RE: Reynolds Numbers

[Malcolm Pittwood <MPittwood@compuserve.com>]

Ron Ayers the aerodynamacist of Thrust SSC became interested in Land Speed
Record Cars when trying to discover why many earlier projects 'failed' to
reach the designers hoped for speed.  In his talks he highlights how the
resistance of the wheels on the surface (rolling resistance) had a
significant impact on speeds achievable with available power.  Indeed to
him the rolling resistance should be given the higher priority of all
forces preventing a car from going fast(er).  Of course he is still
studying how the fluidised surface of the Black Rock desert sapped the
100,000HP of the twin speys and stopped SSC reaching 850 mph.
Racecar Engineering Magazine January 2001 (Vol 11 No. 1) carried an
'Insight' article on a NASA National  Combustion Code (NCC) CFD program
that was used to evaluate Flatfire.  Flow Parametrics LLC carried out the
work - may be too costly but might be of use to other US based racers. 
Contact given as Peter Bryant on pebryant@aol.com or (702) 233 3953.
Malcolm

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