Aligning Canted Rears
- Thread starter ChristopherK
- Start date
I agree. I'd sit down with my kid after the race and go over the positives and negatives of the cars performance. Then make a plan for changes for the next race.
Well, we came in 2nd overall and my son was very happy. Lost to 1st place by .0139. Thank everyone for all of the help. We are ready for next years build!
Congratulations!
As a suggestion: You (or your scouts) can improve if you continue racing....not go absolute bonkers like the pros, but sending a car in every now and then, just to try things and see improvements. It would help you learn and decrease the anxiety on race day. The thought is not to necessarily win on a league track, but to race yourself . Essentially, it's remote access to a track.
As a suggestion: You (or your scouts) can improve if you continue racing....not go absolute bonkers like the pros, but sending a car in every now and then, just to try things and see improvements. It would help you learn and decrease the anxiety on race day. The thought is not to necessarily win on a league track, but to race yourself . Essentially, it's remote access to a track.
Talk to Jupiter 2.9 here on the boards. He puts together cars for Scouts and then sends them in to the leagues. Races, makes tweaks, races again and then when he's happy with it he seals it up in a plastic bag for their next Scout race.
This certainly takes the guesswork and stress out of trying to build a fast Scout car.
This certainly takes the guesswork and stress out of trying to build a fast Scout car.
After a race, I like the idea of reviewing the entire building process (any pictures and review of notes are excellent tools) up to and including any race day pictures and videos'. Ask the kids what they were thinking about at the various stages of the build. This can help to re-enforce any lessons learned. You can review the physics that you considered at each stage of the build. Ask them what they were feeling. Were they bored at some point, or excited thru the whole process. You can remind them that hard work, patience, and perseverance paid off. Reviewing like this should help to keep them excited about the next race/build. You can then cover any improvements that they would like to make on/during the next build. (I like to phrase it this way rather than mistakes or lessons learned). Then discuss how these improvements should affect the next build. Keep them engaged by talking about physics and how it relates to PWDR. I like to use things they can easily relate to such as bicycles, swing sets, snow sleds, and teeter totters.
Add to that a leaf blower and jacking up a real car and spinning the tire. Compare spinning the car tire to a bike tire with respect to lightening a wheel. Leaf blow / hand orientation for aero....
Test & tune,,
Nothing worse than ya,ll putting in the effort & still having no idea what you've got.
.014 you can pick that up in no time, you just need a base line & you are on your way.
All you need to do is beat the Doorman & you are as fast as any Scout out there.
Good Luck
I use a hand out the open car window (orientation) for the aerodynamic portion. A leaf blower would be a good idea also. I also talk about rear and side draft. I ask them if they have ever noticed their vehicle "bouncing around" when riding out on the road next to a large truck. I then talk to them about standing a stick straight up and down in a river. I ask them to think about what the water does and tell them that the reason their vehicle bounces around on the road is caused by the same thing. I tell them that air acts just like water, but we can't see it.
