The Competion in Formula Three
104 Dave Elston (Party Animal ;-))
Luke Sedzikowski's hovercraft (hopefully number 123)
Team Z hovercraft (hopefully number 124)
This is a self built glassfibre craft runing an 800mm fan with 6 evenly spaced 4zs in a self made hub .Drive is via belt direct to the crankshaft with the engine mounted onto the frame .Engine mounting plate picks up on the 8 crankcase studs and is a laminated structure of 2no 4mm aluminium plates glued together with silicon .Engine is angled slightly to level up the float chambers when using the TDR manifold .Engine is TDR which has had the Stan Stevens treatment , this is backed up with regular preventive maintainace to give what has proved to be a very reliable and extremly fast craft .Pipes are pressure expanded fitted neatly down the side of the duct .Handlebar stearing and a rudder setup described by Sue Goldney has the worst steering on any craft she had ever driven Despite lapping me in every race I've ever entered Steven always takes great care in passing backmarkers usually taking the outside line.The odd thing about this craft which is common with a few other top craft is that the frame is knocked bent and flimsy and yet it just keeps going Having won F3 two consecutive years most formula 3 competitors have plenty to learn from this Father and Son duo .
This is a Fen Flyer with again a tuned TDR direct belt drive and i belive a Scottney 6 blade hub with 4zs .Handle bar steering and again a flimsy knocked about frame .Previous F3 champion this craft is only just behind Team Scotney and packs a wacking punch when you catch a blast from his Fan .Again pressure expanded pipes down the side of the duct .Notable points include 2 Large red Machine type isolator buttons adjacent the engine .
This craft differs from the others in the top pack .Designed and built by Rupert and Bill Baker this craft runs what i'm assured is a standard TZR with only light cleaning up of the ports .Its speed and success is down to its efficient design and having the experiance to experiment with the craft to get the best from it .Drive is via a doughnut into a twin pully setup one belt driving the trust fan the other driving a shaft running down the middle of the craft to a 90 deg gearbox onto a lift fan .This gives weight on the nose where its needed ,plenty of lift ,a clear thrust fan area and the ability to run less blades as there is no backpressure as with an integrated design .Last season Rupert dropped to 2 blades in his thrust fan proving that the other blades can actually get in the way and you can only get so much air through a given duct area .The pipes are standard pipes cut and reshaped to fit through the hull itself .Chip bags are used a good distance down the sides of the craft ,he can probably manage this as he simply needs to inflate the bags as the lift fan also feeds directly under the craft.This is supplimented with a drag flap which is probably more to reduce wear than protect against water ingress. Flow straighteners are cut from old blades and fitted into slots in the duct.I assume this gives some element of adjustment again to obtain the optimum settings .Electrics are all exposed with the thinking that airflow will keep them dryer than traping them within a box .Rupert appears to have better success on the wide open courses such as Weston Park where his efficency advantages take over on the big open straights .
This craft is an integrated Meteor with a standard meteor frame belt and bottom bearing block connected to a rubber doughnut .The engine is unique maybe not the most powerful but by far the most technical .It is a rotary engine developed by west engines for microlight use ,it has dual ignition and a computerised engine management system with a plug in laptop .I'm not sure if David will race the craft in 2000 as the hull was at the end of its days last year .
Fred, Wayne & Glen Following the 2 craft built from scratch for the 1999 season from a mixture of plywood glassfibre and plastics .The Team are building a new craft for 2000 ,last years craft were very solid and well sorted .Fred has been arround for a few years and once entered a race with a flask of coffee under his seat (I'll bet there were a few biscuits there as well for a little nibble ).They also have the prize for the most fasionable waterproofs (im sure the bloke paid Fred to take them off his hands )Wayne came in with a good place last year in view of the fact that there were craft out there with 20hp more power than his old Yam RD 250 LC .One factor was Glens craft a TDR 250 which ran in Juniors and won the British European Meeting .By shareing their craft they managed to pick up points in every race TEAMWORK.Both craft were simular in construction Base is ply polystyrene ply ,planing surface of ply and decks of plastic with a fibreglass duct .Frame is a direct drive to a "Scottney 6 blade hub" ,Engine is Standard TDR with the ports cleaned up on a plate similar to Team Scottney but with 5mm aluminium again angled for the TDR manifold .Pipes are standard TZR mounted vertically .Changes for the 2000 craft include a longer nose to the front to reduce the tendancy to plow hard. Fred is considering drawing up plans for the craft and this would be a good starting point for anyone wishing to build a hull.See http:www.teamwilson.co.uk for more details.
Luke Sedzikowski's hovercraft (hopefully number 123)
This is a new craft for this year. Front blue, middle grey, back and duct red This is a hovercraft designed by Richard wiles and was made by Luke and John Sedzikowski, it is a glass fibre craft running an 900mm fan with 6 evenly spaced 4zs in a 12 bladed hub. Drive is via belt direct to the crankshaft with the engine mounted onto the frame. The pulley ratio is 3.3:1. Engine mounting plate picks up on the 6 crankcase studs and is mounted at a 45 degree angle (to keep the carbs level) on the main frame which is a T frame. The engine is a KR1S which is made by Kawasaki and is not tuned. Pipes are fitted neatly down the side of the duct .Handlebar steering and a rudder set-up which makes it a very good handling craft.
Team Z hovercraft (hopefully number 124)
Craft designed by Cyclone and put together by Luke, Sally and John Sedzikowski. Silver with black back. Glass fibre hull running an 800mm fan with 6 alternate spaced 4zs in a 9 bladed hub. Drive is via belt direct to the crankshaft with the engine mounted onto the frame. The pulley ratio is 3:1. Engine mounting plate picks up on the 8 crankcase studs and is mounted at a slight angle (to keep the carbs level) on the main frame which is a H frame. The engine is a TZR which is made by Yamaha and is not tuned. It has TDR eclectics and a TZR lump. Pipes are fitted neatly down the side of the duct .Handlebar steering and a rudder set-up which makes it a very good handling craft. also has variable splitter plate which helps increase thrust.