New Squad Mcleish Bros Compressed Air Streamliner Silverish Rod Went 55 Mph On The Salt
Compressed air, stored at 3500 psi inward 3 scuba tanks, enters the McLeish engine's cylinder through what was the spark-plug hole at the top of the remaining cylinder. Coming upward amongst a restrain took a lot of experimentation, but the solution was a unproblematic ball cheque valve, McLeish only added a furnish leap in addition to linked it to the accelerator pedal.
Two conventional high-pressure regulators were used to meter the air leaving the tanks.
Getting the timing correct was the greatest hurdle. "I looked at using solenoids," McLeish says, "but nosotros couldn't abide by ones that would closed fast enough. Eventually what nosotros came upward amongst is what I telephone phone a 'tubular rotary valve.'"
McLeish's tubular rotary valve is basically a slice of piping amongst a hole inward it mounted to the halt of engine crankshaft. As the piping spins inward its housing, it allows the air through from the input hose to the hose that runs to the top of the cylinder.
McLeish's exquisitely small, steel tube-framed "Silver Rod" tin last configured every bit either a streamlined motorbike or every bit an open-wheel "lakester," depending on which axle assemblies in addition to wheels are bolted in.
Despite the fact that there's nil on board that is probable to ignite, McLeish wore the required fireproof suit. Seems ridiculous inward the common high temps of summertime inward Utah.
Except for its depression speed, McLeish's function inward the compressed-air powered Silver Rod was uneventful—and he topped out at a scorching 54.058 mph. Based on his two-way average speed of 46.723 mph, he gear upward a record.
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