So you think you're fast, eh?

[Joe 1320]

They are indeed direct drive. The clutch becomes literally a constant variable transmission with it's multi lock up fingers that are individually adjustable. Basically, as soon as you want to leave, go WOT and the rest of the driveline gradually catches up with the engine, accelerating you though the quarter mile. It is all in the adjusting of the clutch fingers, and that is a tuning nighmare.

The reason you don't use as much fuel in a burnout, is that the tires are not hooking. There is little resistance against the powertrain when the wheels don't grab the gound. Also notice the effect by watching the throttle blades. Just a little pop of the throttle is enough to cut the tires loose and as the burnout starts you see the throttle blades almost closed. There is very little fuel used. Almost like a rev in neutral for you and me.

As far as a g-suit, it isn't really critical. The Gs the fighter pilots endure are for longer and sustained periods and involve a different direction that gravity pulls on the body. The g-loads in a fuel car are high, but very short in duration and are limited to front and back. G-suits are used by pilots to keep blood from pooling in your lower extremities and robbing your brain of blood and oxygen during a high speed pull up. It doesn't do squat for them on a carrier launch.

[fastTa]

The 900 revolutions turned during the 1320 ft are absolutely correct.

Think about it. RPM stands for revolutions per minute. A top fueler only takes an average of 4.5 seconds to complete the 1/4. That is 7.5% of 60 seconds (1 minute). Since a top fuel dragster leaves the starting line at 8000 rpm and maintains that rpm until the finish, we would multiply 8000 rpm x 0.075 to obtain 7.5% of 8000 revolutions per minute. 8000 rpm x 0.075 = 600 rpm's. So with approximately 300 revolutions turned during burnout, staging, idle before green, etc., 900 revolutions is correct.

A top fuel dragster uses 15-16 gallons of nitro-methane during a pass. So they typically have a 20 gallon tank.

Here is some pretty good info from the NHRA website:

http://www.nhra.com/anatomy/topfuel.htm

http://www.nhra.com/streetlegal/funfacts.html

This is what I found on the top fuel clutch posted on a dragbrace forum:

"They don't have a gearbox, only a reversing gear similar to the one on a boat. Instead of that a clutch of centrifugal type that locks up in steps is what is used. This is done with a clutch-canon that is controlled by a pneumatic timer that is activated at WOT. The canon is backed up during the run until the clutch is fully engaged. That normally occurs at about 2/3 of the dragstrip. The clutch resides inside a bulletproof housing of titanium."

What I would give for just one ride!

[fastTa]

Originally posted by AmericanZ28
FAST T/A, You Dog!!! Thats AWESOME!!!! Youre going to be using your current LT4 Build Up right? Stage 3 Ported heads if I remember correctly. Man, I wish you coulda been at that LT1 Vs. LS1 shootout a while back! I woulda been reading about how you won it for the LT1 group with your car. Definetly keep us all updated! What the status on your engine? Its been a while since you last posted pictures

We decided to use a different rotating assembly. The eagle crank and eagle rods I was initially going to use would not survive a 375-400 shot!

So I am just on my new rotating assembly now. Callies crank, oliver billet rods, and custom 13:1 JE nitrous pistons. The pistons are being cut right now, and the crank is getting machined to remove some weight from the counter-weights. Combination Motorsports has my heads again. We are porting them some more. Trying for about 355 peak cfm. They are also going to make me a custom sheetmetal intake also. Whenever I get everyything back I will be glad to post some pics!

[toastychicken]

<-- Pilot here, I agree with Joe. The G-loads placed on cars are front to back, which has little to no physical impact other than the massive kick in the pants. Flying, the G's are head to toe, which pushes blood away from your brain, which is a bad thing

[Craig 94 TA GT]

To answer the 0-120 mph question exactly, I have a graph of the acceleration curve of a top fueler running a 4.51@326 mph. It takes roughly 1 second to hit 100 mph. 120 comes up at about ~1.3-1.5 seconds. By 2 seconds, the top fueler is running 175 mph. So really, there's not much of a contest in the 0-120, or 2 second shootout.

For the G loads, a top fueler is pulling over 4 Gs for the 1st 400 ft. Then, it starts to significantly drop.

[FireFinder20]

I think I made a mess in my shorts


That was good reading!

[fastTa]

Originally posted by Craig 94 TA GT
To answer the 0-120 mph question exactly, I have a graph of the acceleration curve of a top fueler running a 4.51@326 mph. It takes roughly 1 second to hit 100 mph. 120 comes up at about ~1.3-1.5 seconds. By 2 seconds, the top fueler is running 175 mph. So really, there's not much of a contest in the 0-120, or 2 second shootout.

For the G loads, a top fueler is pulling over 4 Gs for the 1st 400 ft. Then, it starts to significantly drop.

Hey Craig, could you post that graph. I would be very interested to see it!

[fastTa]

I would also have to agree that the top fuel dragster would win an acceleration contest vs. a catapulted fighter jet.

I was in the NAVY for 2 years doing the college fund program and I was stationed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in Alameda, CA. Personally witnessing both a catapulted aircraft and a top fuel dragster in my life, I can say with confidence that from 0-220mph the top fueler would win, but after 220 mph it would be hard to say!

Wasn't there a commercial where a top fueler was catapulted from a flight deck? Or am I imagining things?

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Hey Kevin, I posted the chart as a new thread.
You were stationed in Alameda?? Wow, that's roughly 20-25 miles north of where I live. Must have been awesome to see the catapulted aircraft in person!

[fastTa]

I never could have possibly imagined how dangerous landing an F-14 on an aircraft carrier was until I got to see it up close in action. One of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life!

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

When I was on the Kitty Hawk, after many strings being pulled, I was able to hitch a back seat ride in a F-14, back when that was THE plane. We were trying to trouble shoot a positional radar problem (turns out some dufus left his hat on the antenna). Anyway, the catapult launch is awesome, but hitting the arrestor cable on the landing about yanked some fillings out. It is the same with the Top fuelers too - when the chute pops, there is a lot of negative g's. This is what messed up Big Daddy's eyeballs. Having the chute yank the car back loosened his retinas.

Oh, and by the way, that ship that has 23 or so levels & takes a full mile to turn around, looks no bigger than a pitching and rolling postage stamp from the cockpit just seconds before the meatball guides you in. No wonder those pilots get drunk & snort oysters up their nose with the horseradish sauce all over them. They got stones the size of bowling balls to land those planes at night.