Lift..? What lift...?
 

Yep....SPF#770 at about 145 starts to rotate quite nicely making speeds above that somewhat anxious for it's driver! I'm not really 'driving' above that...just sorta hangin' on and pointin' it in the general direction I want to go...! Still...it's a rush and I love it!

"Kansas City...this is SPF770 joining you this morning at flight level three-one-zero, heading two-seven-five degrees. Request clearance to flght level three-seven-zero"

"SPF770, Kansas City....you are clear to flight level three-seven-zero at your discretion, be advised traffic at flght level three-five-zero, heading two-seven-three, Delta heavy."

"Kansas City, SPF770....we have Delta heavy at 9:00. SPF770 out of three-one-zero to level three-seven-zero. Good day sir....."

Lift...you say? What lift...? :D

Aerodynamics
 

I noticed that the factory 5 car.....(the "racer") on "Bitten By the Snake" shows marked inflection of the hood at higher speeds. In other words, the hood was raising markedly in the center near the windshield and let air escape at higher speeds. At first I thought...........Geez. Flimsy fiberglass........but given the discussion regarding air getting trapped under the hood, does it make sense to set your hood up so there is some play? For example, if you didnt latch it down, and there was excess "trapped" air......it would simply exit in front of the windshield.........that is what appears to happen on the Factory 5 car in the video. Presumably at any speed, the hood would find its own balance point. Oh. Yea........I dont do that much racing....guess that could be a little unwieldly in a spin, huh......so it would have to have a safety catch to limit lift........

Anybody know what Dick Smith's car had? I am sure it had a front spoiler. I am very curious about the aerodynamic issues. Anything that could be done to get these things glued to the road would be a huge plus. Louvers could be placed along the inside the the front......basically in front of the radiator........under the chassis??



It would be very interesting to see some testing on one of these to see where the problems arose and where drag and lift were created.

Olthoff Racing has developed a front air dam to reduce this effect but the Cobra still has the aerodynamics of a brick...

Looks like this.

johnny dee,

I am not mistaken there was a thread 1.5 years ago about front end lift at speed. sorry, I do not have the link or correct name. Dick Smith was mentioned then as well.

70s racecars sometimes had slots in the fenders above the front wheels.
one racer told me that's to help trapped air from the spinning (profiled rain tires) escape to reduce front end lift.

may be?

who tried to create a smooth bottom surface on the car, like a big sheet of aluminum to cover alle except the engine bay.

cooling for diff and trans maybeneded, though.

dominik, cape town