|
New wheel units get first test |
|
|
Thursday, 15 November 2001 |
|
Following Windjet's first record challenge, the Windjet craft received a thorough service, which concentrated on the wheel units which take the majority of the loads during high speed running. On the record challenge day, the Windjet speedometer clocked 140 miles in just two hours. This is similar to the length of a Formula-1 race, although the loads Windjet experiences are more akin to a Formula-1 car cornering for an entire race! In the same way that F1 cars are stripped down and rebuilt after each race, so is Windjet.
During this time we took the opportunity to fine tune the wheel units, and thanks to Lola's technical team, we have now made significant reductions to the rolling resistance experienced by the craft
| Richard talked at length with technicians from Lola, who have supplied the uprights and bearings for the land craft. Through the practical lessons learnt by the Windjet team, combined with Lola's World leading expertise of Champ (Indy) Car technology, we have implemented a great solution that minimises rolling resistance, whilst still providing excellent traction.
The improved set up was tested today with excellent results.
"Even though the winds were very light, we were achieving good speeds and excellent efficiencies" commented Richard. "This will further improve our top speed when we do eventually get another record opportunity."
|
|
