Aussie Fan in Vancouver visits 'HAWK

New South Wales resident, Michael Moore came from Australia to Canada to see the Goldenhawk streamliner making him the winner of the long distance fan award. He contacted Kevin Knox of Diversions , his friend and fellow model railroader, and they are shown here deep in discussions of salt flats locomotion. Michael Moore is in the Justice and Corrections field in his homeland. However, he and his wife would consider a move to North America a nice change of scenery. "Thanks for dropping by, Mic!"

Congratulations Tina and Kevin

The wonderful, ever smiling bride "Tina".

The Blushing groom!

Mr.& Mrs.Kevin and Tina Knox

After 22+ years of living together, the about to be grand parents decided to "make it legal" Sept 8 2008. It was a great celebration enjoyed by family and friends on their patio. The cake tells it all. BEST WISHES from the team.



However, Mr.Tool Tech has his own way of cutting cake. (just kidding around)

KEVIN KNOX KOMPLETES KANOPY

Here is the canopy , fully braced, self locating and smoothly operating replete with the cut outs for clearing the instrument panel. The instrument panel will be laser cut out and finished by DIVERSIONS (www.kevinknox.com) . Great job and slightly less costly than the $9,000.00 paid by some racer we know. Thanks to the sponsors, Barry Clarke's, PLASTEC and DIVERSIONS without these people the car would not have a body at all.

Puffer vs Blower

Compare the stock turbo size to the race turbo, you can see why the engine will output 5 time the horsepower. Both are from HOLESET TURBO CHARGERS.

Werner is fabricating and mounting components

Werner is holding the differential oil pump to which he attached a 12 volt special motor and remote filter to supply oil to the pinion bearings. He is also checking out the borrowed turbo from PEAK DIESEL PERFORNANCE (Piers Harry's new company). It should do the job!

Rear Frame & Axle completed

The last of the big welding has been completed by the crew and Aggressive Tube Bending as you can see from the very Robust rear axle mount. A little coating and the rear wheels tires and brakes can go back on. You can see the COOL-IT air conditioner condenser mounted in the tail by Werner.

New tail feathers by MURPHY AIRCRAFT

When the composite tail of the Goldenhawk was completed by Kevin Knox of Diversions it was exactly as the plans (drawn by me) called for, however, once completed it was decided that a more rigid material and a more aerodynamic design would be an improvement.

So we contacted Darryl Murphy of MURPHY AIRCRAFT manufacturing in Chilliwack, BC. Darryl, listened to our plans for the next vertical stabilizer and with kind sensitivity to my feelings, suggested we meet to discuss a much better design. So yesterday, Kevin , trusty laptop in hand and and I, riding in the old Mercedes, top down , wind in my thinning hair, visited Murphy's plant in Chilliwack.

Darryl gave us a tour of his revamped facility and a peek at one of the world's largest state of the art, laser cutting machines and stepped in to build a new vertical stabilizer that will more resemble the Sabre F-86 and be engineered strong and safe like all his aircraft components.

You can see his line up of super airplanes by going to http://www.goldenhawk.ca/ click on the team and then on Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing or just click this link to see the great video presentation. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1127733508/bclid1125865333/bctid1125998103

Makes me want to build a plane next!

"G' Hawk" fans enjoying Bonneville 07

Guess who we met at the salt? Yes, Neil Finegold and his buddies from Switzerland! You saw him on previous posts, the white Camaro with the tall chick in the white short shorts! JBM sales rep and the photographer of the previous Bonneville post is pictured here with Werner Sprenger (G'hawk Crew Chief) and yours truly.

Watch for more photos, yet to come from CH.

BONNEVILLE SPEEDWEEK Revisited

Bonneville Speedweek revisited!
The sign at lands end is always a welcome site to those of use with Salt Fever, however, the preceeding rains left a small lake where we entered the Mecca that is the world's fastest place.
Notice if you will, the water standing back of the sign. The hot rod coming in and the line of cars picking their way out. I understand the course was pretty good considering it had to be developed in a short time.

HATS OFF TO THE VOLUNTEERS WHO MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN AT SPEEDWEEKS!

Cole Sorensen and Daryle check the progress

Cole is the son of our talented sponsor, the guy who does the artist renderings of the car and is reported to be developing a design for our team swag. Cole liked the car but Dad loved the feel of sitting in the cockpit. Put a helmet on him tighten the straps and watch him fly down the salt.

Late breaking news!

You can click on article to read or go to website for complete article including Landspeed Louise's comment'shttp://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/features/article2277715.ece

Answers about the Radon Health Mine

To answer all that ask "What are you doing"


" Where are you?" Please check out the website on this business card.

www.radonmine.com

Regards,

From the ancient minor! Randy

(spelling is intentional)

How to install a rear axle in a prototype aero car.

It took two long evenings and 16 hrs at Aggressive Tube Bending

but the rear axle was perfectly and squarely located by Peter Dieseng. Pat Carlson,Werner Sprenger,Kevin Knox and Me. Once again the crew showed their tenacity and skill in performing tasks with no clear drawings!

Landspeed Louise, " Canadians missed you"!

When it comes to land speed racing media persons, no one is more popular in Canada than Louise Ann Noeth, aka Landspeed Louise. Everywhere we went at the salt we were sharing the news that she was convalescing awaiting surgery in California. At last report she is recovering as expected and we hope she will be mobile and driving the "GHawk" when we get it to the salt.

Wishing her a speedy return!

Werner hanging with the media folks

We may have not witnessed very many exciting record runs this year but the Hot Rods were out in full force. Hundreds of fine examples of rat rod and rad rides. At the BBQ at the Bend in the Road we met these guys from Prairie Speed and Hop Up Magazine. Earlier we had met Wendy from the Bonneville News and Pork Pie from England's Speed trials magazine.

Speed Demon and Spies

Speedweek is always a time to admire new creations and chat with friends, this year was no exception. Werner and I got to spend some time with Mr Flatfire himself , Ron Main who was debuting his newest creation SPEED DEMON. IT IS VERY WELL EXECUTED AND WE WERE ABLE TO STEAL A COUPLE OF IDEAS FOR THE GOLDENHAWK.

"Girls on Bikes" arrived safely

Sunday at Bonneville was delayed by wind for a while but the wind also blew in our greatest fans Alana & Robyn,(see their trip on the link to their blog) and We met them and Ray at the Nugget in Wendover to receive the bikes for transport back to Vancouver. Werner built a very good bike rack for the van to safely do the job. Good work Werner!


Monday we introduced them to the Lands end crew and Linda as well as Wendover Visitors bureau manager Kerrie Supanich, showed them land speed racing and gave them a big Hug to send them on their way to hike in Zion Nat. Park.

We are back at Bonneville

Well Speedweek59 (2007) Was and that is good. As you can see the rains dampened the road out to the salt but not the desire to get there. The longest line upin Wendover wasn't the Buffet or the hot rod show but the car wash!

Werner and I drove from Vancouver to Wendover on Friday the 11 August, 14.5 hours is fairly easy with two rapid drivers and not many long stops.

Good transport hunting

This is for sale by Bob owner of the KOKOMOTION and a prostock drag car. We are considering it but also looking at other trailers ,new and more pro finished.

Last convertible

A classic,a collector, handmade, convert and hardtop, sports car, great suspension, tires and brakes, goes like a bat outta hell. My last convertible, the one I have always wanted since it came out, but the thrill of the 57 Pontiac convertible,over shadowed these other fine automobile, a 1965 Dodge Monaco convert, a 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury convert, an Austin Healy Sprite, and a 1970 Red M.G.

It was like an infatuation of the first order!

Do remember your first automotive love?

This was my first convertible, a '57 Pontiac.

It was August 1964, the car was a bit rusted underneath, but it looked new and for a 21 year old RCAF photographer it was my dream car . I paid $600.00 for it in Ottawa, the first day of my summer leave, put my bags in the trunk and I drove it, non stop, top down across Ontario, through Michigan,Wisconsin,Minnesota, North Dakota,stopping only for gas and coffee, to Newdale, Manitoba to visit my sister Gaylene and (bro'n'law) Glen. I had lived and gone to school there before joining the Airforce so it was party time. The car was aptly named, after the Animals' classic song "House of the Rising Sun" for it was many a dawning day that witnessed, my friend, Bob "Crow" Brown and yours truly returning from preserving the wild life.

Those were the "Happy days!"

Hawk has hatched but needs time to fledge.

Alas there is not much to report about the progress of the build. It is that time when summer holidays and family activities dominate the time and minds of red blooded people. The same people who were passionate about building the streamliner in January, find themselves short of time to do the extra things they have on their to do lists.
However some parts are being made for the rear end and hopefully next week Ben will be finished the overdrive. Kevin will take the car to Hydra Steer on the 15Th for the three day build of the steering shafts and the mounting of the steering wheel. I will go hunting for more sponsorship for safety equipment.

I sure wish we were going to Speedweek to run the car but Werner and I plan to attend anyway.

Question from guest to web site.

What happened to the first car you were building with the rear engine/ We thought it was pretty neat and we liked the 2 litre diesel engine concept.

Was it a VW tdi? Yes, it was a tdi.

Click the documents to enlarged to read

Province Newspaper article June 2007

For those who missed it and requested copies, I can only offer you this, it is the text without the photo of Werner, and Peter Diesing and Yuri Tofini of Aggressive Tube Bending.
As follows:
Driven Surrey crew hope car shatters speed record; Golden Hawk could reach 500 km/h Byline: Glenda Luymes Source: The Province
Five hundred kilometres an hour.That's how fast Randy Pierce could find himself hurtling down a racetrack in the Utah desert this summer, hoping to set the land speed record and guarantee Surrey a place in the record books."It will be our first time out, so we're hoping to run the car somewhere over 200 miles an hour," Pierce said yesterday. "But the computer tells us we should be able to go 330 miles."That's more than 500 km/h and a certain record for the makers of the Golden Hawk. A crew of about 25 people, many of them from Surrey, have been working on the car at a Port Kells warehouse for more than a year.Pierce said the streamliner car is almost guaranteed to set a record at Speed Week, Aug. 11 to 17, on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, because there are no other vehicles in the same class."It's a one-of-a-kind," he said.The four-wheeled, steel-framed Golden Hawk is powered by a four-cylinder, 3.9-litre diesel engine, with a turbocharger and nitrous-oxide injection.When it's complete, the car will be loaded on to a transport truck and driven to Utah, where it will be raced on a seven-mile course."We want to establish the record for the four-litre this year, and then come back next year and do better," said Pierce.A truck will push the car for the first mile until it reaches about 100 km/h. By the third mile, the car will be running on its own, and its speed will be measured over the next three miles. At the end of five miles, the car will be shut down and four disc brakes and two parachutes will slow it down.Pierce will be the car's first driver, followed by his next-door neighbour, mechanic Werner Sprenger.Pierce said he's not nervous about the ride."[The car] is like an arrow. It wants to go straight, so it's really pretty safe," he said.Pierce said he's building the car for "bragging rights" and publicity for the automotive industry.A former public relations photographer and dragster racer, the 64-year-old Surrey man now owns www.carpe.ca (Agnew Bailiffs and Financial Adjusters Ltd.) a bailiff company. In 2003, he underwent heart surgery.Instead of slowing him down, the experience has given him the need for speed.The rest is history in the making.
Thanks to gluymes@png.canwest.com for the story.

This is holiday season and Parts are slow to be made/completed

I am trying to be most patient as I wait for parts to be made or modified. So far the cockpit/canopy is getting an interior liner by Kevin Knox and built by ATB to stabilize it . The rear wheel mounting system is almost ready to install. Aggressive Tube Bending again came to the rescue by donated the very high quality brass pump for the Front drive oiling system. Now I have to find a winch motor to drive it. Paul Dukes at HydraSteer is waiting parts and will install the steering 15 August at their shop. Nick Boos the TOTAL CONTROL artist (airbrush genius). Ben at OTT INDUSTRIES says the overdrive will be ready next week end. (www.totalcontrolart.com ) is champing at the bit to get started. GOODYEAR HAS BEEN SILENT!! Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo weeeeeeeeeeeee waaaaaaiiiiiiiiittttt.