Sunday, January 31, 2010

Initial Test Flight Test Slide(s) Results Inconclusive

Equipment Back In The Shop For Fine Tuning...


It was 20 degrees F here this morning, and I finally got up and forced myself to re-install my spandex get dressed in two layers and contemplate my fate with my home made sled.

After going over the undercarriage and checking all of the razor sharp edges on the skis which I had previously filed down during construction, every thing looked OK ("OK" having various meanings depending on your perspective as to my sanity), then I walked the contraption out the basement door and did a short test slide on the lawn which only went about 25 feet.

OK, but the snow was a little crunchy and soft underneath so I moved over to the driveway and checked for traffic on the street in front of the house. Since everything is iced over most rational people were staying home and apparently we only have one or two morons with a death wish (besides me) living on our street.

No land speed records were set, but I did make it down the driveway to the street once and took another short slide before that covering about half the length of the asphalt strip.

I was winded after draggin the 30 pound monster back up the driveway, but the good news is that the braking system works fine (of course when your going about as fast as the speed of sound smell that's easy.)

Bad news, the steering works only occasionally and trying to turn left might just make you turn right... so now I'm fooling around with the ski geometry and some other stuff on the front end to see if I can make more of my weight transfer forward.

More bad news, the road with the loooonnnggg steep hill I was planning on sledding on nearby was treated with Ice melt compound so I'm stuck on my 75' long drive way for the duration of the testing.

And meanwhile, I'm thinking maybe at my age and bulk I need a "Sleigh" rather than a "Sled", so now I'm thinking about building one of these...



out of PVC pipe and an old refrigerator body.

I know, I know, I know what you're thinking...

Stay tuned to this channel for more developments...

1 comment:

HEATHER said...

CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!!
However I would think that unless you used a really old refrigerator(like from the 50's when they were more rounded), that it would be too square for any decent aerodynamics!
What about one of those old claw foot bathtubs? Would be nicely rounded.