District Success -- Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

[wags2633]

After lurking for the last year and completing district, it time to say "thank you" to this forum and its contributors for your help. The goal was to improve on last year's district performance time of 3.0085 . Mission complete @ 2.9525 on the same track.

 

[zigzag]

View attachment 231

After lurking for the last year and completing district, it time to say "thank you" to this forum and its contributors for your help. The goal was to improve on last year's district performance time of 3.0085 . Mission complete @ 2.9525 on the same track.

Congrats - and nice looking car. Love you guys took the wrap to the fenders as well.

 

[Crash Enburn]

Congrats!

 

[jatofau1]

Congrats. Your son did an awesome job. The car looks great.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

View attachment 231

After lurking for the last year and completing district, it time to say "thank you" to this forum and its contributors for your help. The goal was to improve on last year's district performance time of 3.0085 . Mission complete @ 2.9525 on the same track.

Great job! Congratulations to both of you! Some real quality time spent together and a GREAT opportunity to teach the next generation some physics in a fun way! At the same time you are teaching them to work with their hands and build something!

With all of these district times showing up, I feel so inadequate ...but at least it sets the bar so we have a goal to try and reach.

 

[Skywalker Racing]

Nice work! Great looking car!

 

[wags2633]

The times are deceiving. Our district used 2 tracks. I'm told one track was anodized and faster. It was used for the overall finals. I've learned on this forum anodized tracks are more fragile and scratches not removable. The other track was slower, and the average time on it was 3.0923. It was the same track used for the pack and the average time was 3.0603 with the fastest run around 3.04.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

The times are deceiving. Our district used 2 tracks. I'm told one track was anodized and faster. It was used for the overall finals. I've learned on this forum anodized tracks are more fragile and scratches not removable. The other track was slower, and the average time on it was 3.0923. It was the same track used for the pack and the average time was 3.0603 with the fastest run around 3.04.

If I am reading this right, on the same track on a different day your times were over 0.030 slower when running at the district? Wow that is a big difference. One more question for you, was the anodized track the same length or just that much better shape that the times were that much quicker? Thanks.

I feel better, but still inadequate.

 

[wags2633]

I believe the car was 0.030 slower for a few reasons. During re-prep for districts, a crack was created in the wood between the front axles while removing the DFW axle--lesson learned. Test runs afterward never recovered, but came within 0.010. The track also was set up for the pack at a different location. We helped set it up and cleaned it with a microfiber cloth. At the district, it was cleaned with a dust brush.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

I believe the car was 0.030 slower for a few reasons. During re-prep for districts, a crack was created in the wood between the front axles while removing the DFW axle--lesson learned. Test runs afterward never recovered, but came within 0.010. The track also was set up for the pack at a different location. We helped set it up and cleaned it with a microfiber cloth. At the district, it was cleaned with a dust brush.

Thanks for the explanation. It is always nice if one can figure out why the change/difference. If you care to share, how did the crack get created? Were the wheels glued in? Just trying to learn from another's experience. Thanks.

 

[wags2633]

My son was removing the axles for re-prep by accessing the pointed end through the hole he had routed between the 2 axle ends. It was no problem for the rears, but the DFW axle was glued in because it was loose and was hard to remove. He tried to pry it out with a small screwdriver and cracked the wood. As advised in this forum, create a K-House groove in the DFW axle head to adjust with a screwdriver and the least invasive method is to remove is to loosen it first by turning the axle with the screwdriver. It is also advised to put a K-House groove in all the axle heads.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

My son was removing the axles for re-prep by accessing the pointed end through the hole he had routed between the 2 axle ends. It was no problem for the rears, but the DFW axle was glued in because it was loose and was hard to remove. He tried to pry it out with a small screwdriver and cracked the wood. As advised in this forum, create a K-House groove in the DFW axle head to adjust with a screwdriver and the least invasive method is to remove is to loosen it first by turning the axle with the screwdriver. It is also advised to put a K-House groove in all the axle heads.

Ok, Thanks. I appreciate the opportunity to learn from others!!! We built a K-House cutting tool and plan on doing all of the axles. We will keep in mind to turn the axle prior to trying to remove it. Thanks.