A couple of dumb top fuel questions... (1 Viewer)

I wish someone would give Big a couple of million to build it, and AJ to tune it and see what it could actually do.

Jay

Why would you want AJ to tune it? Garlits is probably the greatest top fuel tuner there is , he just needs some money to fund things . Garlits tuned every single swamp rat , sure he had crew chiefs sometimes but garlits allways made the final decisions on how things were run. Don Garlits was nice enough to answer my emails , he told me that what put him out of the top fuel business was when the nhra put the stupid restrictions in place and everyone started pushing the engines harder and harder , He just couldnt afford to push the engine that hard and so stopped because of costs.
 
Kitty O’Neil: 3.22@412mph in Ky Michaelson’s hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket dragster out in the Mojave Desert. Maybe the guy in the green jacket is looking for a few pointers on how to survive the Gs before he gets in that contraption of his.:D

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412mph on skinny tires? No thank you.

Anything jet or rocket powered doesn't need wide tires because there is nothing driving the wheels , it just moves on the thrust of the engine and the wheels just roll as it moves . Rocket and jet cars don't have to worry about traction, they just need to make sure there is enough wait on the front to stop it from taking off.
 
Anything jet or rocket powered doesn't need wide tires because there is nothing driving the wheels , it just moves on the thrust of the engine and the wheels just roll as it moves . Rocket and jet cars don't have to worry about traction, they just need to make sure there is enough wait on the front to stop it from taking off.

That statement doesn't sound accurate. Most of the jet dragster I have seen have wider tires in the front then the standard top fuel cars. No matter what engine it has it still has to apply that power to the ground it's not flying through the air!
 
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That statement doesn't sound accurate. Most of the jet dragster I have seen have wider tires in the front then the standard top fuel cars. No matter what engine it has it still has to apply that power to the ground it's not flying through the air!

They get the power to the ground by having the jet or rocket pointing slightly towards the ground in the front so that it is front heavy and doesn't lift off the ground. I think the wider tires in the front would probably be there to handle the weight , though im not sure.
 
Actually the wider tires on the jets are so they have traction while staged so they can run the motor up without sliding the car thru the lights.

I remember Craig Arfons having a car that was so small and light that he had trouble staging it as it would start to slide as soon as they tried to run the engine up.

The rocket shown in the photo does not need wide tires as it is not running when staged.

Jay
 
The canopies work GREAT - on a top fuel hydroplane! The pro nitro boaters swear by them. They're water tight, impact resistant and shatterproof & are even equipped with complete breathing oxygen systems.

Where did you get you info? only thing mentioned above that is true is they are required to have 30 min supply of air.

In no way at all are they water tight
the majority are made from fiberglass which is neither shatterproof nor impact resistant
 

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Just a word of clarification;
Top fuel hydroplanes love the canopy. But for other reasons. If you do not have them, you are not allowed seat belts of any kind. Who wants to fly across the water at 240 mph? The force of the water is a main cause of injury. Pavement cannot flow inside the roll cage freely at speed, but water can. The canopies almost eliminate this. And another quick fact is that the capsules are in no way water tight. Not even close. I have one in my garage. Come on over some time and check it out.
And lastly, the canopies keep you in the boat and almost eliminate injuries from the boat coming back to hit you. That is where many people get hurt.
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BOY you sure are pickin on Tony and the circle boats upon which that is an entirely diffrent capsule
 
Yes, I do pick on Tony. But he is fine with that.
All of the drag pictures I have showing the driver getting hit by the boat are inapropriate as the driver was seriously injured. Tony was just fine after both of these. In fact, Tony posted both shots on a post of his on a boat site.
Although the capsules are different circle racing to drag racing, neither are water tight. And the capsule I have at my house is a drag capsule.
Now back to the original thread already in progress. . .
 
I'm sure that if Tony Scarlotta had gotten injured Buzz would've refrained from posting those pics.
 
I was part of the TAF 535 Team built and serviced motors with Kevin, before moving on to NHRA

In fact I was in the middle of remodeling Tony & Carie's home at the time of the yellow SS boat crash, but enough name dropping and hijacking theads with boat crap........lol
 
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