Saturday, August 18, 2007

Video: Nic Case and his theory on flight




Nic Case's explanation of his takeoff during his run:

Flight Explination

On this video it's kind of hard to see what happened.

******So, what happened---anyway ?*******

Let me describe the track conditions first.....

When we arrived at the track, the first thing we did was check the traction level of the track. At 7am, I would describe it as ~ about as slick as a slightly dirt garage floor. (That’s Slick). But that’s ok because the track manager was right on top of it. He was willing to sweep the track & put down as much "VHT" as RCCA would want. (VHT-[I don’t know what the acronym means] is track preparation fluid sprayed on the track--it is very sticky)

RCCA decided to sweep the track and lay down a 10' wide strip of VHT. A well thought out compromise.
This way if someone did not want to run on the VHT surface, they had that option---Cool---

RCCA set-up there timing equipment in the far lane (this created a lot of foot traffic on the track) Including myself...LOL

There was some wind, but it wasn't terrible......

The glare for the sun on the track, limited how far a driver could see the car--and as a result, quicker acceleration was needed.

+++++It all added up to a big challenge+++++

.......Back to what happed......
I got a fairly decent ramp up to speed. It felt like it just about ready to really launch right about where the timing tent was. I theorize that the tires hit a slick spot(probably created from all the foot traffic)---the tires stated to spin-----grabbed traction on the "other" side---tore the tire into shreds---immediately the car got sideways---caught air -----and, well, you can see the rest,,,LOL

This all happed very fast and is hard to see on this video.(TRCZ, The R/C Zone did a great job of the Live coverage) Perhaps there is another video out there?

Cheers
Nic Case

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