing in S.
California. Met a bunch of both owners and builders and I don't
remember any of them worrying about any practical value. Mostly they
talked about ways to cheap without getting caught :-)

And, as a former SCCA and CART tech inspector, I probably caught more
violators in FF than in any other class. We called it the "Tyro"
class. d8-)

At Palmdale one time a FF went stuttering and stammering out of the
pits onto the track and someone said something like "Oh, that is old
Jack, he is really fast", and I said something like, "Probably, he
certainly has a cam in that thing", and the first guy says, "how did
you know?"

I've always suspected that a large percentage of the "also ran" had
very little technical knowledge :-)

There were a couple of guys that were trying to get into the chassis
making business - at that time nearly all FF chassis came from England
- and built a really sleek car. The first FF I saw with the radiators
mounted outboard ahead of the wheels. It was fast, really fast. They
entered it in a number of races and it always would be several times
faster than the rest of the FF pack.... but they never finished a
race. Would pull off into the pits and set out the last lap. I suspect
that the generated a lot of orders that way.

Of course, cars that didn't finish weren't inspected :-)

Right. One of the tricks in FF was to sneak in some Teflon main
bearings. They came from a supplier in the UK, where they were legal
for some kind of sedan racing.

Horsepower was so close in that class that just that little bit of
reduced friction could make a winner.

BTW, I drove an FF around the track a few times at Lime Rock Park, but
I never raced one. It was the most fun you could have with your pants
on -- like a go-cart with suspension and a real engine.

Yes, kind of fun. We occasionally took a car to Palmdale - in those
days you could rent use of the track - and I made a few laps in one
occasionally. I would roar around for a lap or so thinking I was
really the top dog and pull back into the pit area and the owner would
say something like, "is the car all right? It was such a slow lap" :-)

g I know that feeling. I had a good sense of relative speed in my MG
Midget and my Alfa Romeo Giulietta. In the FF (and even more in a
F440), I felt like I was flying, even though I wasn't pushing hard.
But the lap times said otherwise. g

If you haven't driven open-wheeled cars very much, and I've only done
it on three occassions, carrying speed on fast bends is OK, but diving
deep into turns is a little freaky. I think it's because you're not
used to seeing the wheels, and doing so is not conducive to a sense of
security.

--
Ed Huntress