@Lane Anderson posted:

Ok, ok, ok, somebody's gotta explain "Grandpa's Love Shack" in the middle picture.  If y'all stop there you have to take pictures.

Hey Lane, check out my FB page. I will tag you.

Grandpas Love Shack is a really good BBQ joint.  Distillery and Brewery.   Tie-dye hanging up everywhere, awesome t-shirts, lots of parking and nice people.  Dune Buggies visit here every year 🌴🤠  only 7 miles from Gate C country drive north Northeast of Carlisle

The Shack has tested sound. Lunch there ought to be fun.

Weather forecast coming in Thursday looks very much Traditional Carlisle.

It occurs to me upon reflection that this year's Festival d'Carlisle may be this group's 20th such endeavor. Someone who knows how to math properly should confirm or correct.

Did this then this happened

i will attempt once again to find our friendly short. Am not optimistic

Actually Ed, it's the 21st gathering and the 20th anniversary.  Been a long time, thanks for keeping it going. 

I think you mean 20th gathering and 21st anniversary.

I have a seriously desirable raffle item this year, btw.

Bruce is right.  He and I argued about this for the 10th anniversary in 2014.
You'll always be an anniversary behind the number of gatherings.  The second gathering was the first anniversary, etc.

We did not meet in 2020 tho.

That's what i thought so is it 19, 20 or 21? Someone please clarify so i can sleep tonight.

How about … old enough to vote but not to drink? 🤷‍♀️

Possibly that means it's 20/20.

Bridget is back running btw.

Ed, I hope all your electrons go where they are supposed to and do not get overly excited.

Ed is right!  20/20 now!

And I really wish I could be there.

Lane: hop a plane, we'll pick you up.  Bring an umbrella.

It's a budget thing, Kelly.  Not gonna happen this year.

Updated Head Count:

Ed Ericson

Cory Drake and Jeni Drake

Bruce Stumpp and Norma Stumpp

Paul Holden

Glenn McCoy

Kelly Frazer

Jack Crosby

Alice Crosby

Russ Crosby

Bill Ascheman

Dale Schumacher

Bill and Audrey Hass

Dave Kumpf

Al and Rose Greig arriving Thursday

Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.

Hi all,

I have a little better outlook for Saturday.

Ed, add a friend of mine to the list. Mark Perry. He's going to join us for the cruise.

Safe travels everyone.

Good to hear that he’s bringing his Perry spider.

Dale Schumacher and I are checked in.

Watch Out!

MG Guys in the Hotel Parking Lot!

That last picture makes it look kinda chilly.

Oh, and Glen's Z is bada$$!!

Wanted to thank you all for visiting the crazy dune buggy folks on Thursday night and for Cory and Kelli participating "yes participation trophies" for the Speedster guys  on Friday night.   I want to throw this out there to you all.   I know it's a year away, but I personally am in possession of a "second valve cover track".  I'd be more than happy to bring this to your hotel when I pull into town and you all can set it up over there and do a speedster only race.   Get yourself tuned up and participate in the Friday night race again on the stage for the ACME Cup.    

If you want to see build examples, chassis design, wheel types, etc. visit: https://acmecup.com/chassiswheels/

Just remember, try to avoid rubber wheels on the "outside of the valve cover" where they could make contact with the side rails.  If you could get the wheels inside the valve cover perimeter, you'll keep the width at a minimum and if you do scrape the sides of the track, you have metal skipping off the rails.  If you do have your wheels on the outside of the racer, hard plastic, metal, or a solid composite material.    Use stick on weights inside to 5 pounds !!!!     Its a lot of fun.

Andy I can't thank you enough for your group's hospitality. Cory, Jeni and Kelly had a great time at the races, and a lot of us were delighted to be fed by you-all on Thursday. It's a great group.

I started making a racer a couple years ago and set it aside when I couldn't score three more hard drive bearings. I do plan on trying again next year!

May has been a very busy month and right after this momentous series of events in Carlisle, I was off on another adventure, so been out of pocket.  As to future VC race participation, I have a few ideas. Perhaps this is already known by all, but as a physicist observing the videos I can't help but notice that the race has two basic phases: the "drop" and the run-out.  Clearly, the run-out is key. Preserving the momentum gained by the drop by minimizing friction, especially wrt hitting the side rails, is key.  As every careful student of physics knows,  the acceleration due to gravity is a constant for every object, regardless of weight.  The videos confirm that every VC racer executes the drop pretty much the same.  So having exactly 5# on board produces maximum momentum.  Then its all about friction.  This year's winner clearly had this well considered. Wheels inside is the right idea too.

And VC races aside, those Buggy Brains (I just made that up) are a swell bunch who really know how to throw a party -- and cook!!  Prickly Pete and his crew are top drawer!

@El Frazoo posted:

May has been a very busy month and right after this momentous series of events in Carlisle, I was off on another adventure, so been out of pocket.  As to future VC race participation, I have a few ideas. Perhaps this is already known by all, but as a physicist observing the videos I can't help but notice that the race has two basic phases: the "drop" and the run-out.  Clearly, the run-out is key. Preserving the momentum gained by the drop by minimizing friction, especially wrt hitting the side rails, is key.  As every careful student of physics knows,  the acceleration due to gravity is a constant for every object, regardless of weight.  The videos confirm that every VC racer executes the drop pretty much the same.  So having exactly 5# on board produces maximum momentum.  Then its all about friction.  This year's winner clearly had this well considered. Wheels inside is the right idea too.

And VC races aside, those Buggy Brains (I just made that up) are a swell bunch who really know how to throw a party -- and cook!!  Prickly Pete and his crew are top drawer!

These are spot on observations, but I'm going to add more variables to the mix.... Wheel types matter.  Thin friction-less wheels (metal, or hard plastic) - by laws of physics, should perform better, HOWEVER, they tend to slide/slip with that much weight at that speed.  When this happens, the VCR makes contact with the sides of the track and slows down.   As you observed, if you can sustain a straight run without hitting the sides, that wheel combo is very fast, but hard to accomplish.    Hard rubber wheels (very hard skateboard wheels) within or inside the valve cover, although wider wheel contact (more friction) will slip less, but consistently perform straighter.     5 pounds seems to be key -  most of the racers you saw running fast were between 4 and 5 pounds total and the limiting factor was skipping off the sides when contact is made instead of "grabbing" on the sides with softer wheels making contact.    The image attached is the underside of my racer that took 2nd place - this has won overall before, but if you notice, the narrow wheels in the back are rubber coated, the front wider wheels are metal.  The rubber in the rear keeps the slippage to a minimum (here is an example of frictionless as best as I could, but rubber on the back to keep it straighter).    Also, by the way..... these wheels are 1.25" Router bits with bearings already inside.    The other image is the underside of a bunch of racers I made with 50MM skateboard wheels narrow with bearings -  these always perform well and usually are in the final bracket somewhere.  

I hope we see a bunch of you all next year -    By the way, I have two valve cover racing tracks, I'll be more than happy to bring both so you all can train before the big race if you wanted to do a Speedster group race solo at your hotel

Those remind me of the "Dad-Engineers" in my son's neighborhood who get way too competitive in "helping" their kids build Pinewood Derby Racers for the Cub Scouts.  

One of them came up with a little treadmill-like powered platform which you get running on a bench, then set the car onto it then dial in the steering and make it run straight.  This is especially important because the faster cars have one front wheel slightly higher so the car is only running on three wheels (I thought that was pretty sneaky and cool).

Do any of you VCR builders polish the outer part of the cover that would rub on the sides?  Just curious.  And from our kid's roller skating days (they both did figures and freestyle Nationally ) there are a bunch of different hardnesses from around 70-ish (soft and grippy) to 90+ (hard but slippery) which we would swap, depending on the floor surface.  Wheels around 80 - 82 durometer sound about right for a wood or metal car track.  Inline wheels are rounded and narrow (so you can lean them like an ice skate), while truck skates and skateboards are cylindrical, wider and need to be steered while flat (but you probably already know this).  There are also an array of skate bearings, depending on use and abuse, and the good ones can get pretty pricey.   We used to buy bearings by the 10-per-tube of different types.

My son became the town's Pinewood Derby "Head Race Marshall" a few years ago and sat everyone down at a scout meeting 2 months before the race and laid down the law that these were supposed to be projects for the KIDS, not for Dads to do all the work.  He also established a Parents-only division for those overly competitive "older kids".

This worked out pretty well.  The kid's cars look obviously kid built with varying levels of craftsmanship, and the parent versions, while often works of art, have their own race class to run.  

Here are some winning kid cars where the "Wedge Shape" is king:

Here's my son's GT-40 from last year.  Notice the polished wheel studs sticking out for side contact.  There's a lot of engineering in these little cars.  

Everything is on the table for basic Aircooled valve cover racers, including bearings, air bearings (Expensive), graphite, waxed to a sheen, wheel compounds any type, alignment aids, lasers, etc - EXCEPT:

- Razor Sharp Wheels (dangerous / safety issue, cars will go off track):  ⅛" inch likely worse case smallest wheel width you could get away with

- No moving weights or artificial propulsion (CO2, etc.)

- 5 pound weight limit

- Front of valve cover (farthest point), must touch starting gate, nothing can hang over or above the starting gate - 3" high - for an extra length advantage

... ooo, let the games begin.