Neil:
a great story! Jim Hall has been one of my big heroes for around 40 years
now. Nice to know that he some of what has been said about him is really
true.
Russ
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Albaugh, Neil
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 12:07 PM
To: 'Doug Odom'
Cc: land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Aerodynamics & GT-40s
Doug;
Thanks for that link. One of Hall's important points that apply to land
speed racing was:
"We'd get them all ready to go to a race and we'd go a few rounds (on a skid
pad) in both directions and make sure it was balanced. That was good for
slow speeds, about 40 mph, and then we'd go out and run through a high-speed
turn, 150 mph, and we'd see how it was balanced. That was the way we set the
aerodynamic balance."
On my way out to Tucson in '70 or '71 (when I moved here) I drove through
Midland, TX and stopped for gas. On a whim, I asked where Hall's place was
located and headed out there to see if anyone was around on that Sunday
afternoon. The gate was closed and locked but someone came out and he asked
what I wanted. I explained that I was building a car and I wondered if there
was anyone there who could give me some advice on shock absorber damping
ratios.
He unlocked the gate, let me in, and escorted me back into a shop building
where three or four guys were trying to figure out how to balance a
crankshaft on a balancer. Jim Hall explained that their machinist who
usually ran the balancer wasn't there on Sunday and nobody else was familiar
with how to operate it. I explained my question about shock damping to Hall
and he gave me some advice and referenced some SAE papers on the subject.
The discussion moved to suspension design. I wanted to know about the
importance of minimizing body roll in a corner. Hall surprised me with his
answer-- they knew how to minimize roll angle and even eliminate it, but
testing a chassis with little or no roll angle had shown that it was
undesirable! It seems as if a certain amount of roll angle in a corner is
necessary to give the driver feedback on what the car is doing. I hadn't
thought of that. In fact, other than hearing Jim Hall tell me that, I've
never read it anywhere else since.
Anyway, after talking a bit about racing and "how it used to be more fun", I
asked if any of his cars were there. "Yes" was the answer, "but they are
locked up in another building." It was clear that I wasn't going to see the
cars although I was welcome to visit the shop. After a while I thanked Jim
for taking the time to talk to me and I left Chaparral cars, drove back to
Midland and on to Tucson.
So you see, all those people who say Jim Hall is a nice guy are really
right. He took the time to talk to a nobody who showed up on his doorstep
unannounced. Thanks, Jim!
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ ...a waltz down memory lane.
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