I work at the track when the promods come to town and race and I know of a couple of guys who have their chutes on timers." X " amount time into the run the chute is automatically deployed come hell or high water.

The fuel guys could do the same couldn't they?

well, what about pedal fests? If you allow, say, six seconds for a pedal fest, it's too long for a normal run.

That's not quite correct ,the engine continued to run in the shut-down because the #3 intake port blew out, and the front of the manifold at the burst panels was gone. The data logger showed that it was still running on engine oil. This also why the fire was so intense.

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If all the timers were set the same. Say 4.9 seconds or whatever, then if you had a pedal fest they would still be equal with both of them pedaling across the finish line with their chutes out. I bet the crowd would love that.

If one pedals and the other doesn't have too. The chute coming out early is a non factor because he was going to loose anyways right? Just throwing a suggestion out there. Didn't say it was foolproof.

[quote=Bob Dumont;152337]If any one dvr'ed Scott's Accident his chute lines got tangled in the wheelie bar and was all wrapped up. And you know the rest.

The question I have is about Chutes and Brakes is on fuel cars is ?

In a FC the Chute lever is on the body up above the head. But the brake is in the right hand as well...But still why can't they put Perhaps an extra foot brake in cars ? .../QUOTE]

I've always had a problem with the driver in a 300+ mph rocket sled having to take a hand off the steering wheel and attempt to find the parachute release levers. Many moons ago a friend of mine built a combination brake handle and chute release. It was called the 'Sure Chute' and it worked by having a spring inside the brake handle that was compressed when the release was pushed down into the tube. There was a 1/2 to 3/4 inch lip around the top of the release and a hooked lever held the release in the cocked position. The bottom of the sprung release had the chute release wire attached. As the driver grabbed the brakes he squeezed the trigger and that released the spring that in turn released the parachutes. The driver didn't have to make two motions and even when he got into trouble he could grab the brakes and fire the chutes. Neat device but like all racers of that era most felt uneasy with something 'different'. That deal really did work well with hand brakes.

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Good discussion, I've got 2 questions :-
1 - Since the problem seems to be one of the chutes got caught up in the wheelie bars, is it feasible to enclose the wheelie bars ? I've seen guys in the slower classes tie a window net on them to stop this. Enclose them in carbon fibre - not sure if this would create a tunnel effect and upset the aero of the cars.
2 - Not sure if it's my eyes or not, but have the front tires on TF cars gotten bigger this year ? Not as big as the FC's, but definately wider than in years gone by.

2A - really like that suggestion about mounting the chute on the wheelie bar but that would have to be some strong mounts to combat tire shake.

Mark.

One quick question- where is this information revealed at? While it supports theory, i'd liek to know.

I agree- they should have a secondary chute release on a second handle attached to the brake handle. As was demonstrated in one engine blowup, the body buckled up but not off and the driver (scelzi i think?) couldn't reach the chutes.

Look at a rolex series, Koni series, ALMS, or LMS GT car, and they have a diffuser at the rear of the car ( http://autodrum.com/img/media/wallpa..._r_2005_03.jpg , Diffuser (automotive) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) to help organize and equalize the airflow.

However, for wheelie bars, enclosing them would create lift as the air hit the piece angled down. But since funny cars usually end up with the nose planted to the asphalt like an alaert hunting dog, that may be a non issue, and same with a rail. again, only wind tunnels could confirm this.

So the only "safe" way to do it would be indeed to put netting across the back- window screen wouldn't work, but something similar to a window net would work.

Here's my .02 cents worth.

Have the fuel shut-off handle on the hand brake also pull the chute cable, one action does both.

Move the chute mount from the body to the chassis, it could still be in the same place but instead of being affixed to the body, have it attached to supports coming from the puke-tank/body-mount/wheelie-bar tubes.

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TF front tires are bigger, but I'm not sure it happened this year or last. Seeing some people in Top Dragster running the bigger tire. I assume it gives more control during braking or during a sudden lift off the throttle . . .

"Darryl Jackman;152514
Many moons ago a friend of mine built a combination brake handle and chute release. It was called the 'Sure Chute' and it worked by having a strong spring inside the tubular brake handle that was compressed when the release was pushed down into the tube."

Darryl is "right on" with the combination break and release. It worked great! I believe that the late Joe Winters made them.

However, in our "original FC" [see avatar], we had to mount the chutes at the outside back corners of the PU bed, facing straight up, to get clean air and we were only running in the low 200's.

I noticed that JFR cars have the chutes mounted at the far outside of the Mustang body. With the big "garage doors" that the FC's have on the back of the body, this allows the chute to get into clean air quickly.

Before Stroud, in the late sixties and early seventies, there was a SoCal company called TRIFORM that used the three panel canopy and three big shroud lines. Idiot proof. You basically coiled up the lines and stuffed them and the the canopy into the pack. It ALWAYS came out! The system brought the car to a straight and quick stop without a lot of opening shock! Too bad that they aren't around anymore.

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Well as far as the chutes go, there is a new product out there (Launcher)and I have had them on my car since last year. Adding the extra spring makes a big difference on how fast the chute hits. Dennis Taylor and I did a sportsman spotlight on the launcher in Vegas this year. I'm not sure when it will air. Dennis also has these on his car now.

I have also moved the chute levers next to the brake handle and one lever is hooked to a air cylinder, activated by a button on the steering wheel. (both can still be pulled or in my case pushed manually) now in one motion I can hit the chutes and grab the brake. I'm still getting used to the placement and have reached to the roof a couple times.

Dennis is carrying the launchers or get a hold of me.

Jeff Carroll
TA/FC 7306

If this is true... HELL and NITRO mixed.. Sucks.

another question. If the front half of the blower/manifold was gone (and not because of contact with something else), why did the burst panel stay on and the rest of the body come apart?

between the RacePak data logger and the blue box, I'd like to see a couple of logs.

Two problems with this, when the driver brakes after the burnout the release will need putting back in the 'chute pack before the safety pin is removed which will not be easy. Secondly, a pilot will often hit the brakes during a run dependent on type of any tyre spin which would then activate the 'chute.

Jerry,

Alan Reinhart posted a few days ago that Scott was conscious until the last second and Connie confirmed it. He also said there was front brake skid marks in the shut down area. Now your post sheds even more light on the subject. If the engine continued to run on engine oil (common with old diesel engines) that makes sense why it appeared Scott wasn't applying the brakes..... It now sounds like Scott was doing everything he could to stop the car but it was driving THROUGH the brakes. Not good!

When engines start running on oil, there is only 1 way to shut them off. (besides running out of oil) Block the intake, starve it of air! In this case it sounds like the intake was broken and the engine had all the air it needed.

With your many years of NITRO experience, how many times have you seen or heard of this happening in the past?

R.I.P. Scott.

Brian.