Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

c -.. .-: llJ .Q S c3 Evel's New Plan Evel Knlevel has entered an agreemen t with Centurl Engin eer ing Co. of ~ PhoeniX, Ariz . for the des ign of hls Grand ~ Can yon Jump Motorcycle . This agree:c: ment covers the coostruction of two [.:J separate vehlcles- SKYCYCLE X-I and ...:l SKYCYCLE X12. (J The X-I versio n will strictly be a research test bed whlch will be run at various drag strips to confirm performan ce prediction methods and aerodynamic stability, whlle at the same time stimulating public and spoosorshlp interest. A Honda 450 engine will be used for power along with two Turbonlque mono-propellant r oc kets, whlch produce a total thrust of 820 pounds and will grea tly boos t the ac celerati on capabUtty of the veh icle . The Turboniques wer e chos en because of their Inherent safety for operation before a crowd. The Th ermolene monopropellant used in these rocke ts requires a continually arcing s park just to maintain combustion and. as a r esult, a simple electrical switch can be us ed to terminate thrust In the event of any Impe nding c ontrol instability. The fuel, oxygen. nitrogen and the ir respective pressure vessels, regulators, and valves associated with the Turbonique rocket systems are complicated and heavy (approximately 125 lbs.) when compared to a solid propellant rocket of equivalent thrust and duration (approximately 30 lbs.). A solld propellant motor, however, cannot be turned off at w1ll (lice they are 19nited, unless specla1 pyrotechnic shaped charges are uaed to blow holes in the sides of the cas1Dg whlch. in turn, relieves the internal pressure. This technique. of course, also presents a safety problem. The actual jump blke (SKYCYCI:.EX-2) (II the other hand, will use solid propellant rockets - but they will be 19nited only as the vehlcle nears the end of the t; Test model of jump vehicle Is solvln, _ of Knlevel's problems. Suit a,alnst U.S. DepL of Interior will delllrmine If he'll be all d 10 jump Grand Canyon. Seq. Udall blocled thl s yur's attempt. ramp Just before becoming airborne at a safe range from any spectators. The other bastc dttference between the two versloos is the parachute arrangements . The X-I will simply use a 6 foot diameter cross-form chute for decelerauoe purposes. The X-2 'irIll require a standard backpack chute.lor Evel. a 64 foot diameter chute (based on preliminary welgbt estimates ) lor recovering the main portloa of the vehlcle and a small 10 foot chute to recover the canopy hatch a nd rudder section. • S z Evel Is not sure If he will be us the Honda engine in the second vehl.cle . It depends on test results. The picture shows one of the early flyIng SKYCYCLE models. whlch used a cluster of two Centurl rocket engines. The decision to go to a fully-enclosed canopy was subsequently made after preliminary trajectory analysis showed that speeds tn excess of 300 mph will be required to travel the 1.1 mUe distance over the Grand Canyoa. The rudder and canopy are part of a one -piece hatch. The reason that the rudder will be ejected along with the canopy Is simplY because It presents an obstruction as Evel leaves the bike. Note that the model uses two rods to guide It up the ramp and does not have an engine-driven whee l . It starts at r est (unlike the actual vehlcle) at the bottom of the ramp and uses rocket power alone. Instead of using a wind tunnel in their test program , Ce ntur l simply built various mod els and new them on simulated trajectories - recovering them bY automatically depl oyed parachutes . The final aerodynamic body will be s caled up In fi be r glas . If te s t exp er ience with SKYCYCLE X- I verif ies the stability and s oundness of the de sign, then X-2 will be mad e fr om the same mold . The s cheduled completion date for X- I (les s r ock et eng ines) Is mid-December, 1968. It will then be shipped to Florida wher e Turbonique ",ill ins tall the monopr opellant rockets and the ir associated systems . Static firing tests s hould be comple ted an d fi rst public demonstration runs mad e by mid-January. Subc ontractors who are participating in the development of the SKYCYCLES are: 1) AMT Corporation, Speed and Custom Division, 1650 lOth Street, Santa Monica, Calif. 90404 . Gene Wlnf1eld Division Manager . AMT Is bul ldlng an d painting the fiberglas bodies and also will be r esponsible for the Internal structural fram e. 2) PARANETICS, Inc., 9905 Hayward Way, South EI Monte, Calif . 91733. Rus s Wheeler - P resident an d Owner . Para netics will be r e sp ons ibl e for s i zi ng an d manufacturing all parac hute systems and ve rlfy1ng a ttachment point strength. 3) TURBONIQUE, Inc., 20 N. Kent st., Or landO, Florida 32806. Clay Middlebrooks - President. Turbonique will be responsible for r ocket unit installation, checkout, an d test fi r ings on X- I. 4) SPACE DATA CORPORATION,1331 S. 26th St., Phoenix, Arizona. Stan Wennerstrom - Vice P r es ident. Space Data produces the LOla solid propellant rocket motors. They welgb only 30 pounds and produce 2000 pounds of thrust for 2 seconds and maY be usek on X-2. Space Data also will perform the computer analysis whlch will enable Centurl to study the trajectortes obtalned under various condttioos 'of vehlcle welgb!, aerodynamic drag, ramp-exit ftloclty, ramp angle, rocket thrust force and thrust duration. Thls will enable Knlevel to then pre-determine the solid rocket motor requirements needed toguarantee adequate range and altitude for Evel's 1. 1 mlle jump; ,ons Drag Races - Sep'ember 22 I akes , • Top Biie TONY NI COSIA - SUZUKI 125.69 m.p.h.- ll.90 e.l. CSTOCK T. PARKS - SUZUKI 500/5 lol.J4 m .p.h. - 12.78 e.l. ESTOCK D. WAKATSUKI - SUZUKI X6 7U8 m.p.h. -1&.96 e.l. E MODIFIED J. JANES - SUZUKI X6 99.33 m.p.h. - 13.19 e.l. SUZUKI U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp. 13767 Freeway Drive SaDIa Fe SpriDp, Calif. IOOee Gran" Prix - sepl. 22 50 Lap - 100 Amaleur Main 1st DALE HOPKINS- SUZUKI 3rd FRED M cFARLAND - SUZUKI

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