A question for the folks who know about these machines, did the chute deploy automatically or did the driver have the (astounding) presence of mind to launch it?
differentthings,
Jun 8, 1:42pm
As far as I know there is only a lever that the driver pulls, but I don't really know. Would of been doing around the 200mph mark when that happened so he would of had other things on his mind.
ridiculousness,
Jun 8, 7:53pm
I just had to check the video again to make sure the breaking occurred first and then it became air borne. Looked to me like someone didn't do their job right and forgot to inspect the rails and cross members for hairline cracks, she broke in two and then lifts, I bet she would've had hairline cracks, they are renowned for cracking.
ridiculousness,
Jun 8, 7:54pm
You are correct the driver must deploy the chute.
saxman99,
Jun 9, 8:25am
Cool, Thanks.
attitudedesignz,
Jun 9, 8:39am
Not sure on the "chassis" comments. This type of accident is pretty common with top fuel cars. The middle of the chassis is the cars suspension (flex). If you research the amount of down force on front and rear wing you can see why they flex in the middle. Another big factor is density of the air. Where that accident happened the air is very "heavy" hence a lot more loading on both wings. As for chute deployment, both TF and funny cars have auto deploy if burst panel on inlet manifold pops or car chassis gets beyond a certain degree above horizontal.
ridiculousness,
Jun 9, 9:16am
Yes maybe I should have said failed welds as well although you do realise they crack test the rails and cross members and welds but I guess it could be hard to determine a useless weld. Top fuelie rails are stringently tested regularly because of the flexing they do.
ridiculousness,
Jul 13, 11:17am
Well it looks like it could well have been simply failure of the tubing to handle the loads etc, it seems the NHRA etc are still in disagreement as to what steel tubing to use etc.
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