1/4 scale Afterburning Jet Dragster.

[smithy]

Hey Guys,

Firstly, thanks to Chris for starting this forum, will be very enjoyable to see everybody's projects.

Just letting you see my "little" project, a 1/4 scale dragster with a full afterburning micro-turbojet. Only has ~42lbs of thrust, but it only weighs 24lbs fully fueled and ready to run..!

Enjoy.. ;D

Smithy.

[smithy]

Sorry, forgot to attach the pic.

Here you go..!

Attachments:

[ernie wrenn]

What are the speeds?
Looks great.
Is handling a problem like most 1/4 scale axle driven cars.
Where is the parachute.... REQUIRED in passes over 150 mph.

Ever thought about bracket racing it? No rule says you must have a driver "onboard". Imagine standing at the starting line with a helment and fire jacket on and your car leaves without you....

How about booking it in with full scale jet cars just to give the crowd a rush....

ernie

[turbochris]

Don't thank me for starting this forum, as much as i'd like to take credit, the credit must go to Richard and Ernie. I just agreed to help babysit.

I saw some video of that rail, it's bad ass

Chris

[racket]

G'day Smithy

You're first cab off the rank , excellent :-))

Will start assembling the 10/98 next week , been modifying the test stand , adding a large lube tank, pump etc .

Might start a Thread on her once our main computor is back on line , I'm struggling with Lindas laptop at present .

Cheers
John

[turbochris]

Shoot the laptop, work on the turbine

[smithy]

Ernie Writes:

What are the speeds?
Looks great.
Is handling a problem like most 1/4 scale axle driven cars.
Where is the parachute.... REQUIRED in passes over 150 mph.

Ever thought about bracket racing it? No rule says you must have a driver "on-board". Imagine standing at the starting line with a helmet and fire jacket on and your car leaves without you....

How about booking it in with full scale jet cars just to give the crowd a rush....

Hi Ernie,

The car has been clocked at 203.56kmh (~126mph), although I didn't think it was going that fast at the time.....it's hard to tell from a long way behind....handling isn't too bad as it has a gyro fitted to the steering servo, it works at 50Milli-secs, a little quicker than me!!

If you look closely at the picture, the parachute is in the can at the left rear of the car...... and yes, it does work.

I crew for a few full size jet dragsters here in Aus, but the meetings are few and far between unfortunately, the next scheduled meet isn't until Boxing day.

The car only carries enough fuel for ~200m at full noise so a full 1/4 mile is probably out of the question..!

Cheers,
Smithy.

[Richard OConnell]

So if the car has been clocked at over 200kph and only carries fuel for around 200 meters, then the rate of acceleration must be incredible... especially for a project of this scale.

[smithy]

Aug 8, 2010 21:08:15 GMT -5 Richard OConnell said:

So if the car has been clocked at over 200kph and only carries fuel for around 200 meters, then the rate of acceleration must be incredible... especially for a project of this scale.

Hi Richard,
Yes, once the car gets a bit of air coming in she does get up and boogie, It has nearly 2:1 power to weight ratio. John Wallis, (Racket), was with me kindly helping out during a couple of my "slower" runs a month or two ago, he can vouch for the noise it makes at least..! ;D

Here's a video of it running, it's just an engine run but will give you an idea at least..!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu-UC5afVIM

Cheers,
Smithy.

[smithy]

Hi Guy's,

Took the little car out for a test launch @ ~80% the other day, seems to work Ok, even the parachute works..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk5-evHF1uA

Cheers,
Smithy.

[Richard OConnell]

nice!! Where do you get parachutes in that scale? Or did you make them yourself?

[smithy]

Aug 14, 2010 22:23:54 GMT -5 Richard OConnell said:

nice!! Where do you get parachutes in that scale? Or did you make them yourself?

Hey Richard,

I made this particular chute, much to the amusement of my better half as she watched me arguing and fighting with the sewing machine!!

However, you can buy them from these guys:

topflightrecoveryllc.homestead.com/index.html

Great service from them too, I bought two 30" cross-form chutes from them with no problems at all, reasonable prices too. They'll make them in pretty much any size you like with several weight class fabrics and canopy designs available.

Cheers,
Smithy.

[viper]

Hi Smithy,

That's an awesome dragster you have built, I have seen some videos on youtube, great stuff.
I remember meeting you briefly at Heathcote a few years back, remember when Peter had the mishap with the J-60 dragster and Russell split the burner line, what a day.

[smithy]

Aug 24, 2010 2:22:06 GMT -5 viper said:

Hi Smithy,

That's an awesome dragster you have built, I have seen some videos on youtube, great stuff.
I remember meeting you briefly at Heathcote a few years back, remember when Peter had the mishap with the J-60 dragster and Russell split the burner line, what a day.

Hey Viper,
Sorry for the late reply, I've just returned from Thailand. Yes I remember Peter's little "mishap" at Heathcote vivdly, a scary moment for sure. He is repairing the car very slowly but you can be assured it will look just as good when finished.

There was a little damage to the rear of the engine and rear of the chassis but nothing too serious. Peter got out of it with a stiff neck and a trip to the hospital for a checkup.

With a name like Viper, I assume you were possibly tied up with the Viper 500 series powered Funnycar from South Aus?? Or were you working at the track??

Cheers,
Smithy.

[viper]

Hi Smithy,
sent you a message