[Alvin]

Onboard Slingshots vid w a bang http://youtu.be/ppIRkt_Ux3Q

ElCo Central version of OP http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=77913

[fiedlerh]

It's fun to watch your clothes vibrate when standing next to a top fuel car idling.

[Matt Meaney]

two things I remember from "fast facts" on tv is:

a top fuel dragster will show a 2.0 on the richter scale and can be heard from 7 miles away.

[Matt Meaney]

Originally Posted by fiedlerh

It's fun to watch your clothes vibrate when standing next to a top fuel car idling.

if you stand near the starting line when they launch, try focusing on something. it gets real blurry.

[TinInjun]

Originally Posted by Bob Dillon

They have both alcohol and nitro tanks. They warm up and do burnouts on alcohol. The driver has a lever to use to switch to the nitro tank (actually 90% nitro/10% alcohol) when they stage.

No they do not. Single tank. NHRA would never let a dual tank system to be used. No way to tell how much nitro percentage was used during the run. NHRA does check the fuel after the run. The lever you speak of turns the second fuel pump on or off. One pump during the burnout, two for the run.

[Bob Dillon]

Originally Posted by TinInjun

No they do not. Single tank. NHRA would never let a dual tank system to be used. No way to tell how much nitro percentage was used during the run. NHRA does check the fuel after the run. The lever you speak of turns the second fuel pump on or off. One pump during the burnout, two for the run.

I'm referencing a segment I saw on the TV program "How it's made," in which that information was given. Agree on the dual fuel pumps.

What I know about Top Fuel wouldn't fill a flea's navel, but I do remember the segment on TV.

[PMD1969]

Popular Mechanics: How... : How a Top Fuel Dragster Works

http://youtu.be/-VF0JwxQqcA

[MescaBug]

Did you guys see that video? Top Fuel pump working @ idle and then WOT.. Incredible. You could fill up a pool. And thats one cylinder.

Nothing beats the smell and sound of a top fueler. Nothing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGTbQuhhluY

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by PMD1969

Popular Mechanics: How... : How a Top Fuel Dragster Works

http://youtu.be/-VF0JwxQqcA

Excellent vid PMD. It's been a while since I've last viewed that one a few years ago. Notice the blower retention safety strap hooked onto the "hat"?

Dave "Grubby" Grunbic is one of the TF Drivers my wife likes to see race and win.

For those that enjoyed that may also be interested in the history of Kalitta Air and what funds his racing pursuits http://www.kalittaair.com/history.aspx

- Kalitta Charters http://www.kalittacharters.com/

- Kalitta Turbine Sales & Leasing http://www.kalittaair.com/sales/Default.aspx

- And Pacific Air Cargo http://www.pacificaircargo.com/

IIRC Connie Kalitta has a fleet somewhere in the number of 20+ 747s.

Kalitta Air 747 Columbia crash http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?d...7-d42d66e46c96

Video of Kalitta Air 747 Brussels crash http://youtu.be/EQQ56fwgtek

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Excellent vid PMD. It's been a while since I've last viewed that one a few years ago. Notice the blower retention safety strap hooked onto the "hat"?

Dave "Grubby" Grunbic is one of the TF Drivers my wife likes to see race and win.

For those that enjoyed that may also be interested in the history of Kalitta Air and what funds his racing pursuits http://www.kalittaair.com/history.aspx

- Kalitta Charters http://www.kalittacharters.com/

- Kalitta Turbine Sales & Leasing http://www.kalittaair.com/sales/Default.aspx

- And Pacific Air Cargo http://www.pacificaircargo.com/

IIRC Connie Kalitta has a fleet somewhere in the number of 20+ 747s.

Kalitta Air 747 Columbia crash http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?d...7-d42d66e46c96

Video of Kalitta Air 747 Brussels crash http://youtu.be/EQQ56fwgtek

Connie Kalitta is local to me, since he is in the Belleville/Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area.

He's eatin' pert near every day now but we used to watch him race when you felt bad for him: 8 different kinds of unmatched pistons, parts scammed from the tow vehicle, etc.

He's got that one wild eye; I remember seeing post race interviews of him and when asked about a particularly wild ride he'd say "...that one had some hair on it!"

He, Garlits and Chris Karamasines were good buddies and used to meet up in the Chicago area and hit all the tracks they could in the upper midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan).

K

[Keith Seymore]

By the way, the compilation of these top fuel facts has been attributed to Jon Lingenfelter.

K

[rolling money pits]

fun read....

way back in 91, i think, car and driver mag ( pretty sure, may have been R&T ) did a piece on gary ormsby's rail.

i remember floored at what those cars, engines, did. a lot of what was posted here, initially, i remember from the old article.

other goodies that stick out were things like how the engine is at peak rpm instantly, and what really blew my mind was the clutch, and how that worked, as i had no clue.

half the engines power is used up by the friction of the clutch slipping, only something like the last couple hundred feet of the track are the engine and driveshaft spinning 1 to 1.