) (10/04/90)
From: THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY! <V059L49Z@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu> I was just reading in my new issue of AIR AND SPACE (Smithsonian) an article about drag races held every so often between drag racing cars and Navy jets hooked up to portable catapults held at some airport. I don't mean to sound like a complainer, but doesn't this seem like a waste of money? I'm sure there must be some fair-sized cost involved in doing this just for a little publicity. Last year they raced a top-fuel car against an A-6. The A-6 won 2.** seconds to the car's 3.** seconds. They have also used F-14's and F/A-18's in the past which also beat the cars even after playing around with the cars. Paul
khai@uunet.UU.NET (S. Khai Mong) (10/15/90)
From: mailrus!sharkey!amara!khai@uunet.UU.NET (S. Khai Mong) In article <1990Oct4.012153.11030@cbnews.att.com> V059L49Z@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu (THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!) writes: > I was just reading in my new issue of AIR AND SPACE (Smithsonian) > an article about drag races held every so often between drag racing > cars and Navy jets hooked up to portable catapults held at some > airport. As long as they are having fun, they should hook the drag car on to the catapult (adjusted for the A6) and take a look at the face of the driver. ;-) -- Sao Khai Mong: Applied Dynamics, 3800 Stone School Road, Ann Arbor, Mi48108 (313)973-1300 (uunet|sharkey)!amara!khai khai@adi.com
jgd@gatech.edu (John G. DeArmond) (10/17/90)
From: rsiatl!jgd@gatech.edu (John G. DeArmond) mailrus!sharkey!amara!khai@uunet.UU.NET (S. Khai Mong) writes: >As long as they are having fun, they should hook the drag car on to >the catapult (adjusted for the A6) and take a look at the face of the >driver. ;-) Actually the top fuelers don't need much in the way of a catapult to beat the jets. An indication of how the jets would fare sans catapult can be seen in the jet powered dragsters that make some of the NHRA nationals. Typically powered by an F-14 engine, these beauties launch from a standing start with full afterburner and turn 1/4 mile times in the 6 second and 285 mph range. By comparison, a top fuel dragster can occasionally break 4 seconds and would be well over 300 mph had the NHRA not put a gearing restriction on this year. Of course, this test is not fair but then no one said it was. The jet car's high terminal speed combined with a fairly poor ET illustrates that the jet has only begun to cook by the time it hits the light. A 1/2 mile drag would be a horse of a totally different color. These days it would be a trick to find a top fuel engine that would run for 8 seconds without an overhaul :-) John -- John De Armond, WD4OQC | We can no more blame our loss of freedom on congress Radiation Systems, Inc. | than we can prostitution on pimps. Both simply Atlanta, Ga | provide broker services for their customers. {emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd| - Dr. W Williams | **I am the NRA**