Flying Panteras!

quote:

Originally posted by Murph:
I had my car do this once but not intentionally!

I did that deliberately a number of times in #6339, going east on 104th Avenue over the rathole in Edmonton.

It was that out-of-sight-over-the-hill merge lane onto 104th that made it exciting...

"Old enough to know better, young enough to do it again" -- not sure about that one.

I accidently did it (unseen railroad tracks at night) in a 68 Camaro (in high school) and broke shocks, leafsprings, etc...

Looks spectacular but not recommended unless you've seriously beefed up the suspension with aftermarket stiffeners on both ends & are middle- aged and have already led a full life. And even then, weekly checks under the car should be done, looking for cracks. Larry Stock has run many ORR events, one in which he hit a humpback bridge at 150mph and got 'serious air' according to the event organizers. No damage showed except beveling half the seat rail bolt-ends off and picking concrete pieces out of the crossmembers. A few months later when inspecting the car before another event, someone noticed the entire lower front subframe had cracked loose on both sides and there was a gap showing to the main tub! An aftermarket stiffening system was all that held the lower front suspension on....
Denise McLuggage once mentioned that she consulted for Jeep on one TV commercial that showed Jeeps leaping merrily around off-road. Denise said that afterwards, they junked 4 of the 5 Jeeps used in the commercial. Bottom line: air is for planes.

quote:

Another DeTomaso Pantera, driven by Nick & Ches De Tomaso

I didnt copy the photo, but pretty cool Im assuming these folks are part of the DeTomaso family.
Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by Bosswrench:
Looks spectacular but not recommended ...

Point taken, but there is some fun to be had.

The physics of the takeoff and the landing are critical. For example, watch the ski jumpers at the Winter Olympics: huge hang time, high speed, steep drop, but no damage on the landing.

If you look at the picture in the first post, you will notice that like in a ski jump, the ground slopes away a bit as the car is descending towards it; this will ease the landing considerably.

The same applies to the takeoff. Too sharp a bump, and there will be a lot of breakage. With just the right upslope and downslope, you won't even be able to tell that the car left the ground.

Ideally, you want to feel like your stomach fell out, without a crunch on the landing.

quote:

Originally posted by eclectechie:
I did that deliberately a number of times in #6339, going east on 104th Avenue over the rathole in Edmonton.

I remember the rathole well... especially the shower of sparks coming off the back of my Camaro on landing if it was night. I was always convinced I would tear out the oil pan or bend the frame, but never did. My velocity over that big hump always had a direct correlation to what was playing on the stereo - Pink Floyd meant a graceful arc but AC/DC meant I always got in trouble afterward for failing to to file a flight plan with air traffic control...

That poor old Camaro of mine had a hard life...

quote:

Bottom line: air is for planes.

AGREED!!!