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Click on links to see extra photos When
repairs were done, there was just time to reach Bonneville.To familiarize
himself with the car ,Green cruised carefully back and forth across a
section of the flats known as "the parking area" . First time out on
the course itself he ran 236mph but found the experience far from what he had
expected "I hadn't fully anticipated that I'd have the feeling of rattling
and banging down the black line like a rock in a can…the salt was a little
rough….".There were other problems as the speed rose ,"at 250 mph
the upholstery of the seat hugged me like a pressure suit, at 275 I had the
weird feeling it was snowing in the cockpit!"
the cockpit was actually pressurizing as the air speed increased and
filling with stray salt crystals which bounced around in a most disconcerting
way. The problem highlighted concerns that the Plexiglas canopy might be blown
out or ripped off at higher speed. Handling was OK until a serious oscillation
built up in the front axle "because it was so short". Additional shock
absorbers were fitted and from then on it handled a treat . Green recalls that
he could quite easily steer with one hand, using the other to hover over power
and chute levers" I never drifted more than 8 feet from the black
line".
The
first use of the after burner produced a 300 mph run and when it was shut down
it felt like someone had "slammed on the brakes, but the airspeed indicator
showed that I was still accelerating under regular engine power". 335mph
was clocked before the engine suddenly went off-song. Salt crystals were being
flicked off the front wheels and back into the engine where they stuck to the
turbine blades, throwing them off balence. Time was running short and although
every effort was made to clean the blades, the job couldn't be completed in
time. It was 1963 and the WINGFOOT team left Bonneville to Craig Breedlove - who
promptly put the record above 400mph for the first time with his 3 wheeled
Spirit of America only to run into controversy - but that, as they say, is
another story!
Returning
in 1964, WINGFOOT EXPRESS struggled
to pick up speed.For a week the team ran it back and forth without getting
nearer to 400 than they had the previous year.The engine lacked it's previous
power and as the allotted time on the salt drew to a close a desperate last
minute fix was sought.At one point 14 people simultaneously swarmed over the
car, changing to a back-up engine but once completed the performance was still
not what they had previously experienced. Finally Art Arfons took his brother
aside and suggested opening the "clamshells" on the exhaust a touch.He
figured the current 17 inch opening was maybe too small and back pressure was
stifling performance."There had been a great rivalry between Walt & Art
Arfons.but for the most part this had been healthy"says Green "it was
a 1/16 turn of the idle adjustment on the engine and opening of the afterburner
clamshells (to 19 inches) that brought the engine up to record
performance". As a final tweek,Green took a snips to the bodywork and cut
away some of the engine intake to help relieve back pressure when the throttle
was shut down - only afterwards did he realise,to his horror,that he'd cut away
part of a Goodyear logo in the process…
Back out on course and WINGFOOT clocked 299mph without using the 'burner.
Time was now getting very short.On October 2nd at 4.06pm the car recorded 406
mph with a few short stabs of afterburner.At the turnaround there was no time
left to refuel as darkness was about to fall so in order to conserve what they
had, the team rolled WINGFOOT up to a starting point just 2 miles away from the
timing lights.Green gave the car it's head and turned a 420,07mph return run to
grab the record at an average
413.20 mph - a shade under 2% above Breedlove's
3 wheeled best. One hour of daylight remained on the last day they had
booked on the flats.
Sadly
for the crew,they had little time to bask in the achievement for within 3 days
the record had been hiked by none other than Walt's brother Art and
WINGFOOT EXPRESS was no longer the fastest car on earth.Despite the
potential to run the car much faster on a longer run-in, Tom Green had no desire
to risk his neck on getting the record back . He returned to his job and today
sits as vice president of the company,producing wrenches for SNAP-ON. "I
did offer to help Walt with his rocket car but the design was his own".
Arfons went on to build the second WINGFOOT EXPRESS with solid fuel rockets but,
despite fiercesome performance, it lacked enough sustainable power to maintain
record pace through the measured distance. Reading between the lines, one feels
the radical concept of the car was somewhat alien to Green and his involvement
with Land speed records had reached it's conclusion.
.Of the current record,held by his namesake, Andy Green, Tom considers it "a tremendous breakthrough,which may not be surpassed for many years".One question remains unanswered : where is WINGFOOT EXPRESS today?
Tom
Green has no idea and neither,apparently does Walt Arfons! Any news would be
welcomed.
If,like the author, you wondered where the rather odd name for the car originated, take a look at a Goodyear tyre and as they say on American exam papers "go figure" !
THIS
ARTICLE WAS BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH TOM GREEN IN 1999 . MY THANKS TO HIS
STEP-SON TOM GROH FOR HIS INVALUABLE HELP.