J.H.C.! 237 mph in 6.35 seconds? That's awesome _today_, according to ME! Most Incredible! Twice as fast as I 'drove' my old Piper Cub!
keith Paul Stenquist wrote: > > I worked as a drag racing crew chief in the seventies on a super fuel > funny car. I occasionally added 2% hydrazine to our nitromethane/alcohol > fuel mixture (90% nitromethane, 8% alcohol, 2% hydrazine). Our Chrysler > hemi powered Corvette set a few mph records with that mix. The best was > 237 mph in 6.35 seconds. Not very fast by today's drag racing standards, > but really stepping out in the mid 70s..I kept the hydrazine in a > tightly sealed bottle and poured it right into the tank just before we > went to the starting line. To keep from breathing in the fumes I held my > breath. Hey, it was the seventies. We didn't worry about stuff like that. > Paul > > Peter Alling wrote: > > > > Hydrazine will kill you in incredibly small amounts. > > > > At 09:15 AM 10/3/03 -0600, you wrote: > > >This will be my last post on this subject, but let me say I have really > > >enjoyed it, as far as off-topic threads go. One of the planes that we (at > > >NOAA) have had the good fortune to fly our instruments on is the NASA ER-2 > > >(essentially a U2 "R" model with less sophisticated electronics). The > > >ground crews that look after these planes at Dryden Flight Research Center > > >(Edwards AFB in CA) were, a few years ago but no longer, Lockheed Martin > > >contractors. A number of the ground crew members had previously served on > > >SR-71 ground crews. It is absolutely true that the SR-71 leaked like a > > >sieve until it was airborne. It would refuel in air immediately after > > >takeoff, which is common for a number of modern aircraft as well. One of > > >the ground crew told me that he had seen pictures taken by the pilots in > > >flight of the nose section glowing red when the plane was at full speed. > > > > > >The compound used to relight the engines at altitude in an emergency on > > >the ER-2 (and U2) is hydrazine. A safety briefing is necessary every time > > >you visit Dryden to work, and being aware of the alarm that sounds in the > > >event of a hydrazine leak is one of the things they caution you > > >about. It's a nasty agent. I wouldn't be surprised if it is hydrazine > > >used on the SR-71 as well. > > > > > >Peter > > > > I drink to make other people interesting. > > -- George Jean Nathan
