New safety system biting teams in the @ss?

[.]

It sure sounds like it.
Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - DID THE SAFETY DEVICE FAIL?

 

[yoda]

I know the "DO NOT TOUCH" crowd won't be fans of this...... but is it time to see the return of the "Remove Before Flight" pin/ribbon?

 

[Just Paul]

I wonder if there would be a way to arm the system with another switch at the step so this could not go off during starting, burnout, or going into stage.


Might be a bad idea, I'm just thinking out loud.

 

[d'kid]

I know the "DO NOT TOUCH" crowd won't be fans of this...... but is it time to see the return of the "Remove Before Flight" pin/ribbon?

As long as it's from the opposite side of the cable lead...

d'kid
have you ever had the pilot smack ya square in the... ahhh belly...?

 

[yoda]

As long as it's from the opposite side of the cable lead...

d'kid
have you ever had the pilot smack ya square in the... ahhh belly...?

Yeppers, Karl... You only make that error once..

 

[MM]

have you ever had the pilot smack ya square in the... ahhh belly...?

i've gotten it in the face and the grapes

 

[.]

Tommy DeLagos expiation is BS. And so is this thread title.

This isn't NHRA's fault.

How many chute flops have their been this year? Less than 5? If there are more than 5, DeLago is the first one to blame it on NHRA rules.

Jim Head said it best:

“That device did not malfunction,” Head said, even though he has not examined the components. “That’s just a crew chief throwing someone under the bus for their lack of attention to detail. It’s frustrating to hear someone say this malfunctioned because it is a worthwhile safety device.”

How many runs have been made without chute failure since the device was implemented?

Only one guy is blaming NHRA. His chute failed.

 

[Bross Hawg]

It sure sounds like it.
Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - DID THE SAFETY DEVICE FAIL?

I would say more often than not that the system is working as designed. It sure was at Seattle this weekend with everybody blowing the tires off and bangin the blowers. Does it need improvement? Sure, but I think it is a good idea.

 

[Rajunz]

And not to mention....................parachutes have been falling out of their packs on the starting line long before this safety device was implimented......

 

[.]

And not to mention....................parachutes have been falling out of their packs on the starting line long before this safety device was implimented......

You know the rules. Repeat after me. "It's NHRA's fault".

 

[FC138fan]

“We’ve been experimenting with transmitting a frequency just past the finish line when it senses that frequency and it sets off the device. It’s not mandatory.”

This would solve their problems. I would think that this would also help out in that if you blow up at mid track, you might win a few close races by being able to coast over the finish at speed instead of slowing down significantly prior to the finish.

 

[Z28LT1]

“We’ve been experimenting with transmitting a frequency just past the finish line when it senses that frequency and it sets off the device. It’s not mandatory.”

This would solve their problems. I would think that this would also help out in that if you blow up at mid track, you might win a few close races by being able to coast over the finish at speed instead of slowing down significantly prior to the finish.

I think what Gram was saying there was that rather then have the driver control the shut down procedure; it could be controlled by this switch in addition to having the burst panel sensors. The latter wouldn't go away, but rather be in addition to the aforementioned, not in lieu of.

 

[.]

I would say more often than not that the system is working as designed. It sure was at Seattle this weekend with everybody blowing the tires off and bangin the blowers. Does it need improvement? Sure, but I think it is a good idea.

What happens at the end of the year when somebody loses the championship by a round or less and earlier in the season they lost a race because the safety system puked the parachutes out for no reason? Do you tell the team that lost "well, at least it worked more often than not?" I don't think that would cut it. If they're going to force everybody to run these then these units should be working perfectly 99.999% of the time. Right now it sounds like they're quite a ways from that and it's costing teams lost runs.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Two questions:

1. The article intimates that Electro Motive (sp?) does not have a presence at the races. Why? - I would think technical support for a critical new system would be essential.

2. Is there any way to determine at the track if the system was activated outside of the obvious scenario of the wire on the burst panel sensor being severed?

I've seen this work at a race and it stops a car that has banged the blower very quickly. Just curious about these two issues.