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Tuesday 7 March 2017

Robinson's Ramblings #3

Pushing the Edge

Part 1 of 2

I've always been known for pushing the boundaries. In all my life I've had a reputation for overcoming obstacles. My determination was evident after my stroke in 2011. People said I shouldn't ride a bicycle. I did. Sure, I fell over on my right side (that's the side that was weakened) frequently, so I was tempted to abandon the bike. No. I got back on, bleeding and battered. Soon, I was going up and down hills (not the very steep ones, give me a break.. ;-)

When it came to racing, I had the same mind-set. Alan Hughes (see pic above) and I worked like trojans for part of the summer holidays. (Thanks, Alan. You don't know how much I appreciate the help). This was in South Africa in a suburb called Parkhurst in Johannesburg in 1979. This is the hottest time of the year (not like Durban with its unbearably high humidity of close on 100% and temperatures in the mid thirties C).

My Formula Ford Crossle weighed 416 kg - that's 16 kg over the weight minimum. We had to lose 16 kg. Or a shade less than that. Say, 15.99999999 recurring. I was a lightweight (I said 'was'), being a shade under 70 kg. Relatively slim, compared to some of the other drivers.

 We found that the bodywork was the first problem. It accounted for about three quarters of the extra weight. Into the back of the garage it went. I thought that the exhaust weighed a couple of kilos/few lbs extra. So, I went about re-designing that as I was sure it would be more streamlined inside the bodywork. (I did design it, but I didn't have it fully made). We attached some thin aluminium light-weight covers on the wishbones to make them more aerodynamically efficient. (Think of car that was built cerca 70's, and I was racing around the eighties. In-board systems were making an appearance were just showing up about then - if I can remember).

 We managed to get some sizeable pieces of foam to work at or down. (I wish I kept some of those pics...). The garage and we were literally covered with fine light-biscuit coloured dust when we were done. 

 We opted to make the side panels as well as the pieces inside of that from sheets of ultra-light fibreglass panels. Alan and I thought about relocating the radiators alongside the cockpit, but that was an extra, time-consuming task. Time was running out.

 The Formula Ford pics below show the front, side, airbox and back. Front, airbox and back was outside my garage when we first finished doing the car. The side-on pic was at a racetrack.

We applied the principal of sub-supersonic aerodynamics that requires you attack the air with a round edge and leave it with a sharp trailing edge. 

First, note the nose. To make use of the existing radiator (I was rapidly running out of money and time), I designed the bits that go right inside to line up with the radiator and the same for the air leaving it. Look closely at the solution to minimize drag on the wishbones. We attached an extremely light piece of light-weight on the upside and lower side. There were two ducts that cooled the driver where my feet were. Moving further along, look at the open side panels. Later, we closed them.

Second, the side view. See the side panels at ground level where they were scraping and the paint had gone. Note the tail length. Looks like longer than it should be. It's not. How the scrutineers or officials were setting the rules, I wonder. The tail consists of a light-weight aluminium sheet. If you look closely you should see the facility to adjust the angle of the rear wing.

Thirdly, the airbox. We did test it, but we didn't test it thoroughly. It fell off during the practice for a race and got smashed!

Lastly, the rear view. Note the busy-ness of a the car, unlike the cars of today. All that stuff spoiling the airflow. It looks an absolute mess. Fortunately, spectators usually watched the cars coming towards one, not the other way around!

 Next time... 
A mishap?
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