After a week of fiddling assisted by my Amexican buddy Hilario, i gave the craft a short test run and it felt like i had improved the skirt slightly, although the real test was the first drop onto the water at the race…

I got some laps in practice and managed the jump onto the water without ploughing about half of the time, basicly there were still problems with the skirt, but i’d paid my entry and was looking forward to the races.

My first race was pretty fun having got from the back into the front group on the grid on the run upto the trees but i was going easy just getting back into it again. I ploughed quite hard most times i entered the water but had speed once i was running again so i was keeping up with some of the faster craft on the grid. About the 6th lap I stopped very abruptly and the engine cut on my worst water entry, i restarted and checked the craft over on land, then cruised to the finish-line.

In the second race i got another good start and was up into 3rd at one point after getting past some squabbling northeners, however coming onto the water i had contact with the storm raptor and lost one of my thrust struts (i didnt know at the time). I continued for a few more laps having some really fun racing, but losing a few places to faster craft, then finally as i jumped into the water i had one of my worst plough ins and an F35 i had just overtaken went straight through my duct, taking it clean off. This all occurred just as i was climbing back into the craft having been chucked into the water during the abrupt stop.

The craft was now totalled for the weekend and as i floated on the lake i wasnt even annoyed, i was in a way expecting something to happen with all of the craft’s problems, and at least i had tested it to it’s limits, and beyond.

As i’ve been disassembling the craft and pouring water out of the engine im starting to feel like i have unfinished business in F3… And its been a long time since i’ve been able to really compete and get to lots of events so watch this space.

Thanks again to Rebecca at Hovercraftvideo.co.uk for the great pictures.

In the second race i got another good start and was having some great racing. I was losing lots of time ploughing on the water entrance now that the wind had changed- the skirt definitely has issues- but still keeping Jess in my sights. On the 4th lap i ploughed really bad and saw a torrent of water come up through the lift fan. This snapped something in the drivetrain killing the liftfan. After being recovered we set to work bodging the craft back together- replaced the broken fanblades and found that a key had sheared inside the carbon lift gearbox. To stop the two parts spinning on each other we drilled in makeshift grub screws and generally mashed the parts to lock them together.

Punishing the lift gearbox to destruction and then some

The next morning there was plenty of time to bolt everything back together- extra races had to be run in the morning since our Junior Champion Broni had been air-ambulanced away the previous evening (she was back safe later in the evening). Paul at hovercraftvideo.co.uk hooked up a video camera to the front of the craft to view the action.

Lots of family and Rob, who helped me out when i started racing had come along so i wanted to put on a good show. But i was ever conscious the the gearbox may not hold together for long. I got a good start ending up right behind Jess, then had some really good laps racing. On the third lap i had the worst plough ever and totaled the craft. I was floating just near the water entrance with my thrust fan still spinning but my rudders jammed to one side. For the remaining laps of the race i had to face oncoming traffic, ready to jump clear if one came right at me! To mark the end of the 2010 season i rolled into the water in front of the craft and pulled it to shore.

All in all not a very successful season, and one where many of the gambles i made didn’t pay off, but nether the less the most fun so far. Thanks to all the hoverers around the world especially the F3 guys and girls for making it such a good one!

Just before laying up the craft for the winter

By Tuesday lunch we were registered and had both craft scrutineered and good to go. With no timetrials on Wednesday the day was spent preparing both machines in the miserable weather. The Yellow craft was down on compression so we replaced the rings.

It was amazing to see so many hovercraft; around 140 had turned up and many had multiple drivers which meant nearly 200 drivers (in team events or entering the same craft in different categories). The Americans, Canadians and Australians had travelled the furthest, and the sheer numbers of French, German and Swedish craft was impressive. Each nationality had their own designs and it was interesting to see them up close.

Practice and Time-trials:

I got out in the first practice and immediately had problems ploughing in on the smaller lake, eventually nose-diving the craft and taking a swim (In my profile on the race program my interesting fact was that I have never fallen into the water…)

We had to dry out the waterlogged craft in time for the timetrials in a few hours, so we got started pouring gallons of muddy water out of the exhausts. We just about got it ready and i managed to get a dry set of clothes on.

In timetrials i took only 3 laps which were all terrible, mostly spinning on the small lake. There was something wrong with the skirt which needed to be addressed so i tried balancing the skirt again.

Thursday night was a low point; we were left with one craft that was terrible on water downwind and one that was way down on power. With hindsight this would have been the point at which i should have abandoned the orange craft and swapped the good engine into the yellow machine…

Racing:

1. The wind had changed direction, now blowing you down the first longer lake, making it more likely for problems to occur going down the lake. After a cautious start i took a few places and gained some confidence in the craft, in spite of seemingly random ploughing in along the long lake. On the 4th lap i ploughed in really badly just in front of the water exit. The shock from my body on the handlebars snapped the steering cable and i spiraled off the course, my race over. I had realised by this point i didn’t have a championship winning setup and with the pressure off i planned just to go racing forfun.
2. It was a mad rush to repair the steering and other things in the 2 hours before race 2, thanks to Dad, Dave and the Bearwood guys for getting me out there. I was a late starter from the pits- about half a lap behind the leader- but the clear course gave me a chance to concentrate on my lines and get familiar with the machine. After a few laps i was taking backmarkers and eventually finished 11th. I was buzzing after that race, finally seeing the first glimpse of potential from the new craft. I was really looking forward to Saturday’s race.
3. I was ready for the start, and had moved up a row on the grid. With red mist down i passed a few places upto the rear of the leading pack. However on the large lake Fred ploughed in right in front of me, stopping suddenly and causing me to take evasive action. My skirt collapsed completely and water coming through the fan took out a few lift fan blades causing the front end to resonate badly. I had to keep the fans on to motor off the racing line so i didnt cause a red flag, the front fan shaking itself to bits the whole time. In doing so I was sure i had wrecked the Orange craft for the week so i set about readying the spare craft.
4. Using the sick yellow craft in race 4 on Saturday afternoon i ended up doing some fun racing with her eventually beating me. The craft was not revving and i had no thrust to push the craft back down from wheelying which meant i got pretty vertical a few times. It was good fun but slightly annoying knowing I had won previous races on this course with this craft.
5. The wind had increased by Sunday making it even more difficult still along the long lake and hard to keep the craft on the ground at the small lake exit. With white horses rolling down the large lake drivers were getting anxious. I raced with Laura again, getting past her only to throw it all away 5 yards from the line by flipping the craft. I restarted the craft , went through the line and went back to the pits for the last time. (Race 6 was cancelled due to high winds)

All in all it was a great week in spite of my terrible performance (i was placed 13th compared to my previous 4th place in Sweden).  I gambled on racing a brand new craft that had the potential to be really quick in a competition where reliability is the key- although this did pay off 2 years before i had tried too many new things this year. Bring on the next world champs event where i hope to be moving upto the F2 category.

The carbon lift gearbox was rebuilt yet again with improved lubrication and better coupling elements which hopefully wont melt! Since the temperatures measured were  getting pretty close to the max service temp of the epoxy i was contemplating putting a ‘wine cooler’ around the gearbox!

Thanks to the Bearwood guys i managed to get some proper testing of the orange craft with proper rudders. Over a few days i built up about an hour of flying time on playing fields and measured 250 pounds of thrust. This and the fact that many of the redesigned/ rebuilt/ uprated parts seemed to be doing their job gave me confidence with the craft in spite of the fact it hadnt flown on water yet.

Testing field, cheers guys!

Finally decided to put some proper rudders on...

It was time to start packing everything up for the worlds!

]]> http://www.camracing.co.uk/pre-world-champs-testing/feed 0 http://www.camracing.co.uk/gang-warily-southampton http://www.camracing.co.uk/gang-warily-southampton#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:10:28 +0000 admin http://www.camracing.co.uk/?p=451 After barely putting the craft back together the night before the event, my trailer tyre blew out (thanks to Dad and Tony for saving us) setting the tone for the event.After driver’s briefing i dad a manoeuvering test to see if the updated steering system worked, immediately finding it wasn’t good enough. I had to admit that my new design was crap and by stubbornly going along with it i had lost any chance to test the craft out that weekend.

Lengthened turning vane steering was crap

In spite of not being able to race i passed the floatation test on the third attempt.

All in a this was one of the most trying weekends of my racing career, at a venue where i took home gold the previous year.

I had to make big decisions about which craft to race at the world champs: the new craft had promise but no actual race time, and an offer was on the table to use the yellow craft.

It was the moment of truth for the carbon duct and fan frame, the only thing to do now was start it up and hope… After long months of epoxying, sanding, swearing it worked! It was run initially for 45mins and then taken apart to check for any gaping cracks working their way through the structure and nothing was found. After i was happy with the thrust fan the lift system was hooked up and tested. The craft can be tethered for thrust testing by screwing a hook into the main fan hub.

We arrived at the Pageant of Power festival on Saturday and got through initial scrutineering fairly easily after adding a few extra safety guards. The next step was the float test- you have to fly onto the water, turn the engine off for 5minutes, then restart and fly away. We sank in 3minutes…

In spite of failing the float test we were allowed out in a race since the lakes are very shallow on this course. After only one lap and nearly killing a few marshals i realised my steering system was too ‘experimental’ ie did not give nearly enough control.

So after the first outing the list of problems included:

• Steering system is useless- needs redesign
• Jaw couplings on thrust and lift fan transmissions are melting- need uprated couplings
• Engine is running inconsistently- get correct carbs and set them up right

And plenty other small niggles, all with only one more race meeting before the world champs! This is how we do it…

At the moment the lift system isnt connected so only the thrust fan is spinning; the idea being to work out all of the teething issues with that bit first. When it is time to connect it up a reduction gearbox takes power from the flywheel and into a shaft as on the previous craft. Before putting it onto the craft the carbon frame was ‘load tested’ by my Dad and I so we know it can handle at least 160kgs thrust:Although i expect the worst loads the frame will have to take will be due to the belt and its difficult to simulate these, so basically a case of suck it and see.

Heres some of the progress so far:

Thrust axle and supporting structure has been fabricated- made from a machined EN6 steel axle and 8 lasercut plates welded together, weighing 1.8kg:

This has then been surface prepped and bonded into position in the centre of the duct with an accurate belt centres jig (only one chance to get this right!) Each stator vane end is strapped to one of the fabricated L-sections on the axle fabrication with a carbon wrap. The wraps are then compressed by covering with release and tightly binding with tape (breather cloth underneath to ensure even pressure applied all over):

Engine electrics, fuel and cooling systems are mostly ready:

Engine electrics, fuel and cooling systems are mostly ready:

Home stretch now, and then got to be ready to fix the things that dont work when i try it out…

Saturday was spent putting the craft back together after its winter service in horizontal rain, not the best conditions to be reinstalling fuel systems and electrics, but we got it together in the end. It has a new skirt, strengthened hull, refreshed transmission and a newly built engine.

However the sun came out on sunday-after readjusting the skirt the craft flew just like it did last year and i was keeping on the race pace without pushing the craft too much. There were the usual problems to be fixed as with any newly reassembled hovercraft such as various engine and skirt bits.

The new track layout for the world champs was slightly longer with an extra section of chicanes, fortunately the long water straight remains which the yellow craft loves, although i didnt open it up like i had been last year. I did get caught out by the wind a few times and might have slightly broken the rudder dragging it along the ground- sorry Dave! I wasnt the only one with Jess and most others doing some impressive aerial pirouettes and plently of red flags because people were going swimming…

All in all a great weekend which has spurred me on to finish the Orange craft after seeing Jamie’s new Honda RS powered Raptor and Rick’s superlight Venom.

Thanks to Rebecca at hovercraftvideo.co.uk for the great pics.