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aeronca65t

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
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A British-built steam car is trying to break a top speed record.

The previous record (127 mph) is over 100 years old and held by a Stanley Steamer!

~More Info~


home_image.jpg
 
I guess all LBC's smoke some eh?

seriously, cool!
 
Nicknamed the World's Fastest Kettle means that after the run is done, they can have "a nice cuppa tea and a good sit down".
 
I just hope the spark igniter isn't by Lucas........
 
"Rationin' has been imposed, and all that that entails."

"Never you mind, my dear," I said to her. "You put on the kettle. We'll 'ave a nice cuppa boilin' 'ot water."
 
:lol: Nice, John.

Somehow runnin' a land speed record on steam seems to me to be shootin' ducks in a barrel... I mean, WHO since the Stanley has even built a steam power'd car?


I'm just sayin' I think they "over tech'd" this a wee bit. Three TONS?!?!

A steam engine is like a D.C. motor: it will rev 'til it grenades itself (or runs out of 'fuel'). I'd be for approaching it as a Chapman devotee: LIGHTER is better... biggest 'expense' is the water weight. Can't see a steam turbine as efficient use of all that available energy to spin tires. I'd be for a Sterling type solution rather than thrust propulsion.

This is just a gut reaction, never approached steam as a viable automotive power source.

Good "target" tho: a 1906 speed record. :whistle:
 
DrEntropy said:
:lol: Nice, John.

Somehow runnin' a land speed record on steam seems to me to be shootin' ducks in a barrel... I mean, WHO since the Stanley has even built a steam power'd car?



This is just a gut reaction, never approached steam as a viable automotive power source.

Good "target" tho: a 1906 speed record. :whistle:
Click to expand...

or

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_aircraft
 
I'm going back a bit, but I think Bill Lear was interested in building a new steam car. Think it either didn't work or he died before he got very far along.
 
Didn't he have a steam bus that used "Learium"? And Learium turned out to be water?
 
Amazing that this ol' thing held the speed record for so long. And it's a fraction the size of the modern challenger!

1906StanleyRocket.jpg
 
Wouldn't it be great if the old one could be found, reconditioned, and then outrun the new one?
 
tony barnhill said:
Wouldn't it be great if the old one could be found, reconditioned, and then outrun the new one?
Click to expand...

I'd go see that race.....
 
tony barnhill said:
Wouldn't it be great if the old one could be found, reconditioned, and then outrun the new one?
Click to expand...

doesn't exist - as this article states - but, explains the shape (and maybe why the builder could have gone on to build Morgans if you catch my drift :wink: )

https://www.steamcar.net/stanley/fastest.pdf

Interestingly, if you view the video here, and compare it to the pickup truck, it doesn't seem so big as when it stands alone

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8209288.stm
 
The 2009 vehicle physically went faster but let's look at the bigger picture:

The 1906 vehicle’s construction:
*The body was 16 feet long and 3 feet wide at the widest
part.
*The total weight of the machine was 1,675 pounds.
*1 boiler producing 30 horsepower.
Every step was taken to avoid unnecessary additional weight. It was a Spartan craft, completely devoid of safety equipment, except a pair of inadequate brakes.
Record speed: 127.66 Mph

The 2009 vehicle's construction:
*25-foot-long
*three-tonne (6,000lbs)
*It is fitted with 12 boilers (horsepower unknown) containing nearly two miles of tubing.
It is made from a mixture of lightweight carbon-fibre composite and aluminium wrapped around a steel space frame chassis.
Record speed: 139.84 Mph

The Stanleys recognized a fundamental engineering principle called the power-to-weight ratio. Heavy vehicles require big, heavy engines, which make the vehicles heavier still, requiring still more power. The Stanley Brothers reasoned that a lightweight vehicle with a lightweight engine should be able to accelerate faster and achieve greater speed despite having less total horsepower. The Stanleys’ insight into the importance of the power-to-weight ratio and aerodynamics paid off well.

The two vehicles aren't even close:

The 2009 vehicle is 56% longer, 258% heavier, has 1100% more boilers and is exponentially more expensive to go 9.5% faster.

I say the Stanley's record is the better one.
 
:iagree:

and it looks better
 
Doc I'm in your camp steam makes tons of power torque from zero why would you use it as a thrust type -rocket engine? Heck I bet that Domler that Leno has would do 130 and it has a bolier the size of a dorm refrigerator seems like a big waste of tons of power.
Or is there more to this?
 
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