THE LAND SPEED RECORD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20705, 1 May 1929, Page 10

THE LAND SPEED RECORD.

WONDERS OF THE GOLDEN ARROW. STORY OF ITS CONSTRUCTION.

DESIGNER’S TRIUMPH. (From Oue Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 14. Some interesting facts about the construction of the Golden Arrow, in which Major H. O. D. Segrave has just broken the world’s speed record, appear in various London newspapers. It may be pointed out (says the Morning Post) that the American record was only one mile an hour in excess of the British record, which represented a saving of only a fraction of a second in time over a distance of one mile, the length of the actual speed course. When, therefore, the question of building a challenger came to be discussed it was decided to build a car capable of travelling at 240 miles an hour—four miles a minute. It was with this ideal in view that the Golden Arrow was designed. Since this would involve a single leap forward of no less than 33 miles an hour it was clear that an enormous amount of research and experimental work would be necessary, as manifestly so great an advance could not be attained merely by making minor improvements on any existing oar. But research and experiment on a large scale is exceedingly expensive, and only to be undertaken either by a firm with very large resources and the will to pour them into the right channels, or by indmdualg actuated by motives of patriotism and sportsmanship. Such a man ready and. willing to undertake such a task was found in Mr 0. J. S. Piper, who is largely responsible for the inception of and bringing to fruition the project to build the Golden Arrow. AN ENGINEER’S DREAM, The decision to build the car having been taken, the next question that arose was, to whom should he entrusted the vitally responsible work of designing it? Captain J; S. Irving, all his working life, has been associated with experimental and research work, and has an l c!'p C !l Ce i!f S w? aaS , ed by any engineer nf ° f th l design and construction of racing motor cars. He found dream f n? ien in the . hap P y Position—the dream of every engmeer—of having an entirely free hand, unhampered by* the bodT of g «h in th e background was a “1 sharehoMers for whose benefit a profit must be produced. The only restriction imposed upon, him was that always in the forefront of his mind he lidLr kee ?, aS *s® flrst and vital consideration, the safety of the driver in designing a car to attain 240 miles an hour the reduction of air resistance is all important. The car was accordingly built up round the body. of the driver, whose body was the one gc or that could not be altered in sixe! flajor Segrave was accordingly placed m a dummy seat of the smallest possible tlkpn S nf n l’- and a silhouette carefully taken of his cross-sectional area. By building a cross-sectional model of that particular part of the car, the most rc-n----coS P ° SltloD^ r the brake a * d other controls were then selected. Around this dummy cockpit as a nucleus the car was built up. The next question to be decided was what power unit to instal? 'After discussion it. was decided that no better « B S» Cou f ld than a NapS Lion of the type used in the seaplane TOnSrT o ™** 6 S ? hnaider trophy for this country. The engine m use in the Golden Arrow develops well over 800 h.p., and its power-weight ratio is considerably below one pound per horse-power. One of the essentials in the desfop to thoT r wfc tbe transmission. ' Owing sonrep that C ? ams were a Possible source of danger to the driver, it Was decided that a shaft should be employed, but the question arose am to how best to reconcile this with keeping the oar be ow th mC n . ru T n S the cardan shaft below the driver’s seat would mean the in & height a Valuable tw ° or three inches The solution was found in what iP f n ° n ba . bly a unique system of transmis80Vn , motor , car history.. Two cardan shafts have been used running along thp/rf 6 ? f . * be car > at the height of thpm w S i hl ?, 8 ’ , E 0 that he si ts between them. Each back wheel is therefore driven separately, instead of through a differential in the back axle. There is in fact, in a sense no back axle, because wbLi 8 Bpht IU .- the middle an .d the two wheels are entirely separate both in drive and support. SHOCK RESISTING STEEL, An important factor in the success of footnre tU f e rt the E . teel used in the manuthe various parts of the car and of the engine. Special VickersArmstrong high tensile and shock* resisting steel was used. The method of forging was such that the grain .of the sted would always lie in the direction be . B i u resist the stresses that Tremfwa 8 W ° Uld be called u P on to resist. Tremendous precautions were taken in the works at Sheffield, from the melting on fbn the searching tests made on the finished product. These tests were fn lC «i!f t - ed « S^ 0W the ali S htest failure t°. obtain the finest microstructure obtainable. Any slight mechanical defect, quite invisible to the human eye, would 5 be „ en dl /fvered by examination thp b S mf P ' /’il ma o nif .V in S glass after the sm face of the steel had been etched witn acid. According to the Daily Mail, most of Captain Irving’s work was done in a secret room.in an office on the top floor of a building in Bond street. Here night after night, he worked into the drawhi oUr xr ““S 0 ® aild supervising tl reSialf• T 1000 P lans passed tin ough his hands. Drawings were nut? SUC f Bmall l tems as half-inch the? : V l/ 10 . tCS °? *¥ P oss ih]e strains they vi ould have to bear. These nuts 5? “1“ ®“* s °iid out of fe mefol f BCI T W in th s car was hundreds of times stronger than was really necessary. a 'v He put Ins car on paper. So perfect hnTt ufi ?° n , Mpti , on tha * not a nut or bolt had to be altered Major Segrave, according to the same' authority, said that on its return fo England the Golden Arrow would probably be handed over to a museum. P If it is not put on the track again its active life will have been, rouglily,’ five fo B t eS to T f ? of' building g ans ,2 5 a to J^^ d S^atcs is about xxo,ooo, so that its running costs have amounted to about £SOOO a minute