Finally got Alpha Primus all buttoned up and somehwhat painted. I first learned about C02 cars in a Power Tech class back in 2001 while I was in middle school. I loved the idea of it, and that is really when the switch turned on in my head that I was an engineer. At the time I never imagined I would be where I was today. "Look here Robert" said the teacher. He told me to come over and look at the C02 cars that held competitions. I saw those cars and figured "heh" those are cool and I will never get to do one. Well, its 6 years later and Im building my fourth one.
This is the very first Firebird: Alpha Primus. Originally named Firebird, I wanted to continue on the little legacy I had with these cars. Each and every one preceding the last has gotten faster and better. Primus is a three wheeled "trike" design. I was a complete novice at the time, and by looking at it one cannot assume that it did well. Alpha scored 3rd place out of a class of 25. I got disqualified the first time for Alpha doing a 360 flip while still on the fillament line, then 3rd place in total races. Student wise, I scored second place, but the instructor wanted in on the good times. Goldberg was the name of his car, and it was sleek and pretty fast.
If you compare Alpha Primus to Return or even Revenge, you will notice that Alpha only has a 1/4 inch diameter hole while Return and Revenge have a 5/8 inch hole. This is because Alpha is not technically C02, but a dubbed "AO2" air-powered car. compressed air flowed through a tube and pushed the dragsters down the track. With Return and Revenge, we used C02 Cartridges that popped in the back and were punctured by a needle.
Its good to have Primus back up for display. I plan on trophying Revenge and Primus because they are champion cars. I am very proud of them. But that leaves Return. Why do I neglect Return? I actually don't. If it were not for experiments with Return, I could have never built Revenge. Revenge can basically thank Return for even being created.
2 comments:
that is a fat car and it had to be slow
Which car heh ^^
Alphas Primus was actually very fast for being "aerodynamically" troubled. It raced low and the construction quality was superb, and I was actually suprised that it performed how it did.
Return of Firebird was a heavy weight I will admit, I originally designed it as a rail car and I could not get the wheels on the inside, because power tools were banned and I already had enough blisters from gouging. The car was an important step to developing much faster Firebirds, so I consider it one.
Got to start somewhere ^^
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