PREVENTING BLOWOVERS SUGGESTION #2
If whatever is used to monitor the vertical G’s, if we make it retard the mags, say 25 or more degrees, will it pull enough power out of the dragster to keep it from blowover?
Say like the rev limiter on AA/FC and TF. I like the wheelie bar idea. [Being] mechanical instead of electronic [makes it] easier to test.
Bryan Kelley
AZ Thunder AA/FA
PREVENTING BLOWOVERS SUGGESTION #3
Didn't Clayton Harris come up with a device that shut the throttle off if the car came up too high? If I remember correctly he made the device after Richard Holcomb's blowover. NHRA made them remove the device because NHRA felt it could be used as a traction control
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Thanks,
Danny White
PREVENTING BLOWOVERS SUGGESTION #4
Would it be possible to hook some sort of shutoff to the wheelie bars? If they break in a blowover, would it disconnect a fuel line? Or maybe a pressure switch on the wheelie bar to sense down-force to shut off fuel. Could a float or a sensor be installed in the fuel cell, if the car was straight up would shutoff fuel? What about something that would shut off fuel on impact, like a breakable fuel line connection?
Hopefully my ideas will help you in some way or spark more ideas from someone else. My car is a 23-T altered running 9.60s, so I can only imagine what a Top Fuel car is like, and the extremes the chassis goes through.
Thanks for taking the time to read. Godspeed to you.
Daryl Arnold
PREVENTING BLOWOVERS SUGGESTION #5
The August 1989 issue of Super Stock magazine featured Richard Holcomb’s fuel dragster. His crew chief, Clayton Harris, had a blowover control on it after Richard had a blowover at the 1988 Snowbird Nat’s at Bradenton, Fla. It had a sensor under the body that detected the abrupt change in air pressure when the car reared up and was connected to a solenoid on the throttle pedal that pushed the pedal closed, and the injectors with it. The article included a couple of pictures of it.
I think the NHRA made them remove it because it was a device that controlled the throttle, not the driver. I think the rule came down because of the outrage over Gary Ormsby's Lee Beard-tuned dragster. When the body panels were off his car, they always had what became known as the "terrible towel" covering the throttle pedal assembly. Maybe you could get Lee to tell us about what that was about!
Anyway, back to Richard’s car, it also featured a wing that had a vertical mount instead of one that was leaned back behind the tires. As you can tell, I still have the issue if you want me to fax a copy of the article to you.
Roger Johnson
PREVENTING BLOWOVERS SUGGESTION #6
Upon reading your article I noticed that you did not mention anything about the influence of aerodynamics in these accidents. It seems to me that once the front of the car elevates to a high enough angle, the air becomes trapped underneath the bodywork. With the rear tires still driving the car forward the body then acts like a parachute pushing it past the point of no return.
Perhaps some sort of "trap door" similar to those used on the rear of Funny Cars could be employed to the body work to release the pressure. Other options might include panels that could blow out or ducts/louvers that would let the air flow though if it gets under the car.
Just some thoughts.
Dave Bell
