Next, we participated in a sprint qualifier, a 75 meter course. Paul decided to slowly ramp up the throttle to check for any indication of slippage that was previously occurring and the noise reoccurred at approximately 40% throttle. Upon hearing the noise, he reduced the throttle and finished the event at a cautious pace so as to not damage any drive-train components.
The next event was the maneuverability qualifier. Austin drove the boat around several buoys to demonstrate the boat's turning abilities. During this event the steering wheel sheered off and temporarily caused Austin to careen out of control. Austin then drove the rest of the event using the rope steering cables. Afterwards the steering wheel was reattached more securely.
In the afternoon, Mike and Paul continued their quest to diagnose and cure the sprint mount. They stopped by the same marina they had been to previously but realized that the problem might not actually be residing in the lower unit but somewhere higher up on the mount. On the way home from the marina they noticed an Autozone car center sign saying, "Parts, Service, and Advice", and decided to see if anyone could trouble should the timing belts on the sprint mount. Amazingly someone at Autozone was able to provide the third option, some advice. He noticed the QD bushing attaching the drive shaft to the timing belt was loose and moving up and down. This was apparent by the chunks of metal screws on the QD bushing had removed. Upon returning to the lake, Paul tightened the set-screws to the QD bushing.
Tomorrow is the first 300 meter sprint race, and we are anxious to see the how the sprint mount fares.
A much overdue photo, the National Instruments touch panel computer in action.
A closeup of the (previously mentioned) solar panel mounting hardware.
Paul is on his way back from the sprint qualifier event.
The boat being loaded into the water, gracefully.
Austin is ready for some action.
Austin received some action.
Barb and Randy Wedler arrived today.
The sprint mount is being repaired.
A circular arc has been scraped out of a supporting piece of aluminum on the sprint mount by screws on the loose QD bushing.
1 comment:
glad to see Fayetteville hasn't changed much. hope the competition went well and everyone is back safe!
Post a Comment