Oct 23rd: CHECK

[Cholewa]

Big thanks to everyone who made it out to help out today, especially Rod, who is so dedicated he came to set up, left early for a funeral, and then came back to help finish everything.

C and Sara(h?) also big thanks for showing up and doing your thing even though you had to leave early.

Evan Waugh
Chuck Schultz
Robert Russom

Jonathan and Christina (don't remember last names, double sorry) An extra big thanks for returning clinic members for helping out, demoing some exercises, and getting TONS of photos and film footage.


Without all of you guys, these clinics could not be successful, and that would just be a shame. Keeping that in mind, November 6th, we have our final and most attended clinic for the fall. We're looking at 15 students, so we will again need all the help we can get. Running 15 kids through is no problem, but doing it before the sun goes down is something that will require manpower. The faster we can shag cones, the faster we can send cars out, the more people there are to debrief the kids after each run, the more cars we've got moving at the same time.


I'm working on adding/subtracting some stuff from the classroom sessions to kind of be more time conscious, and also keep it fun and interesting and easy to understand.

So, if anyone can think of anything that is either important that we don't normally cover, or is not important that we spend too much time on, let me know. I'm currently trying to figure out how to rework the friction circle because I honestly think it's hard to comprehend right off the bat. It makes sense verbally, but graphically it's kind of...meh. Anyway, ideas, fire away.

[bimmertech]

I can tell you how they explained the friction circle @ Bondurant and it made a whole lot of sense. The instructor actually began by drawing four squares, representing tires, which made one large sqaure. He then drew the circle inside the sqaure so you could visualize where the friction limits were. With straight line braking or acceleration the limit of the circle met the square, and likewise for theoretical lateral acceleration. Of course, when you combine lateral acceleration with straight line the friction has to fall within the circle, or in the case of high performance driving, on the circumference.

Sorry it's hard to articulate in type, but it really didn't take long to present or understand. This may be how you're presenting it already, I dunno. Let me know if you'd like me to explain it further.

As long as you're covering the friction circle and teaching them to LOOK UP I'm sure you're covering about all of the basic car control they need from the clinics. (along with seating position and restraints which I know you cover.)

[chuck schultz]

I think what you missed this time was the point that, when you accelerate in two directions at once, the forces add up, which can put the corner of the box outside the circle. Three examples are shown on this graph - http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CCQQ9QEwAw

[rodhx]

+1 on Cholewa's comments. It was another excellent clinic. Big props go to John Waight, who brought the cones & lights from Leeds when Ricky realized he had to work, and to Chuck who unexpected showed up to work on a day when we were going to be a little short-handed.

The alumni that came out and worked hard all day were Jonathan Glidewell and his daughter Courtney. Courtney was designated photographer and I can't wait to see her pics.

I will start another thread regarding worker sign-up for November 6th.

[chuck schultz]

It's been said, before, but watching the progress of the youngsters over the course of the day is always a big payoff. If you haven't helped at one of these events, yet, you're really missing out, and not everyone has to actually instruct - simply shagging cones is important to keeping things moving.

[EvoLady]

we really enjoyed working the event, it was a little tough with the limited staff but i still think it came off without a hitch. we should be able to make it in november. thanks again to all that came out to help!!

[TouringBubble]

Cholewa, I can't demonstrate an actual friction circle, but I can generate a live G-force graph from logged data and overlay it on video for the digital presentation. I can also use the footage from Live For Speed showing the forces exerted on the tires and the available traction. Do you think this will get the point across?

When you make the changes to the presentation, please get me a copy so I can have it for the digital version.

[EWaugh]

That was the first time that I've had to tell anyone to slow down after their first time through the salom. But, I had to tell no less than five. You must be smooth before you can be fast. They were not scarred.