Electra GSX Road Racer

[BqUICK]

55 Packard Guy,

Thanks for sharing details of your dad, Tony. The B-24 guys did a wonderful job during the war.

Once, back in 1992 or so I sat in on a meeting of the "WW II Round Table" a group of Air Corps vets who served in WW II. Most of the guys were heavy bombardment and Frank Beadle, a B-17 pilot and Mary Rice, General Jimmy Doolittle's personal war time secretary, ran the meetings.

Well, the B-17 guys had been having their say for a while, apparently, and it was now time for a B-24 Liberator man to extoll the virtues of his machine. The pilot outlined the complete experience from releasing the brakes under full throttle to climbing to altitude, to the bomb run through the flak, and landing and coming to a stop. He really gave you a feel for the experience.

Naturally there were some kind hearted jabs back and forth about whose bomber was actually better. The B-17 was supposed to be tougher and more survivable and the B-24 was faster and could carry more load, etc., etc.

I enjoyed those days in the '70s, '80s, & '90s when I got together with many Air Corps/Air Force people and often went to parties with the men and their wives. Through my academic background at the College of Aeronautics and involvement with the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Deborah and I met many great WWII people.

A few of the famous people I have met or listened to at functions were Robin Olds (P-38 Pilot), Frank Beadle (B-17 Pilot), Frank Morgan (Memphis Belle Pilot), Jimmy Doolittle (Leader of the Tokyo Raid), Francis Gabreski (Top P-47 Ace in the 56th Fighter Group), George A. Vaughn (WWI Double Ace!!!) General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (commander of the Tuskegee Airmen!!!) Alot of these people are dead now but their legacy lives on in the freedoms that we have today as Americans. I have a great deal of respect for the men and women of WW II, who did every job from ditch digging to general, as well as the many civilians who contributed to that effort.

...Lest we forget!!!

[Smartin]

Sorry for the delay in posting more pictures, but I've been pretty busy....

Will post tonight after I shovel food in my face and get a shower

[BigFella]

Hey Bquick,

I got the website up today (finally). Your on the front page and after my visit in May you'll have your own layout! I can't wait to see you and your car.

electra225 web page

[Smartin]

[jscheib]

I was trying to find a way to make it to Elmira, from Hartford last weekend to see this car. Owning a '32, I decieded recently to acquire a '68 Riv for some later model "muscle", but this car now seems like a pup compared to this Electra. I am also new to the Peformance site, so I hope you will keep all posted anout the Watkins Glen schedule - I would love to see the car in action. Seems like you have a lot to do, but is there any chance you would be taking the car to the Rhinebeck NY show this Sunday?

[BqUICK]

J,

We are not going to show the Faithful Pursuit for a long while to come. We go to Machuga's mid May for the balance of the suspension mechanical work. Then its back to Putman's for the custom fabricated spoiler and stripes! After that we will be working on the track performance. Pylons first, the Glen, some drag work, then comes high speed gear ratio selection!

Showing the Faithful Pursuit is secondary to obtaining peak performance. It was designed as a competitor first and only looks like a sedan, that's the beauty of it. I cannot emphasize enough how specialized and lenghty the effort was to achieve this effect.

Dave Machuga said it took twice as long to integrate all the features into a stock chassis. Typically, he removes the body and body panels are cut off, a tube chassis is fabricated from scratch, and the panels are fitted back to the chassis on outriggers. That would have been easy compared to what we did!

Also, I love your '32, the venerable Deuce. As you may know the Electra is also known as the Deuce, referring to the "2" in in 225! Its the big Deuce Coupe!

I like the '68 Riv too. I think that year has the "backbone" chassis and a really sweet 4 link rear suspension, many people are not aware of how special the Riviera is. Take a look under one and ask a road racer about what you've found! Panhard rod, anti sway bar, tubular 4 link and a backbone with the drive shaft running through it!

We almost used that setup for the Faithful Pursuit, but that discovery came too late and we fabricated our own setup.

I will be happy to arrange a showing for Buick people most any time! Just let me know. maj2nd@aol.com

God Speed,

[jscheib]

Michael,

Many thanks for your response. I can appreciate your effort on this car. It is unbelievable. Having built and worked on a few hot rods and jalopy dirt track stock cars in the mid-late '50s, and been away from cars for a number of yeras, I find I have forgotten some of the subtle details in race car construction, and you have certainly made me want to look more at the Riv. Maybe my subconsious was at work when I fell for this car. I certainly will be studying more on the performance features, now that you have brought them to my attention. I will follow your pages and hope to make a visit to Watkins Glen if you alert everyone when you have it there.

I know showing is not the primary purpose of the car, but I would hope it could be recognized at the 2005 National show in Batavia, providing it does not conflict with your race schedule.

John

[BqUICK]

PHOTOS:

1. On trailer from interior shop going back to the paint shop for roll cage install.

2. In the Wings of eagles museum main display hanger. We drove onto the tarmac and a tanker truck dove up and gave us 22 gallons of 100+ Low Lead Aviation fuel. And yes you could see the needle on the tanker go down as the Faithful Pursuit sucked down the good stuff. She already had 10 in her before that!

3. Rear quarter shot after the stripe was applied and before the 99th PURSUIT SQUADRON SHIELD WAS APPLIED. Note, the rear GS swing away plate, correct for 1969 was not yet applied. Just one more thing we ran out of time for.

4. GSX Emblem on sides of roof, perhaps correct for this year if it were a Skylark GS.

5. The family shot, including my wife who was my girlfriend when we bought this car during our last summer before college! (25 years ago) 6. Lt. Col Clayton Lawrence, WWII Tuskegee Airman and pilot.

7. Electra GSX Road Racer side shot. Intakes under the front and rear bumpers are for engine and transmission oil coolers respectively. 189mph Y rated Pirelli P-ZERO SYSTEM tires, custom mage PS Engineering Kidney Beans. Looking long and low. Rides like she's on rails!

8. Nice shot of the Faithful Pursuit as it drives out of the hanger amid the cheers of about 150 people! I had surprised my wife by telling the audience that we had not driven the car together in 22 years plus. I then invited the wife to join me as we drove into the sunset, literally, out of the open hanger door!

9. Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. members and I line up in front of the display that museum volunteer Ed Flesch and I helped to build. Ed did the lion;s share of the work and it turned out great!

10. Saying goodbye to remaining Airmen as they prepare to fly out. I was wearing the same old blue blazer that I met the Doolittle's Raiders with back in 1992 at their 50th reunion! The jacket was my dad's and he gave it to me back in the 70's. Note the BUICK TRI SHIELD PIN!

11. Here is the super rare 430 STAGE II option sticker. My car has a 455 STAGE I built by Scotty Guadagno back in 1997. It has less than 2 hours of total run time!!!

God Speed,

[BqUICK]

Good News!

Roy Hopkins came on 1st in class in the One Lap of America race!

He raced his BMW M-5 to victory in the Luxury Class. He came in 10th overall in a field of 82.

Roy is our Faithful Pursuit driver for the 2005 Silver State Classic. He has helped us with the details of the Faithful Pursuit during her construction at Machuga Chassis and was on hand during the unveiling two weeks ago.

Congratulations Roy!

http://www.onelapofamerica.com/

http://www.onelapofamerica.com/About/about.htm

God Speed

[Smartin]

wow, haven't had much time to sit at the computer lately...

Here's some eye candy..

[BqUICK]

In case you have not yet heard!!!

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=336943#post336943

[BqUICK]

All,

We had to wait to get the spoiler worked into Putman's schedule. We have both 1970 and 1969 GSX type spoilers which will be merged into one BIG Electra GSX spoiler . This spoiler will look like the "GSX Prototype" spoiler that comes in three pieces, if I remember correctly. The two ends stay on the fenders while the center section is attached to the trunk. We will "adapt and over come", to borrow a Dave Machuga phrase.

John Harris ( www.electra225.com ) came to visit from California last Saturday. He and his buddy Allen jumped into my '69 Convert and drove out to the shop to see the Faithful Pursuit and "Janine", my 20K mile survivor 1970 Coupe with "SF" Code 455. They took lots of photos, as that is John's thing. You should see his site, it is only one of two true Electra enthusiasts sites out there. Now there will be three Deuces on his site that belong to your's truely.

Dave Machuga is sheduled to have the car back in early June to race prep the Faithful Pursuit. We will do parking lots with cones, then drag trials, then Watkins Glen International Raceway in early September. Stay tuned!

God Speed.

[BigFella]

First let me thank BqUICK for a awesome time on Saturday! He is in all three camps of Buick...modified, driver, and survivor show! We had a great time just hanging out and talking Buick. We were driven over to see his collection of Buicks then on in to Watkins Glen to the museum and around town. In the museum they pulled out the photos from the Harley Earl trip to the Glen with his LeSabre. What a great time. Here is a pic I took of BqUICK enjoying the ride on the way home in his 69 Electra!

I think there is not much better than enjoying a drive in a Buick, but with a backdrop like that, WOW!! Fall pictures are a must! I forget how much I miss the green from back east...but if I had to lose something for the lack of snow and ice I can always visit! :-)

I do have lots of pictures and a couple of Videos of the Faithfull Persuit running back into the garage. The sound is not very good but I'll be posting them as soon as I catch up with other items on the homefront.

[Guest John Chapman]

I regret to add another loss in the world of those that have honored the Tuskeegee Airmen. The P-51C Mustang operated by the Minnesota Wing of the CAF as 'Tuskeegee Airmen' was severely damaged and the pilot fatally injured in a forced landing during an airshow in Texas. More details are posted at the link below.

http://www.confederateairforce.org/news/2004/nr-04-052904-revised.html

JMC

[Centurion]

The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle will open its new "Personal Courage Wing" on June 6. The Museum had previously acquired the aircraft of the Chapman Fighter Museum in Mesa, Arizona, and built the new wing to display them.

The Museum is advertising locally that there will be a special exhibit to honor the Tuskegee Airmen. Here's the link to the Tuskegee Airmen information on the Museum of Flight's website: http://flight.projecttest.net/Display.asp?Page=TuskegeeAirmen

[BqUICK]

John,

This was indeed sad news. I knew Don Hinz slightly and met him and his wife Pat back in 2002 at the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. convention held in Atlanta. I took some photos of his plane in Tuskegee, Alabama while wearing a WWII airman's uniform. I'll dig them out.

Earlier this year I asked Don if he could bring his plane to our event but it was really expensive, like $4,000 for the day. It cost a lot to fly it in and back and would take a few days, hence the cost. Aviation fuel ain't cheap!

Don's amazing accomplishment took 10 years and over $750,000.00!!! He raised money and built an organization to support his efforts after his retirement. He was 60 but so pumped on what he was doing he looked 45! It is a testimony to being able to do what you put your mind to!

May God Speed you to glory Don in your Faithful Pursuit,

[Smartin]

Please visit www.redtail.org

[BqUICK]

Smartin,

Thanks for putting these photos up so quickly for me! Directly above, there are a few pictures of Don's plane. The P-51 Mustang powered by the amazing 1500HP Rolls Royce/Packard "Merlin" Engine was the fastest "production" piston engined fighter plane of the war. The American firm Packard manufactured the engine under license agreement with the English Rolls Royce company.

There is nothing like the sound of that powerful v-12 and the Supercharger whine that goes with it! A Mustang could out climb, out turn, out range, and out fight almost every fighter the Nazi's had, except for the new jets and rocket planes they developed. The twin engined jet fighter was more than 50 miles per hour faster in level flight and its 20mm cannon could blow a B-17's wing off at the root with one burst of its massed 20mm cannon in its nose!

Back in 1990 or so, the late Freddie Hutchens, told me about this one mission he went on to the Benz tank works in Berlin back in March of 1945. (Freddie shot down two Nazi fighers in combat over Europe.) They were escorting 15th Strategic Air Force heavy bombers, B-17s to "plaster the target". Another fighter outfit was supposed to take over for them enroute because the mission was too long for one fighter outfit to do it alone. The other fighters did not show up at the rendezevous point and The Tuskegee Airmen made the decision to fly the whole mission even though they knew they would probably run out of fuel!

"Within 50 miles of the Daimler Benz target, 30 ME 262 and ME 163 jet fighter dived into our formation to attack the bombers. Our P-51s fought back, destroying three Me 262 and probably destroying two more 262s and one ME-163 in a 5 minute encounter..." (Quote from Four Star General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.'s book, "B.O. Davis, American")No bombers were ever lost to enemy fighters while under Tuskegee Airmen escort! No other group before or since can make that claim.

Freddie told me "we returned running on vapors, our tanks nearly dry after a 1555 mile mission. That was a long ass mission!" The Tuskegee Airmen received the Distinguished Unit Citation for that mission.

1. Really cool professional aerial shot.

2. The only 2 surviving flyable P-51s at Tuskegee Field, Alabama. Just before takeoff.

3. My buddy Tommy Tyndall, 99th Pursuit Squadron Fighter Pilot, next to Don's plane. (Tommy is in a photo with the Faithful Pursuit that I'll show later.)

4. National Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. president, Brian Smith, on right and me with Don's plane in the background.

I could not find a nice picture of Don himself. He tended to put himself in the background and let the plane do the talking. I remember him running around a lot getting the aircraft ready for some photos the day I took these photographs.

Also, I drove my 1996 Riviera to the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. convention with the license plate 332FGP47. 332nd Fighter Group, P-47 Thunderbolt. P stands for Pursuit. The Thunderbolt was actually the first red tailed escort fighter the Airmen used in WWII, not the Mustang shown here.

This was a great loss of an individual, next to which the aircraft means little. Don, if he had lived could have built another. He had the know how and the charisma to raise a million bucks and get the job done. We will never have another Don Hinz!

[Guest John Chapman]

It is indeed a small world...

Don and I cruised together with Airwing Two in the USS Ranger (CV-61) to the western Pacific in 1976. At the time, Don was a Navy LT, if I recall correctly and flying the A-7 Corsair II for VA-113 (the Stingers).

There's a few pictures of Don and some of the Airmen at the following link:

http://www.fighterpilotsusa.com/newsletters/current-newsleter.pdf

JMC

[55PackardGuy]

Here is a little more detail on this tragic and heroic story...

Don Hintz lived in Woodbury, Minnesota, a suburb of St.Paul/Minneapolis, where I live. The local paper did a really nice article on Monday, May 31 after Don had died (he survived the crash but died at the hospital). You may be able to find it complete at www.startribune.com/metro.

Here are some excerpts:

BAY CITY, WISCONSIN (The accident happened at an air show at Hager City, Wisconsin).

"The pilot of a vintage fighter plane who died after crash landing during an air show Saturday was credited with steering clear of homes and people when his P-51C Mustang lost power a mile from the airport.

Pilot Donald Hinz, 60, of Woodbury struck a stand off trees before slamming into a family's back yard at high speed.

'He flew the airplane all the way to impact,' said friend Timothy J. Barzen. 'He took the best option out of no options.'

The crash occured shortly after a bombing demonstration.

Investigators quickly determined that engine failure was to blame.

Hinz's family is asking that donations be made to the project to continue flying the P-51C, at Red Tail Project, 225 Bravo Lane, South St. Paul, MN 55075."

Matt McKinney Star Tribune mmckinney@startribune.com

[BqUICK]

John,

If you think that's a coincidence, I knew the Ranger's skipper, Admiral Walter J. Davis. He was the last Admiral to fly a fighter, F-14, off his own ship!

(I mentioned this connection because Admiral Davis was very active with the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.'s East Coast Chapter back in the 80's. I never talked to Don about his Navy service, although having once been a designer for Gibbs & Cox, I would have been interested. I have no idea if Don knew Admiral Davis or if that was where he made the link with the Airmen.)

John, my condolences to you and his many friends!

[Guest John Chapman]

Michael,

The world grows yet smaller! I was at a luncheon with VADM Davis last week. He's living here in the San Diego area and is a co-founder of e-Fire, Inc. I'm not sure exactly what they do, but it's IT-related.

I don't know if there is a connection between Don and ADM Davis, but it's a 'small' Navy, especially in the carrier-based tactical air community, so it's not unlikely.

Cheers,

JMC

[BqUICK]

I love looking at the Faithful Pursuit and believe that the design concept is coming together pretty well after all these years. Honestly, I have often thought about changing the colors over the years to something more racy. There was a black and gold version back in 1978-9. A pure blue concept was drawn up too. Every time I felt in a really extroverted mood, the military insignias would come back on. She actually looks more like Air Force One than most custom built racecars!

A key design feature that will cement the "look" I desire is the Faithful Pursuit's spoiler. An "Electra" version was never made so a combination of both the 1968-69 and 1970 - 72 Skylark versions of the GSX rear wing was developed by me in the late 1970's.

Both spoilers were obtained through POSTON. It turns out that the 1969 Skylark version is a little wider and flatter than the 1970. The center section of the 1969 spoiler will be used because it is easier to manage the transition on both sides where it will be extended. Remember that the spoiler will be active, meaning that not only will it be adjustable it will actively change its angle of attack to provide required downforce and reduce excessive drag.

There will be rigidly mounted ends from the 1970 version and a movable 1969 center section. Do you remember the retractable headlights from the 1966 Riviera? This is the setup where the lights themselves retracted and not the covers! A gearbox from a 1966 Riviera's headlights will actuate the spoiler. A rough draft of the design is with Tim Putman and the cut lines were placed in the spoilers by me. We cut the spoilers next week.

[75 LeSabre Custom (Alex Clark)]

A machine truly worth the word beautiful. Excuse me did I say beautiful? Gorgeuos, was the word I was looking for. Great job, also, I like that paint, is it a chrome-illusion paint of some kind?

[BqUICK]

Alex,

Thanks for the great comments! As I am not a body man I cannot just tell you all the stuff Tim laid on me as he was doing this job. Lots of "Secrets that you'll never use because you're not thinking of going into auto body...are you?" Kind of stuff! Basically, there were about 3 - 4 prime/body leveling stages. The paint was applied in two stages. The stock Crystal Blue Code D with the addition of a clear coat. It looks really awesome under the flourescent lights at the Wings of Eagles hanger.

Tim Putman and his right hand man, Doug, worked 5 weeks straight about 5 to 6 days a week, 7 to 8 hours a day on her for her debut back on April 24th.

There is more to that paint and body than meets the eye. We measured panel gaps, left in certain factory flaws, bent body panels, to give the illusion of a "concours" "factory appearing" one off custom job. The GSX hood scoops are incredible. Roberta V. will be here in a few days to give her view. My thanks to Tim Putman!

[Smartin]

[BqUICK]

Buick "Electra GSX" Fans:

Thanks for your support over the years. I really appreciate it when you check on our efforts from time to time. I was really pleased when our hits reached "225" and now they are more than "5555"! That is amazing! I never expected such a positive response or notes from service people on duty in the Middle East! Buick people sure are "faithful"! I will keep punching through these tough times to make our 2005 date with destiny in Nevada! Thanks!

http://www.carcraft.com/eventcoverage/116_0402_slvr/

It was a great pleasure hosting "BUICK RACER" Roberta Vasilow, BCA Officer, and her mom, at Tim Putman's Auto shop yesterday in Beaver Dams, New York. We looked over the body work and the panel alignments at the heart of Tim's fabulous paint work. Roberta was pleased with the engine as we fired up the Guadagno prepared STAGE I for her. We are running the Lunati SP-1 with 3.5"/3.5" SS Edelbrock Rebuildable Mufflers. Plenty of rumble!

We looked at the progress of the custom made one off GSX spoiler that Doug was finish sanding at the shop. The spoiler ends are coming together nicely. The ends are from a '70 GSX spoiler and the center is from a '69 GSX spoiler. Both of these came from Poston. The center section will stand alone and actuate. Once the spoiler has been mounted in the next couple of weeks, we can paint the stripe, FINALLY! Wow! This is going to be great !

Roberta recognized the license plate "332FGP47" and knew the "P47" was a World War Two Fighter plane, the largest, heaviest, most powerful piston engined fighter of WW II, the awesome "P-47 Thunderbolt". My Electra GSX is the Rolling Thunderbolt, the Faithful Pursuit! She noted that she saw the HBO movie "The Tuskegee Airmen" last week. The 332FG stands for the Tuskegee Airmen's 332nd Fighter Group. There were four combat squadrons in the group under the command of the late General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. during WWII, the 99th, 100th, 301st, & 302nd. General Davis visited my Atlanta Chapter of Tuskgee Airmen, Inc. many times and autographed several books for me back in the early 1990's.

Roberta and her mom were here for the BCA meet in Buffalo a couple of years ago just before Gary Shaw of "Shaw Racing" died in September 2002. Gary, local Motorsports Hall of Famer, was narrowing the frame and figuring out the rear suspension geometry that summer. Roberta, thanks for all of your help and support with this project over the past 10 or so years!!!

Thanks for visiting Roberta and have a safe trip back to the Motor City!

God Speed!

PS: SMARTIN thanks for posting Roberta's photo. Also, CHECK OUT SMARTIN'S SERIOUS WHITE BUICK CONVERTIBLE! Your BUICK BUGLE has a super nice '70 Electra 225 Custom Convertible that is featured on www.electra225.com Its Greg Cockrill's car.

[Smartin]

[BUICK RACER]

What a thrill to see the "Faithful Pursuit" in person, and hear it fire up! My Mom and I are still talking about it! and will for a long time! Michael, the Car is awesome and I can't wait to see what you do with it in the next year. Doug and Tim have done an wonderful job in getting the car the way you want it to be, I told my mom, it has been your dream for many yrs, in as many as we have chatted on the phone and emails, it is a unbelievable dream come true for you and your family. Keep it up, let me know if you need anything, as I have connections, as you know, to help you out, in anyway necessary!

[BigFella]

Hey BqUICK!

I put the pictures of your Survivor at the dealership in the general forum.

Buick Dealer Showing some Old School!

You want to check it out and add a quick little story for everyone?

[55PackardGuy]

It's great to see these shots. I've been waiting with much anticipation as you have posted your progress on Faithful Pursuit. What amazes me is how "factory" everything looks. How will you be able to resist making road-racing challenges with this ultimate secret weapon?

[BqUICK]

55ParkardGuy,

Thanks for the compliments. The Electra GSX will take all challengers, Hemi or otherwise, to the track. This car was developed for sustained high speed, 150+mph for 100 miles. Developed to cope with Watkins Glen and similar road courses, it was intended for very limited street use. It was not really designed for the strip but can perform well there once properly geared, tuned, and prepped with the proper shocks and springs.

I drove the Faithful Pursuit today and it really is a brute compared to its former Electra 225 self. It is pure rock hard, sinew, bone, & muscle! She really growls through 3.5" in 3.5" out Edelbrock SS racing mufflers.

Last week one of the guys on the job said the Electra GSX will be hitting the show circuit and not see any action particularly on the street. The guy is a hard core old school MOPAR street rodder and he's not dumb. I told him she may look like a pretty Buick Electra on the outside but Shaw and Machuga built the chassis. I could tell by the way his eyes opened up, he knew it was built to road race, no ST! I can't wait to outrun my first Porsche at Watkin's Glen here locally! Then on to Nevada!

God Speed,

[jscheib]

Do you have a date yet for that first trip to The Glen?

[BqUICK]

Jsheib,

We will be going on October 6th. This may be subject to some changes. We are working through the BMW Club and club member Roy Hopkins, our driver.

Also, I ran about 10 laps at Watkins this Thursday, part of "Kid's Day" in another Electra and re-familiarized myself with the track somewhat at highway speeds.

Best Regards,

[jscheib]

I would love to see the car in action, but that is also Hershey week for us with cars that do not quite hit track speeds, I was hopiing we could provide somewhat of a cheering squad from CT. But kep us posted on dates so see if we can see the car in action.

John

[BqUICK]

John,

I took a few laps of the 3.41 mile Watkins Glen International Raceway in my 1970 SF Code 225 Coupe. Roberta is helping me to get that accessable to you and others. We will video the Faithful Pursuit and get a DVD together that will help us raise $$$ for our 2005 September Nevada run.

What things would you and others like to see in such a DVD?

Also, the spoiler is coming along well. Lots of aircraft aluminum was aquired since the GSX spoiler requires such radical changes.

Thanks for the input!

[BqUICK]

Investigation:

GSX rear wing does not match any airfoil section that I can find in NACA, NASA, or manufacturer records . Maybe its not an airfoil at all! It actually looks like an old NASA (HC-10?) lifting body to me. You remember, the one from the "Six Millian Dollar man" that crashes in the beginning of each episode?

Perhaps this is why it has such an agressive downward angle of attack. If it was modelled after the old 1960's lifting bodies, it would have a tendency to provide a lot of lift even at very low or negative angles of attack.

Does any GSX weinie out there know what this "wing" is and how it responds to varied angles of attack?

I am in the midst of cardboard modelling. The mockup on the car looks really wild because the spoiler comes off the back of the Electra in its current configuration. The Skylark based GSX spoiler is not so far to the rear because of where the fenders break downward. This point is further forward than the Electra.

Some photos to come soon.

[Smartin]

Sorry so late!!

[jscheib]

Before I lose my thought, I better write. For the video/DVD, I think an introduction of the purpose and thought behiend the development (both the concept with the Tuskegee Airmen and the design concept of the car. This could be followed by a narrative, with photos of the progress (maybe alternate interviews with the builders and with the Airmen representives that you have already done) through the building and including some of the more important technical points for those with a keen interest, would be good. This could then be followed video of the Faithful Pusuit in motion.

You have sure spent a lot of time and money on this project and now time to do a DVD/video might be difficult. It would be nice to have such a recording for cheering these Northeast wintertime carless months, but I realize also, that may be the best time to put together the video.

I expect others will respond with their thoughts and I may have more later.

John

[BigFella]

I think instead of being a classic lifting body airfoil, these "wings" are designed more to use the principle of pushing air instead of creating the pressure difference we think about with airfoils. Kinda like what NASCAR does with the rear spoiler?? I probably tossed that book from my old Aerospace Engineering classes...too many equations with no numbers