Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Which CC member do you think you'd like to meet?
- Thread starter CanucksTraveller
- Start date
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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
That used to be me
I thought I could right the wrongs of the muddle-headed but then came Brexit and I realised there's millions of the beggars, so I gave up. Probably why I haven't joined NACA.
ClichéGuevara
Legendary Member
- Location
- Kingston upon the River Hull
Me, I've been following motor racing since I was seven. I was hooked by *that* moment at Paddock in the 1982 British Grand Prix.I used to ride my bicycle around pretending to win the British Grand Prix in a Toleman-Hart.
Well, throw in the fact that from a young girl / teen's perspective, two of those three made far better pin-ups than the other...
I couldn't afford Autosport at the time, so I used to read it in the newsagents every Thursday morning on the way to school. Until I went to senior school, and my pocket money then upped to the giddy heights of £2.50 a week!
I should have that Blue Peter annual somewhere then, as I used to collect them. The ground-effect cars were pretty interesting pieces of engineering, and it's kind of odd to see things come full circle, as they're going back to ground effect technology for next year. That book - "A Mechanic's Tale" is by Stevie Matchett. There is a copy on the bookshelf behind me.
My own connection with the sport. My MEng was sponsored by Reynard Cars, where I was doing research on their then ChampCar programme. I then did a PhD in impact testing and strength of materials, sponsored by McLaren. I've been lucky to work with guys like Mark Preston, Guillaume Roquelin, Brian O'Rourke and the FIA Technical Delegate, Jo Bauer. I then fell into the media side of things quite by accident and did a ten year stint as a journalist and photographer, providing photos and copy for most of the major publications.
These days, I've taken a back seat and merely maintain an archive. It started out as a schoolgirl scrapbook, and sort of... grew.
I had the pleasure of watching Paul way back when he was in ministox.
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
I'm an engineer in the railway industry. Unlike the automotive industry we tend to shy away from dynamic impact testing of trains (although there is a rig in Crespin, Eastern France, and capacity in Buxton, UK apparently) and have to rely on quasi-static testing instead for the structures, with all the imperfections of ignoring dynamic strain hardening. Since we are working with aluminium or steel, their performance is well known and the imperfections of this approach are tolerable. Components can be tested dynamically (crush tubes, energy absorption devices) and sled testing is used for seats and seating configurations now. I had a fascinating visit to MIRA to witness the tests that were conducted there, with the leader of the test house taking time an effort to explain to us how the rig works, and the fact that they model the behaviour of the engine and mounts when conducting tests on automotive interiors. I guess if you did a PhD in this you were well ahead of this sort of approach.My own connection with the sport. My MEng was sponsored by Reynard Cars, where I was doing research on their then ChampCar programme. I then did a PhD in impact testing and strength of materials, sponsored by McLaren.
We sadly get to see the result of accidents on rail vehicles, although very few these days and mostly without major injuries thankfully. Enfield was particularly interesting as I know the engineer who designed the bodyshell, and one of my jobs was to check his work. Very happy with how the train stood up to the crash, particularly as the load cases in the standards are derived from such an incident.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
My dad took a year to die; in fact he had a pretty miserable final 2 or 3 years. A couple of weeks after he died I was catching up with someone that I hadn't spoken to for many months, and told her of his death.
I was expecting the usual "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..."
What she actually said was "Oh, well, never mind - it sounds like he needed a good rest!"
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I had the pleasure of watching Paul way back when he was in ministox.
That would've been '81 through to '83 then.
My archive is a bit patchy from then. Lucky you though. The parental units hated motor racing (dad especially) so I never went until I learned to drive. And by then, it was too late.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Funny you should mention quasi-static testing, as that's part of what my PhD was in. I spent many an hour busting bits of composite using an Instron. Part of the problems with crash testing is the scale - more so in the railway industry - and the expense, which is why I ended up looking at miniaturizing the process so that some of the earlier iterations could be done in a fairly typical lab, mainly to weed out the less effective materials and lay-ups.
The correlation for composites was actually surprisingly good, as you're looking more at the pattern of failure rather than the actual numbers. This was related to all the side impact testing done on F1 cars.
Outside of motor racing, I was on the team that helped develop the Ford Transit Connect. Satisfying in a way, but I hated every minute of being there. It's part of what drove (!) me back to academia.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Blimey, I'm suddenly feeling very uneductated with my humble MSc! My email signature just wont be the same any more.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I should add that some of my test pieces were cut from actual bits of racing car, kindly donated by friends who'd had to deal with... unscheduled impacts...
It was quite amusing dragging those to South Kensinton on the tube of a morning.
It was quite amusing dragging those to South Kensinton on the tube of a morning.
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Friend of mine drives a Ford Tourneo Connect. The perfect car for him with its load capacity. You would find him much more interesting than me. He has rebuilt is own canal barge in the style of an Edwardian inspection launch, did a museum-quality cut-away model of a cylinder from a marine engine in his kitchen (not like a normal kitchen), including casting some components such as a representative part of the cranshaft in his back garden. And loves watching F1.
Makes his own clothes too when he can't find what he wants in the shops.
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
I should add that some of my test pieces were cut from actual bits of racing car, kindly donated by friends who'd had to deal with... unscheduled impacts...
It was quite amusing dragging those to South Kensinton on the tube of a morning.
Makes depositing a pair of skis and ski boots in Tate Modern cloakroom seem like normal behaviour in comparison.
I'm getting a bit off-topic here.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
That sort of scratch modelling is right up my street.
I really do admire the patience to do that kind of thing, having made an attempt of my own - sadly on hiatus, as I'm allergic to the glue.I sew too, but cat show drapes (curtains, pelmets and cushions on a small scale) rather than clothes.
I used 'Grand Flounce' in an ironic sense....
