Originally Posted by purrfection (Post 3168950)

My hats off to Jeff Stevenson and team JBS. This team has had more than their fair share of bad luck over the last couple of years. Hulls continuously delaminating and problems with their turbines. Undoubtedly the biggest damage has been done to Jeff's wallet. One thing that can be said about this team is that they have the desire to race and the desire to put on a good show for the fans. Here's to hoping they get these setbacks figured out and they get back on the race course, where they deserve to be. Thanks Jeff for all your efforts.

Originally Posted by Donzinator (Post 3165395)

Since the N2 (power turbine) governor is set to full open position it is definately "Mongo's Magic Throttle Arm" that keeps the engine from over speeding, especially since a turbine would tend to lag behind rapid throttle movements. (which just gives me that much more respect for those guys)
In layman's terms the engines are actually quite simple. They usually have two sets of turbine wheels. One called the "gas producer" which does nothing more than drive the compressor in the front of the engine and the "power turbine" which drives the prop. (these two sets of turbine wheels have no connection to each other whatsoever which is why they are called a "Free Turbine") The N2 governor controls the speed of the power turbine (prop speed) by changing the speed of the gas producer (compressor). As the prop becomes loaded and begins to slow down the N2 governor senses this, adds more fuel, and speeds up the gas producer (which increases the air flowing through the engine and increases the speed of the power turbine) The opposite is also true for when the prop becomes unloaded (less fuel= less air past the turbine wheels=slower prop) With the governor out of the picture the throttle man has total control of the N1 and N2 speeds (gas producer and power turbine) and must keep an eye on exhaust gas temp, torque, and turbine speeds (times two engines).
I must admit I like the sound of big piston engines in boats more, but in the world of racing power to weight is key. The T53 used in the UH-1 produced about 1400 hp and 1700 ft/lbs of torque all for only 550 lbs (which equals abt 2.5 lbs/hp).
So there's your quick layman's answer...........I think I'm going to pour myself a drink:drink:

Originally Posted by Wildman_grafix (Post 3168783)

Originally Posted by MANITIE (Post 3168771)

We raced in Grand Haven on one of those round and round courses in 2003....it was only a divisional race and it was packed with spectators....
One thing is...Grand Haven is a great venue on any course...

But like I said...we all have are input....but the proof you have to look at who had the best TV shows and on what racing format....

With APBA on the Speed Channel....they had a lot of classes..but they only aired the Pro Sereis classes....they gave the finall results on all the P-Classes..but did not air there racing..
Also there were 2 shows for each race...
The F1's, F2's and SVL and the Super Vees and the second show was the big boys....

Originally Posted by boatme (Post 3171339)

Gino

My wife and I put that race on (we were the promotors) it was a Silver Cup divisional race

The papers said we had over 100,000 spectators that weekend
was a great race and we actually almost broke even on our expenses

Ahhhh the memories :)

Originally Posted by fast fun 2 (Post 3170418)

This will be my second year racing with my dad in class 5. Im 17.

Originally Posted by boatme (Post 3171339)

Gino

My wife and I put that race on (we were the promotors) it was a Silver Cup divisional race

The papers said we had over 100,000 spectators that weekend
was a great race and we actualy almost broke even on our expences

Ahhhh the memories :)

Originally Posted by T2x (Post 3171439)

Grand Haven and Saugatuck...Both of those races were very well run and had challenging water. The turnout was huge both in spectators and major race teams.

Those were the days..........