http://justinzicarelli.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/msu-mankato-formula-sae-team-gears-up-for-competition/#comment-24
Mad props to Justin and his class work. I think this really does look awesome. Since we don't have anybody on the team that is well versed in media type stuff i love this. Everybody Click Da Link and give Justin some props.
Thanks dude!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Motorsports Explanation
A question that I get asked a lot is "What is rallying?" Usually this question comes right after I tell somebody that I participate in rally. I also see a great variation between the North American scene and the rest of the world in terms of what events are called what. This obviously will cause confusion so I will attempt to maintain some background on what I participate in and the other forms of motorsport that I follow. Obviously this is not an all inclusive list and rules and sanctioning bodies are constantly changing.
Rally:
TSD Rally- Time Speed Distance is what the accronym stands for. This is very remenice of historic rallying from the early 1900's up till maybe the 60's and 70's. This is all time based compeition where you are given a target speed and a route and are supposed to follow said route at said speed. There are probably hundreds of variations on this theme. Touring would probably what most people's TSD experience is. I believe events such as Poker Run and Harescramble style events also stemmed from this format.
Stage Rally- This is what you might see on TV. Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, and other big names have helped get stage rally a lot of face time in recent years. This type event is marked with much higher speeds and safety levels. Competition is against fellow competitors in a shortest time wins format. In america this is becoming a more expensive sport every year with the higher and higher levels of vehicle preparation and safety requirments, insurance, etc. Very fun and exciting all the same. Very similar to FIA rally except that more North Americans are given route books/stage notes rather than writing their own.
Rally Raid- This form of rally is not explicitly performed in North America. You can see elements of it in the desert racing of the southwest and at some stage rally events. This is very similar to Stage rally except on a much longer distance and time scale. The infamous Paris-Dakar race is a perfect example of this style of racing. Since moving to South America the Dakar series, and therefore RallyRaid, is getting much more attention in North America.
Trials:
Again this form of racing doesn't exactly exist in North America. These would be like SCCA auto-cross on a large scale with many mile long circuits.
Off road/Truck trials are still active in North America but not by that name and only on a small or local scale.
Hillclimb:
There are a few hillclimbs still alive in the USA. Mostly in the NorthEast and Rocky Mountains. With other events scattered about. This is basically a one-way trial up a hillside. Characterized by tight turns and high horsepower machinery. Very exciting to watch on TV but less exciting in person. (Just like Baseball! j/k)
Autocross:
Here is one of the major variations between NA and the rest of the world. FIA autocross is an all dirt course that is rather short, competition is wheel to wheel between small groups of cars. The vehicles are very similar to tarmac rally cars, with lots of local variation. In America autocross is an extremely short, all sealed surface, time trial against the clock. I would actually relate Euro-style autocross more to stock cars on dirt than anything else in North America.
Rallycross:
Another form of racing that is esentially non-existant in North America. FIA rallycross is autocross only with part of the track being sealed surface. There have been a couple of feeble attempts at this in NA over the last couple of years but I have not seen much success.
Stock Cars:
This is a destinctly American sport. It has counterparts in the rest of the world but nothing quite as much of a success as the American model. The most humorus part of the title Stock Car is that there are no longer any vehicles even remotely close to a stock car. These are all tube-frame closed bdy, closed cockpit cars that loosely resemble a sedan-like-blob when viewed on television. If you are interested in racing (as opposed to being interested in cars: there is a difference) then you will very much enjoy the actual racing and driving in stock cars. Extremely competitive and Extremely high dollar racing when you get outside of the local level. Fairly affordable on the local level.
Desert Racing:
I will give this class of racing it's own catagory since I see the North American variant being far enough removed form RallyRaid to be it's own world. This form of racing is a relaly potpori of everything. The long track (read SCORE organizers of the Baja1000) has a class for every vehicle under the sun: Trophy trucks, stock class vehicles, motrocycles, quads, buggies, etc. Typically considered very high budget racing. Short track off-road truck racing sprouted from this style of racing and uses similar machinery on short prepared courses. This is a high visibility sport that has pockets all over the US.
I do not participate in Motorcycle or Quad racing so i cannot say much besides there are also dozens of different competitions and styles. Hillclimbs, MotoCross, SuperMoto, as well as the televised sealed surface events.
I will try to come back and spruce this post up as I think of things. Hopefully this will illustrate a few things you may have questions about. Feel free to contact me if you have particular questions! I always enjoy talking shop with other fans!
Rally:
TSD Rally- Time Speed Distance is what the accronym stands for. This is very remenice of historic rallying from the early 1900's up till maybe the 60's and 70's. This is all time based compeition where you are given a target speed and a route and are supposed to follow said route at said speed. There are probably hundreds of variations on this theme. Touring would probably what most people's TSD experience is. I believe events such as Poker Run and Harescramble style events also stemmed from this format.
Stage Rally- This is what you might see on TV. Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, and other big names have helped get stage rally a lot of face time in recent years. This type event is marked with much higher speeds and safety levels. Competition is against fellow competitors in a shortest time wins format. In america this is becoming a more expensive sport every year with the higher and higher levels of vehicle preparation and safety requirments, insurance, etc. Very fun and exciting all the same. Very similar to FIA rally except that more North Americans are given route books/stage notes rather than writing their own.
Rally Raid- This form of rally is not explicitly performed in North America. You can see elements of it in the desert racing of the southwest and at some stage rally events. This is very similar to Stage rally except on a much longer distance and time scale. The infamous Paris-Dakar race is a perfect example of this style of racing. Since moving to South America the Dakar series, and therefore RallyRaid, is getting much more attention in North America.
Trials:
Again this form of racing doesn't exactly exist in North America. These would be like SCCA auto-cross on a large scale with many mile long circuits.
Off road/Truck trials are still active in North America but not by that name and only on a small or local scale.
Hillclimb:
There are a few hillclimbs still alive in the USA. Mostly in the NorthEast and Rocky Mountains. With other events scattered about. This is basically a one-way trial up a hillside. Characterized by tight turns and high horsepower machinery. Very exciting to watch on TV but less exciting in person. (Just like Baseball! j/k)
Autocross:
Here is one of the major variations between NA and the rest of the world. FIA autocross is an all dirt course that is rather short, competition is wheel to wheel between small groups of cars. The vehicles are very similar to tarmac rally cars, with lots of local variation. In America autocross is an extremely short, all sealed surface, time trial against the clock. I would actually relate Euro-style autocross more to stock cars on dirt than anything else in North America.
Rallycross:
Another form of racing that is esentially non-existant in North America. FIA rallycross is autocross only with part of the track being sealed surface. There have been a couple of feeble attempts at this in NA over the last couple of years but I have not seen much success.
Stock Cars:
This is a destinctly American sport. It has counterparts in the rest of the world but nothing quite as much of a success as the American model. The most humorus part of the title Stock Car is that there are no longer any vehicles even remotely close to a stock car. These are all tube-frame closed bdy, closed cockpit cars that loosely resemble a sedan-like-blob when viewed on television. If you are interested in racing (as opposed to being interested in cars: there is a difference) then you will very much enjoy the actual racing and driving in stock cars. Extremely competitive and Extremely high dollar racing when you get outside of the local level. Fairly affordable on the local level.
Desert Racing:
I will give this class of racing it's own catagory since I see the North American variant being far enough removed form RallyRaid to be it's own world. This form of racing is a relaly potpori of everything. The long track (read SCORE organizers of the Baja1000) has a class for every vehicle under the sun: Trophy trucks, stock class vehicles, motrocycles, quads, buggies, etc. Typically considered very high budget racing. Short track off-road truck racing sprouted from this style of racing and uses similar machinery on short prepared courses. This is a high visibility sport that has pockets all over the US.
I do not participate in Motorcycle or Quad racing so i cannot say much besides there are also dozens of different competitions and styles. Hillclimbs, MotoCross, SuperMoto, as well as the televised sealed surface events.
I will try to come back and spruce this post up as I think of things. Hopefully this will illustrate a few things you may have questions about. Feel free to contact me if you have particular questions! I always enjoy talking shop with other fans!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Rally Elite-ist
So: On December 1st, 2011 I bought a Curta.
Most of you have no idea what a Curta is and really I am just learning.
But I bought one anyway. :)
Sadly, I bought it at a bargain price because it is not functioning currently. Crank does not turn because the results carriage does not set properly. hopefully this will be an easy fix. hehehe
Most of you have no idea what a Curta is and really I am just learning.
But I bought one anyway. :)
SN 10342, series 1. I have not figured out it's age but I do believe it is older than my boat. :)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Buehler...
So those of you who follow my blog or know me in person will recall that I do, in fact, own a boat. It is an early 1960's Turbocraft. The fellow I bought it from thought it was a Buehler Turbocraft. I also thought so as well until I recently came across some interesting information.
Huge shout out to the British Pathe website. They have some pretty awesome information available there. I do like my historical footage and they have quite the collection.
Anyhow...
I realized that my boat could, very possibly, be a Dowty Turbocraft rather than a buehler. Being a Minnesotan I am rather close to Canada, the native home to the Dowty version of the turbocraft. Another item that would have been nice is if the original engine was known as I believe that would also shed some light on the hulls origin.
My dash matches this 61 Dowty
Currently my hull is powered by a ford 351W engine with marine/wet manifolds. I am looking to repower to something smaller, lighter, and a little more period correct. So far finding a 4 or six cylinder marine engine that is being parted is a hard find.
-G :)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
DFL at Last!!
Okay, the title may be slightly facetious. :)
We just got home from the March Muddy Waters Road Rally. What a day! We started off with a cozy breakfast at home, then a quick drive up to Bloomington to meet up with Todd Johnson. Exchanged some BMW wheels for cash and talked BMW for a few moments, then off to Hastings.
Registration went off with a hitch and Clarence Westberg was on a role helping out everybody decipher his intentions. Leann and I mostly just chilled in the corner and talked with Jeff, a friend from Butternut. Then we took off! Unforunately neither of us bothered to eat much all morning, and neither of us took anything for motion sickness. Whoops!
Clarence had quite the bag of tricks for us! 11 legs of variety and no CASTS. it was VERY enjoyable for us, sans the motion sickness.
We ended up about 45 minutes behind at Muddy Waters in Prescott, WI. Our pasta was delicious, Jeff complained that his ribs were only so-so; not what he expected at a Blues themed restaurant.
When the scores were all compiled and agreed upon we ended up with a total of 64 points, mostly time errors because we could not keep up with the fast pace. Back to the intro- yes after all these rallies we finally managed to peg the coveted DFL trophy- Two bottles of Rogue Brewing's Dead Guy Ale! Yay!
We just got home from the March Muddy Waters Road Rally. What a day! We started off with a cozy breakfast at home, then a quick drive up to Bloomington to meet up with Todd Johnson. Exchanged some BMW wheels for cash and talked BMW for a few moments, then off to Hastings.
Registration went off with a hitch and Clarence Westberg was on a role helping out everybody decipher his intentions. Leann and I mostly just chilled in the corner and talked with Jeff, a friend from Butternut. Then we took off! Unforunately neither of us bothered to eat much all morning, and neither of us took anything for motion sickness. Whoops!
Clarence had quite the bag of tricks for us! 11 legs of variety and no CASTS. it was VERY enjoyable for us, sans the motion sickness.
We ended up about 45 minutes behind at Muddy Waters in Prescott, WI. Our pasta was delicious, Jeff complained that his ribs were only so-so; not what he expected at a Blues themed restaurant.
When the scores were all compiled and agreed upon we ended up with a total of 64 points, mostly time errors because we could not keep up with the fast pace. Back to the intro- yes after all these rallies we finally managed to peg the coveted DFL trophy- Two bottles of Rogue Brewing's Dead Guy Ale! Yay!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thanks a lot US news media
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/models/models1.html
The above is a link to the official predictions for WAVE impact from the earthquake in Japan. The highest I saw for US coastline was just over 2m (6-8ft)
I am sitting here watching weather channel thinking to myself "What the hell are they worried about all over the west coast? do they not know how tall normal ocean waves are? waves on Lake Superior in a small storm are higher than most of the projected heights and we go sailing in that. What a sham. Thanks a lot TV.
The above is a link to the official predictions for WAVE impact from the earthquake in Japan. The highest I saw for US coastline was just over 2m (6-8ft)
I am sitting here watching weather channel thinking to myself "What the hell are they worried about all over the west coast? do they not know how tall normal ocean waves are? waves on Lake Superior in a small storm are higher than most of the projected heights and we go sailing in that. What a sham. Thanks a lot TV.
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Buehler
well...
Sumemr is now waning off and several things have changed sicne last posting. School is back in session. Work is chugging along. I have three motorcycles and a boat.
right
wait, what!? That's right. Within a month of each other I purchased two motorcycles and a boat. silly me. The motorcycles are both early 90s suzuki Katanas, one now runs. The boat, well that is another story altogether!
Introducing the 1961 Buehler Turbocraft. A piece of 1961 technological marvelry. All fiberglass construction built in Indiana with a two stage jet drive built under licnese from a Hamilton jet design. My particular model has had a heart transplant and is now sporting a Ford 351 cubic inch v8 powerplant. So far we have spent as alittle as possible and had it out on the water twice. I just installed a distributor tuned by Al Wodtke and am waiting for him to be available to get it timed in. I will post pictures later as they are on a different machine. I just got my nerd cave up and running with the new digs and hope to post more regularily now that I will be spending long hours down here "doing homework" (just like now!)
Thanks and enjoy! :P
-G
Sumemr is now waning off and several things have changed sicne last posting. School is back in session. Work is chugging along. I have three motorcycles and a boat.
right
wait, what!? That's right. Within a month of each other I purchased two motorcycles and a boat. silly me. The motorcycles are both early 90s suzuki Katanas, one now runs. The boat, well that is another story altogether!
Introducing the 1961 Buehler Turbocraft. A piece of 1961 technological marvelry. All fiberglass construction built in Indiana with a two stage jet drive built under licnese from a Hamilton jet design. My particular model has had a heart transplant and is now sporting a Ford 351 cubic inch v8 powerplant. So far we have spent as alittle as possible and had it out on the water twice. I just installed a distributor tuned by Al Wodtke and am waiting for him to be available to get it timed in. I will post pictures later as they are on a different machine. I just got my nerd cave up and running with the new digs and hope to post more regularily now that I will be spending long hours down here "doing homework" (just like now!)
Thanks and enjoy! :P
-G
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