Diskussion:Blue Flame

noch zu übersetzen: " The Blue Flame's run for the land speed record at Bonneville was scheduled for September of 1969, but it was postponed indefinitely. The first attempt finally took place a year later, on September 22, 1970. It was a dismal failure, reaching a speed of only 426 mph compared to Breedlove's five-year-old record of 600.601 mph. A lot of tinkering and testing took place.

Gabelich hit 609 mph on the first of two mandatory runs on October 15, but a mechanical problem prevented the second run. The same thing happened on October 23, when the first run reached 621 mph. Finally, on October 28, Gabelich and the Blue Flame averaged 617.602 mph on the first run and 627.207 on the second for a new land speed record of 622.407.

He said afterward that he thought the Blue Flame might be able to reach 750 mph, beyond the sound barrier. But Reaction Dynamics had no more plans for the Blue Flame and Gabelich became a drag racer. Gabelich's right hand was severed in an early in 1972. It was sewed back on, but further racing was out of the question.

Three other men were already planning another rocket-powered car, and they formed Reaction Dynamics Inc. to pursue their goal. With support from the Institute of Gas Technology, they built the slim liquid fuel rocket powered projectile Blue Flame. Unlike solid fuel rockets, liquid fuel rockets have the advantage that they can be actively throttled by the driver to control the amount of thrust produced. The rocket engine, designed specifically for the car, was capable of producing a staggering 58,000 hp for a period of 20 seconds, but for the record attempt it was restricted to 35,000 hp. Dragster ace Gary Gabelich was selected as the driver, and Blue Flame arrived at Bonneville in September 1970. Five weeks later, after a number of problems had been overcome, Gabelich set a new record on 23rd October of 622.407 mph for the mile, and 630.388 mph for the kilometre.

Producer: Reaction Dynamics Corp. and Milwaukee Natural Gas Industry, Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago; Propulsion: Natural gas-fuelled rocket propulsion, combustion time 20 seconds; Power: approx. 58,000 hp; Undercarriage: Light-metal tubular frame with riveted aluminum covering; Brakes: Disk brakes and brake chute. Dimensions: 11,64 m length, 1,82 m height, 7,77 m wheelbase; Weight 2,950 kg."

zu Farnsworth

• http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4078/is_200309/ai_n9249086

Pete Farnsworth was a pioneering racer and an influential figure in many forms of motorsports. After campaigning Top Fuel and Top Gas entries in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he ran one of the first rocket cars that was designed and built for quarter-mile practice. He expanded on this technology to help create the Blue Flame rocket vehicle that Gary Gabelich drove to a land speed record of 622.407 mph in 1970.

Farnsworth's interest in auto racing began before formal dragstrips had been created.

"I remember listening to the Indy 500 on the radio while I was growing up in the Chicago area," said Farnsworth. "I always had a penchant for building things, and I began modifying bicycles and whatever I could get my hands on. I learned how to weld in metal shop in high school, and I later headed the department by designing various projects for the students."

When an older hot rodding friend was sent to the Korean War in the early 1950s, Farnsworth bought his street machine from the family for $75.

"It was a '34 Ford that had been converted into a circle-track car to race at Soldier's Field," said Farnsworth. "It had the doors welded shut and the roof cut off, and it was powered by a stock flathead. Because the water hadn't been drained from the block, it cracked over the winter, and I later replaced it with a rebuilt short block. I added a pair of Edelbrock Model R aftermarket heads, tri-power carburetion with an Edelbrock intake manifold, and a Harmon & Collins camshaft and used it as my street machine. My first sanctioned race with the car was the second annual World Series of Drag Racing in Lawrenceville, Ill."

Farnsworth entered the Top Fuel ranks in 1959 with a chassis that he built.

"At that time, I was working with Chuck Suba, who was partners with a driver of another car," said Farnsworth. "That car was finished first, but unfortunately, Chuck's partner was killed while racing it. That prompted me to build an extra-safe roll cage that went way beyond the rules requirements at the time."

The carbureted entry recorded bests of 8.46 and 176 mph in 1960, and though it was upgraded with fuel injection for the 1961 and 1962 seasons, it never exceeded its earlier performances.

In 1965, Farnsworth drove the Marinoff & Farnsworth A/Gas Dragster, which was powered by a supercharged 300-cid Chrysler Windsor Hemi. The car ran a best of 7.72 at more than 185 mph while buzzing the engine to a then-incredible 10,500 rpm at the finish line.

Though Farnsworth was enjoying a degree of success with his drag racing career, he began looking for ways to campaign a more profitable operation.

"I looked at guys like Don Garlits, who had become a popular touring Professional, and I knew that I needed some kind of exhibition vehicle that could make more money than I was spending to stay in drag racing," said Farnsworth. "The jet cars had already been running for a while, so I came up with the idea of running a rocket vehicle, which I thought would be the next logical step.

"The biggest challenge was finding a rocket engine that would not blow up and create a hazard for the fans," he added. "I teamed with Dick Keller and Ray Dausman, whom I met in Oswego, Ill. They had developed a 25-pound-thrust liquid-fuel rocket engine that could be run on 90 percent hydrogen peroxide. We had it scaled up to a larger version that could produce 2,500 pounds of thrust, and we formed an operation, Dausman-Farnsworth-Keller Inc., to run the car. We started the project in 1965, and after having to create our own body when a body shop that we had hired stalled on the project, we began running the car in 1967: Saber was the driver, and he ran low sevens and high sixes at only 190 mph with a fuel tank that ran out of propellant three-quarters down the track. We enlarged the fuel tank so that it could make full passes, and it ran bests of 5.90 and 5.97 at Jimmy Nix's track in Oklahoma City in 1968."

Several prominent members of the gas industry were on hand to see the record runs, and after the team was given assurances from Goodyear that a new high-speed tire could be developed, it decided to build a land speed record car.

"Don Garlits was on top of our drivers list, but his sponsors made him decline after he had accepted, " said Farnsworth. "Mickey Thompson wouldn't even let us talk to Danny Ongais because he wanted Danny for his own projects, so we settled on Gary Gabelich, who was a good-looking marketable personality and had experience with high-speed vehicles."

Gabelich drove the team's Blue Flame rocket car, designed and built by Reaction Dynamics, for which Farnsworth was president, to a mile record of 622.406 mph and a kilo mark of 630.388 mph. The mile record stood until 1983, and the kilo until 1997.

Farnsworth later became involved with a project vehicle that was powered by a Honda Hawk motorcycle engine, but when the entry failed to live up to expectations, he got out of motorsports.

Today

Farnsworth, 66, retired in 1997 after spending 31 years working as a diesel mechanic - except from 1968 to 1971, when he was involved full time with the Blue Flame car.

"I still love all forms of auto racing," he said. "I never miss a World of Outlaws sprint car race whenever they are in the area, and I've attended NHRA national events at [Route 66 Raceway in Chicago]. I never expected that the sport would grow so big with its million-dollar sponsorship programs. I was very impressed watching the operations of John Force and Kenny Bernstein, and I was at the event when Bernstein set the [Top Fuel] e.t. record at 4.477 in June 2001.

"I also enjoy seeing some of the older racers who I competed with, such as Chris Karamesines and Kenny Hirata, whom we knocked out off the No. 9 spot on the Drag News Top Gas Mr. Eliminator list," Farnsworth added. "I'm amazed at how much the sport has grown. I make sure that I watch the televised coverage of all NHRA national events."

ein paar fragwürdige Angaben...

zum einen, was soll denn diese Trockenluft sein, mit denen die Reifen gefüllt sind?´

Und dann wundert mich, dass die Beschleunigung von 0 auf 660 mph ja zu einer deutlich höheren Geschwindigkeit geführt hat, als der angegebene Rekord war.

Darüber hinaus finden sich im englischen Artikel noch ein paar andere angaben, mal sehen, ob ich da was offizielles finde...--janni93 Α·Ω 12:45, 2. Sep. 2008 (CEST)

Normale Luft enthält zumeist Wasserdampf (AKA Luftfeuchtigkeit). Was würde mit diesem Dampf beim Komprimieren auf 24 bar und anschließendem Abkühlen auf Umgebungstemperatur passieren?

Die rund 622 mph (1001 km/h) sind eine "Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit". --> Die Spitzengeschwindigkeit kann deutlich höher liegen.

Aber eine Überprüfung würde ich befürworten. -- Crato 13:51, 2. Sep. 2008 (CEST)

"war ein Raketenauto"

Gibt es die "Blue Flame" nicht mehr? Oder ist es jetzt kein Raketenauto mehr, nicht mehr fahrbereit? --85.177.97.12 10:32, 27. Okt. 2010 (CEST)

"[Die Fahrt] war vor allem auch ein sorgfältig inszenierter PR-Coup"

"Auftraggeber war die American Gas Association"

http://einestages.spiegel.de/static/topicalbumbackground/16421/rakete_im_tiefflug.html

--85.177.97.12 10:46, 27. Okt. 2010 (CEST)

Der SPON-Artikel enthält einige ziemlich vordergründig recherchierte Behauptungen. Der Sponsor war die „Natural Gas Industry“, und da an jedem Gasherd ein blaue Flamme brennt, bekam wohl der Wagen den Namen. Dann: „Der Brite John Cobb beschleunigte 1947 sogar auf 634 km/h - und erreichte damit die absolute Leistungsgrenze der konventionellen Verbrennungsmotoren. Danach begann das Zeitalter der Raketenautos, die mit Jet-Triebwerken noch weit schneller fuhren - und den bisherigen Nobody Gabelich im Oktober 1970 zu ihrem neuen König machten.“ Von Bob Summers, der den entsprechenden Rekord 1965 auf 658 km/h hochschraubte, hatte der Autor offenbar noch nicht gehört. Und dass Gabelich eben gerade nicht mit einem Jet-Triebwerk zum „neuen König“ wurde… ----141.13.170.175 20:37, 3. Mai 2011 (CEST)