U-40 Bucket List Racing pilot Dustin Echols flips during the 2023 Madison Regatta courtesy of H1 Unlimited hydroplane racing. Video taken by Michael Green.
That is the son of a friend I have known since fifth grade, Mark Echols. We are both retired now. It put my heart in my throat to see Dustin getting airborne. Good Lord, no one should see that happen to their kids. Dustin is okay, he's doing fine.
Back in the '50's when Lou Fageol flipped the Slo-Mo 5 on Lake Washington during time trials, he fell out of the boat when it was upside down. Yes, it did a full 360 and he survived.
Most fighter aircraft are aerodynamically unstable. The pilot is flying a computer, the computer maneuvers the plane and keeps it stable which the pilot does not have the reflexes to do plus shoot thing down and all the normal stuff. If they have stability control for aircraft and cars somebody can come with high speed controls of rudder, trim, throttle, wing and maybe some NASCAR roof flap equivalents to stop blow overs. These system would sense the instability before the boat got more than 3 or 4 degrees into the event by measuring angular velocity and acceleration and coming up with a algorithm that makes sure it a real blow not just a big wave. This is similar to crash sensing for deploying airbags in cars. The sensors and the decision to fire happens in less than 15 to 20 milliseconds in a 35mph barrier crash that takes around 110 milliseconds for the whole car to come to a stop. You have to get the airbag up and in position in about 20 to 30ms to catch the occupant before he/she has started to move toward the instrument panel or steering wheel. Happens fast. Most people have no memory of seeing the airbag deploy. Your eye doesn’t refresh images fast enough to always catch the event. I think these guys deserve something better than an access hole in the bottom of the boat to get them out when they are up side down. The sanctioning body are the ones responsible for safety. This is like NASCAR drivers not wearing HANS devices until Earnhardt Sr. Lost his life to a hangman’s fracture of his neck.
@@jimboslice9472Well, most people can work from home so should we ban everyone who can work from home from going outside since it will protect them from danger?
Where is the crowd ? I think this sport is slowly going away the WW2 engine Boats had way Bigger crowds Turbines have no character they are boring. 🤷♂️
I’m a novice. Very green. But I do love my physics. Isn’t there a device that can measure the speed, and the amount of H1 in the water v. not in the water? Maybe at this time l, there could be a device that would force the spoiler to adjust, or something to aerodynamically change ?? Just thinking out loud. It seems that before each boat goes skyward, there is almost a second whereby most of the front end is visibly floating above the water. This seems like an opportunity for a downward correction. ???
I know people have experimented with gyroscopic canard adjustments before but that takes a lot of driver skill out of it. Is it possible? Yes. Will it happen? No.
The canard was deployed; it did nothing. My thoughts too - controlled surfaces to prevent a blow over, and apparently, it's more than what a canard can do. Dustin deployed it as soon as he lifted up a little - cockpit footage shows it clearly. Auto deployment of controlled surfaces can cause accidents and injuries. Things happen fast at 200 MPH... No easy solution here. Thankfully he went more than all the way around and didn't nose in.
Not a problem at all to prevent it from a physics standpoint. Even probably doing it manually could be feasible. But larger control surfaces and/or other things are needed. Its as easy as putting them in the regulations, but for now, the organisers and/or the racers arent interested in doing so.
