From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Wed Mar 25 03:15:34 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id DAA10116 for ; Wed, 25 Mar 1998 03:15:34 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 1139; Wed, 25 Mar 98 02:07:10 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 0808; Wed, 25 Mar 1998 02:05:39 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 8909 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Wed, 25 Mar 1998 02:04:44 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 8908; Tue, 24 Mar 1998 16:13:22 -0500 Received: from elinet1.dowagro.com by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Tue, 24 Mar 98 16:12:42 CDT Received: by elinet1.dowagro.com id AA25583 (InterLock SMTP Gateway 3.0 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU); Tue, 24 Mar 1998 17:10:15 -0500 Received: by elinet1.dowagro.com (Internal Mail Agent-1); Tue, 24 Mar 1998 17:10:15 -0500 X-Mailer: Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector Version 4.0.994.63 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 17:08:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Strommen, Randy" Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: "Strommen, Randy" Subject: Re: Another "Can of Worms" - Speed Racer To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: Note: The tactics are accumulated over the last seven years of racing pinewood derby cars. You may classify most of them as "folklore" since none of my sons have ever won a pack or district pinewood derby. We came the closest ever this year at only 0.15 seconds off the pace (Son #2 competing with other Tiger Cubs), but we were still stomped by the success of the Webelos Scouts' cars by almost 0.3 seconds.) There are no illegal strategies listed herein. Legitimate Tactics: * Straight Wheels, Little or no Wobble * Round Wheels (Use a power drill mandrel, remove the plastic mold casting lines) * Polished Axles (no burs on the nail or the nub. - Power drill, emery cloth, polishing power.) * Straight Axles (Nail it straight, don't be late). * Lubrication, Lubrication, Lubrication (Sorry, it sounded like real estate to me...) * Then, (and this is a matter of physics) move your center of gravity on the car as far back as possible. My son raced his car forward and backward down the track. 0.28 second difference on a 2.41 second track. Moving your center of gravity further back gives the car maybe 1/2" to 3/4" more potential energy. (Best time forward 2.41 second, best time backward 2.69 seconds). Now, to the theoretical tactics: (I haven't successfully tried these yet.). * Free rotating weight. When the car transitions from the slope to the flat track, it uses some of its kinetic energy to rotate the mass of the car. You can eliminate this by mounting your weights in the car so that they can rotate freely. You can reduce this loss of energy by the amount of mass that you use. Washers might make a good item for a free rotating ballast. Note: The rules do not address this strategy at all. * Three Wheeling it. Make one of your wheels a little higher than the others. Less friction, less loss of energy. I don't know about the merits of this strategy though. It seems to me that a loss of control would be more damaging. You are placing a lot of reponsibility in the track to not upset the car. Now, to the fuzzy tactics: (I don't think these tactics are in line with the Scout Law, but I do find them "helpful" heh heh). * Volunteer to be the Cubmaster. Store the track at your house. Test Drive your car. * Volunteer to be the Committee Chairman. Store the track at your house. Insist that it is not fair that the Cubmaster get to test drive his car. Test Drive your car. Note: The following tactics are useless if the starter snaps the starting gate faster than the car can get started. But, humans start the cars. * A high nose. Ever notice that everyone has an aerodynamically shaped nose? Low in the front? Ever notice that most pinewood derby tracks use a pin to hold back the car? What if you made a high nose? We found that a car with a high nose was 1/2" in front of the other cars before they were released if the starter did a "sloppy" start and did not snap the starting gate down. * Ground Effect Tunnels. See Above. The car doesn't start until it clears the pin. So, remove the wood where the pin would travel. On a sloppy start, the car actually releases when the pin is still above the track holding the other cars back while yours gets a quick green light. Be careful about these tactics though. The next obvious one is to have a fork shaped nose cone so that the car actually sits, at rest, 1/2 to 3/4" in front of the other cars. But, tracks that use timing lights don't trigger until something breaks the beam, So the car may be in first place, but the second place car may break the beam first. Randy Strommen >---------- >From: John M. Papp[SMTP:street-rodder@JUNO.COM] >Sent: Monday, March 23, 1998 5:46 PM >To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L >Subject: Another "Can of Worms" > >OK Gang, > It's THAT time of year again. I'm looking for any and all "Speed >Secrets" for our Pine Wood Derby Cars. Legal of Course, No Motors Please. > Our Pack Race is this Friday! > >