P-Derby

I don't know what's the matter with me. I am obsessed with this Pinewood Derby race I have coming up. It's called a "no rules" race, which means we grown ups don't have to follow those pesky weight rules the Cub Scouts have to follow. In all honesty, there are just two practical rules. The first rule is: no open flames. It's a wooden track and it's indoors. Plus, it's been done. Originality counts. The second rule: the car has to physically fit on the track. Everything else is fair game.

This is the second annual race the fellas at church have put together. I don't mean to brag, but last year, I was the undisputed champion. For lack of better working materials and a higher budget, I used the same car kit any kid can buy at the Scout shop. After hours of unsuccessfully scouring the web for good ideas, I went to a hobby shop and asked around for advice. You know, for being hobby professionals, those guys really were a little too excited to hear about my scheme. I told them I didn't want to just build a neat car to look at. I wanted to build something that was going to absolutely crush all the other cars. Their solution: a ducted fan which was meant for a Boeing 747 model airplane. It's all about the power to weight ratio. The electric motor was rated for 8 volts, but I didn't want to buy a $30 8V battery, so I just hooked it up to a more convenient 9V battery. And yes, I did stick it to my tongue to see if it was charged. The extra voltage would have overheated the motor, but luckily, the track was only several feet long, so it was only going to run for a few seconds. No problem. I installed a push-button on/off switch to act as the front bumper so I wouldn't have to touch it again after I placed it on the track. The idea being that the car rests against the start gate pressing the button. When the gate goes down, the button releases and the power engages the motor. A nifty idea if I do say so myself. Here's the result of my efforts, I call it The Destroyer...



It went so fast, that it litterally exploded when it hit the catching pillow at the bottom of the track. I had to use 5 minute epoxy to get it all back together for the next bracket race. You can see on the side where the paint had been pulled off when it broke. It's all fixed now. Ready to attempt another year of reining. I think, though, I will install some sort of catch hook on top like on the movie Back to the Future so I don't have to keep gluing it back together every time it races. The bar has been set pretty high, so this year I really need to bring my A-game. I'll let you know how it goes.