[Land-speed] Deduex of Dumb Assed Question 5,171... Canopies...

[Larry Mayfield]

I hope everyone has settled down a bit, me included.   But, the 
questions I asked below are still unanswered. So, let me ask again. And 
please, don't quote rule book paragraphs, explain it to me if you can 
speak for the SCTA or have direct experience with the asked questions 
below.  For those that hate my guts (and apparently there are a lot of 
you, lol), just hit the delete button. No use getting angry about any 
thing as I am not trying to change anything at all except me getting 
smarter on the hows and whys of rules that affect me and my car.

This paragraph is for *general reference* for me to try and indicate 
what I am asking for. Please do not assume anything regards to what you 
think I may or may not do.
> Up front: I am not seeking rule changes! What I would like however, is
> some clarifications regarding canopies.  My  rule book references are
> paragraphs:
> 2.M,  3.B.1 fig 3 and 4A, 3.E, and 3.U.
>
I'll break apart the paragraphs into indents for clarity..

a) Ok, my first clarification question is from 2.M, first sentence: 
"Canopies *ENCLOSING the driver*..." (my emphasis).... What does 
enclosing the driver mean to the rules makers?


b) How much of covering  the driver defines enclosed?

c) Does that include the roll cage under which the driver resides?

d) What defines what a canopy is and how it can be measured?

e) When I think of enclosing the driver, I think of a fighter jet 
canopy. It goes completely over the pilot.

f) Next refer to fig 3.B fig 3 and 4.A.
If a wind screen came back as far as the roll cage, but did not fasten 
to the cage itself and maybe even have a gap between the two would that 
be considered a canopy?

g) Why? It does not *enclose* the driver, does it? Is it then, just a 
wind screen?

h) And almost to the last, hatches...some closed cars may have hatches 
for the driver to egress through.  Pretty sure that no OEM car ever had 
a hatch for escape or egress so they are add ons for *driver safety*. 
So, can a wind screen that comes back to the front bar in the 
(unmentionable word deleted here) roll cage have a latch device to 
release the wind screen for the same exact reasons that a closed car can 
have a hatch for driver ingress and egress? If not, why is it allowed 
for the closed driver to be safer than for an open car driver?  Or that 
a competitive advantage be given to the closed car?  Oh, a new part to 
this question: given that cars must now have a funny car type roll cage 
for the driver, or a full containment seat, are hatches even relevant 
today?  I do not see how a driver could escape though one with that kind 
of roll cage or seat. Yeah I know that funny car drivers do it all the 
time, but they have a lot more room than we do.

i) If a wind screen comes back to the first roll bar, does it have to be 
*open* to the sky? If so, what defines that opening size? Ie, I see that 
the wind screen can wrap around and connect to the roll cage  but that 
the driver has to be able to get in and out over that wind screen. Why 
is that, especially given that a closed car can use a hatch which is 
opening or removing a body panel? What defines the amount of wind screen 
that is allowed in other words. Who has the ruler that measures that 
opening size and how large  is that opening?


Ok, end of my questions. Again, if you think these are stupid and dumb 
and that I am a dumb shit, just hit the delete button. No need for any 
of us to get into a pissing contest since all I am asking for are simple 
answers to educate myself and certainly no one is under any obligation 
at all to answer or reply to anything I send. I have only been doing 
this since 2006 unlike most of you; I don't have the history and 
experience that you all do. And if I could edit the "send to" list for 
land speed to keep some of you from getting my questions because I 
already know you think I am dumber than a bag of rocks I would. I don't 
want any one to get some thing from me they do not want.

larry.