ERAU Jet Dragster Project had a lot of advancement this week. Larsen Motorsports is the main sponsor of the project. Mr. Larsen was here on Monday and Tuesday for preparing us to start working on the jet Dragster as soon as possible.
The meeting started on Monday with an introduction at 9 AM in the AC1 Executive Conference Room. Mr. Larsen emphasized that this Project’s main purpose is to educate and make students understand what drag racing is all about. It is not about making a dragster for Larsen Motorsports. The campus is going to get a lot of sponsors really quick just because the project is intense, fun, educative and impressive. Most of the members would also be taught how to do TIG welding as well. The campus is going to receive new TIG welding machines as well as Plasma cutters.
On Monday, we had meeting for the Aerodynamics and System Integration teams. I did attend all of the meeting on Monday though I was in the Structures meeting. Aerodynamics covered all the topics from the parachutes to the front wing. It is basically going to be opposite of what is needed in an aircraft because the dragster is supposed to stay on the ground, obviously. As a result, the centre of parachutes supposed to be aligned to the ground such that the line connecting it crosses the front tires. The front tires won’t be aligned in the longitudinal axis of car. Instead, it would have a small angle with the axis so that it is not tough to steer a little bit, when steering is needed. The front wing is obviously created to provide as much down force as possible.
System Integration had meetings that basically described how to get the whole dragster build while maintaining or improving on the basic standards for the safety of the driver. We are going to have a specific weld on all the joints. That is the standard of NHRA and IHRA, the governing bodies that lay down the laws for Dragster Racing.
Structures Team is the most amazing team. We would be getting a j-60 Engine for the dragster and we are also going to get a custom made afterburner. There is also going to be a hot streak. What it all means is that the dragster is going to be fast. When I say fast, it is going to run at 290 mph or more. The limit is 320 mph. It is crazy fast. If that afterburner and hot streak is attached to the same engine and used in a business jet, it is going to blow up the structural integrity of the aircraft. It is POWERFUL! With so much power, the Structures Team basically needs to come up with genuine, creative, new and great ideas to reduce weight, temperature and increase the life of the engine.
Propulsion team basically had a similar discussion as Structures but then we went more into depth just because the engine would be dealt much more by the Propulsion team than the Structures Team.
It is surely going to be a crazy and busy project. The teams have been created finally and I am in the structures team. It is going to keep me busy for a long time.