Radio Control, RC Trucks

Full week of Short Course Racing.

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It was a full week of Short Course Racing. It started with my last Novice race on Monday night. Followed with my first real heads-up class racing in Short Course Mod. The week wrapped up tonight with heads-up class racing in Stock Short Course, after swapping out the massive 7.5T Novak + GTB open class power system, for a Tekin RS 17.5T stock class motor.

Monday Night Racing

It started out pretty quite, not may people showed up due to the weather, at least that’s the way it looked until race time was almost upon us, and a flood of people loaded up the racing classes, especially Novice!

Despite the huge class of racing, and being faced with the largest truck I’ve seen yet, a Traxxis REVO 4×4 monster truck (more than twice the mass of an SC10!), I dominated. Having won both the the qualifier heats with only one real competitor, a couple of the experienced guys pulled me aside and said that it was time for me to move out of Novice. I was getting the call up to the big league. 🙂

Here are the results!

Novice A Main Round# 3, Race# 2

________________________Driver___Car#____Laps____RaceTime____Fast Lap___Behind_
              Demartini, David    #2      19     8:05.113     23.670           
                   Clark, Mark    #3      18     8:02.379     25.008           
                 Metzger, Kyle    #6      17     8:29.142     26.673           
                Glivar, Tucker    #1      15     8:01.589     25.647           
             Stephens, Charter    #8      13     7:45.109     31.380           
                   Etue, Mason    #7      10     8:19.594     40.323           
                    Evans, Bob    #4       4     1:27.544     26.853           
                 Prier, Steven    #5       4     1:32.793     28.857      5.249
Wednesday Night Racing

It was a tough night of racing. Didn’t run very well, and it seems quite clear to me that I need to put a smaller power system in the truck, at least for the time being. There is more power in that truck, with it limited to 50% power, than I have the skill to drive.

Open Short Course A Main Round# 3, Race# 3

________________________Driver___Car#____Laps____RaceTime____Fast Lap___Behind_
              Schoening, Bryan    #6      23     8:15.376     18.071           
                  Steve, Smith    #4      23     8:15.551     20.455      0.175
                  Braget, Wade    #2      23     8:22.401     14.807      7.025
              demartine, david    #1      18     8:04.301     24.701
Saturday Night Racing

First race night with the new Tekin system, made affordable by selling off a spare truck and power system.

I was not able to get the A-Mail from Saturday. I’ll work on that next time I’m down at the track. I was able to construct the data for the two heats (iPhone camera to the rescue) to create this graph:

Saturday (Feb 26) Heats 1 and 2.

Some Analysis

Comparing Monday to Wednesday night laps times shows a bit of consitancy between nights. In fact the last lap of each night was far off the pace, but nearly identical in time, and I ran the same number of laps in each of the races.

Monday vs. Wednesday Night Lap Times
Cuisine, Hot Sauces

New Sauce – “Georgia Peach Pain”

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Yes, yet another of my evil brews. This one, unlike the “Afterburner“, will not send you running for sugar and milk 10 minutes after you eat it. The heat is more ‘up front’, but it’s tempered with some real flavor this time. 🙂

Preparation is similar to the previous recipe, except that the minced peppers spend a little time in the pot before going into the food processor.


Ingredients

50 grams Red Jalapeno pepper
35 grams Green Jalapeno pepper
25 grams Serrano pepper
10 grams Habanero pepper
75 grams Fresh peach (pick a variety you like)
15 grams Fresh Garlic
35 grams Fresh Carrots
75 grams Distrilled White Vinegar
30 grams Cooking Oil (used Canola)
15 grams Salt
5 grams Fresh Black Pepper

Preparation
Mince all peppers. Set aside in a bowl.

Dice peeled peaches. Set aside in a different bowl.

Pour oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic into 2qt sauce pan.

Mince garlic, place in sauce pan.

Chop the carrots into small rounds, place in sauce pan.

Cook ingredients in sauce pan for 9 minutes at high boil. Carrots should start to get a little soft.

At the 8 minute mark, toss in all the prepared pepper mincings. Cook this for 1 more minute.

Remove from heat, let cool to a warm temperature (approx 100F).

Pour peaches and contents of sauce pan into a 4 qt (or larger) food processor. Process the heck out of it. Blend / chop / whirl until it reaches the consistency you enjoy most.

Done. Cool and enjoy!

Cuisine, Hot Sauces

Captain Robert’s Infamous Pyrates Blood Sauce

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My friend Jessica sent me this one yesterday. Sounds pretty good, and, I just happen to have a few Habanero chilies hanging around. 🙂

Captain Robert’s Infamous Pyrates Blood Sauce

Found Here: [ LINK ]
1 cup stolen red wine (dry),
1 shot of rum (cook drinks)
4 tbs Red Wine Vinegar,
1/2 cup molasses,
1 cup ketchup,
2 tbs Dijon Mustard,
1 ts Chili Powder,
2 tbs Worchestershire Sauce,
1 ts Celery Seeds,
1 ts Kosher Salt,
1/2 ts Curry Powder,
1 ts Ground Cumin,
1 tbs Cayenne Pepper
optional:
1 tbs cooks own blood,
1 diced habanero

Simmer tell thick, spread on the meat of something that died, that you then cooked over an open flame. Eat, receive praise.

I’ll be trying this out soon!

Cuisine, Hot Sauces

“Marverick’s Afterburner” – Hot Sauce recipe

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The title says it all. This is a hot sauce recipe that I call “Maverick’s Afterburner”. I liken this sauce to about 3 Stars of heat at your typical Thai restaurant.

“Maverick’s Afterburner” is my first hot sauce. But, one could really use it as a salsa, which is what I have been doing since I made it yesterday. The mix is based on ingredient research I have been doing of some favorite hot sauces. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find anything hot enough for me in the local stores (we don’t have a sauce specialty shop here…. yet). Now, could have ordered some sauces online, but, where is the joy in just buying the heat? Why not learn a little something about MAKING the heat? So that’s what I tried to do.

The sauce is a Habanero chili and vinegar based sauce, but that’s not the only chili pepper or ingredient required, but it is the major contributor of heat.

Now you might think heat is a relative thing, but there is a standard for measuring the ‘heat’ of a pepper. It is called the Scoville Scale. The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present in the chili. Capsaicin compound stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings, and is the active ingredient in the pepper sprays used by Law Enforcement (for example). It’s like BTU ratings for your furnace. The higher the number, the hotter the pepper.

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup Habanero Chili (100,000 -> 350,000 Scoville units)
3/4 Cup Serrano Chili (8,000 -> 22,000 Scoville units)
3/4 Cup Jalapeño Chili (2,500 -> 8,000 Scoville units)
2 large Carrots – chopped
1 Cup White vinegar
1/2 Cup Water
2 Tbsp Garlic (measure minced)
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Fresh ground black pepper
4 Tbsp course mustard

Preparation:
Place all ingredients, except the peppers into a 2 qt. sauce pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft. Mix occasionally to prevent scalding or burning.

Chop or mince the peppers. Place them in a suitable sized food processor, along with the boiled ingredients, and blend.

Chopping peppers.

Once blended, you will have approximately 2-3 cups of the soon to be infamous “Maverick’s Afterburner”. There are many ways to store and use this interesting mix of heat. It could be bottled (I don’t cover the proper way to do that tonight), or placed in a sealed container (away from pets and small children) for later use. Refrigerating overnight will reduce the nose on the sauce, and it starts to exhibit a quality that the name implies. It’s a little hot when it’s first tasted, but it’s real heat takes a minute or two start to produce some power. Once it’s on it’s heat, the temperature can last 5-15 minutes depending upon your own physiology.

Maverick's Afterburner

How does it taste? Pretty good. It maybe be best on food, such as as a fish taco, or over a burrito. I’ve not yet tried that. But I have consumed a pretty fair amount by spooning it with tortilla chips.

The quest for my ultimate sauce continues. Until then, I hope you find this recipe to your liking.

Formula 1, racing

Kubica Rally Crash – very seriously injured, but lived

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This past weekend, rising Formula 1 star very seriously injured in Italy.

From CNN:

Kubica undergoes emergency surgery after rally crash in Italy

(CNN) — Formula One driver Robert Kubica has undergone a seven-hour operation in an Italian hospital after crashing while competing in a rally.

The 26-year-old Pole lost control of his Skoda Fabia car at the beginning of the Ronde de Andorra rally near the town of Testico, causing the vehicle to leave the road at high speed.

Kubica, who drives for the Lotus Renault team, was airlifted to the Santa Corona hospital in nearby Pietra Ligure where he underwent emergency surgery.
[…]

I just recieved this photo of the crash. Guard rail protruding from the vehicle. It’s amazing he survied that at all.

A British website had a video from an Italian team racing on the same section, that came across the crash scene. The video was hair-raising. The route very narrow and clearly requiring amazing skill to complete without serious consequences.

Unfortunatly the video appears to have been taken down, and I have not yet found an alternative location for it.

From:

Rally footage shows aftermath of Kubica crash

Footage of the aftermath of Robert Kubica’s career-threatening rally crash on Sunday has been posted on YouTube, and it shows just how perilous the course on which the F1 driver came to grief really was.

The pictures come from a camera on board on the car of Italians Mauro Moreno and Corrado Bonato, which was just behind Kubica’s. It shows them hurtling along the narrow and twisting route through the villages and countryside of northern Italy.

After speeding along roads barely wide enough for a single car, often with crash barriers mounted on either side to prevent vehicles from careering down the steep hills or into houses, the car tears through a small town. After more than three minutes […]

Good luck Robert. I hope for a speedy recovery and eventual return to Formula 1.

Radio Control, RC Trucks

Wednesday Night Short Course Racing – Another win!

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Ah.. it’s good to win. 🙂

SC10 Factory Team - in pit at BRCR
So, it’s still in Novice class, but it was not an easy win. There was one competitor (also named Dave) that was really giving me a run for my money, in fact he was just ahead of me when his truck broke on lap 5. He had qualified just ahead of me in the first two rounds, but not by much!

So.. here are the results… in all their ugly glory. It was a hard fought race, and I crashed many times, many more times that I should have. But I was victorious none the less. One more Novice win and they’ll kick me up to the big-boys. Which, I’m not that worried about since I raced them heads-up on Monday and came in 3rd. 🙂 

                             Bremerton R/C Raceway
Novice A Main                                                 Round# 3, Race# 2
9:16:02 PM  02/09/2011
________________________Driver___Car#____Laps____RaceTime____Fast Lap___Behind_
              Demartini, David    #3      17     8:03.504     24.370           
                      A, Steve    #5      16     8:11.161     27.822           
                      O, Johny    #2      15     8:20.383     28.348           
                       F, Jeff    #7      14     8:24.719     25.223           
                    T, Garrett    #1      13     8:06.876     24.525           
                       R, Dave    #6       5     1:58.614     25.758

Unfortunately, this will likely be the last race for this truck’s body. There are now parts of it missing, and one crack that extends from the front wheel well all the way into the windshield. She’s just about dead, Jim. I did keep it together by drilling 6 holes along the crack and using zip-ties to keep it from breaking completely in half. It looks pretty rough. The paint touch-up I did this morning is really of no consequence now. I already have a new body ready to go, but I’ve come up with a brand new concept I want to debut for this Saturdays race (it will be my first Saturday night race with the big crowds). But first I need to get some vinyl graphics cut for the truck, and even before that, I need to design them!

This hobby is not cheap (but not that expensive in the grand scheme), but it’s good clean fun, lots of great people to meet and talk too. I’ve even run across a number of people racing R/C that I used to race with when I was running my Porsches with Bremerton Sports Car Club. Some people are just gear-heads, and I’m one of them.

Radio Control, RC Trucks

Monday Night Racing results

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Wow, it was a challenging night at BRCR on Monday. Turnout was a little down so Alex (race director) combined what is typically 4-6 racing classes down into two.

Class 1 – Novice, Stock and Open Class Short Course Trucks.

Class 2 – Stock Stadium Truck, Stock Buggy, Open Stadium Truck, Open Buggy.

So, instead of racing just Novices (we are allowed to basically run ANY set-up in our Short Course trucks), I was racing against Stock, Modified and Open class Short Course as well. Field was 8 entries deep:

   Demartini, David    #1    (novice)  
   Kuiphoff, Chris    #2       (novice)     
   Arns, Zach    #3                
   Hansen, Dylan    #4     
   Livingston, Wes    #5     (open)          
   Wirtanen, Tony    #6      (open 4x4)        
   Pergam, Ewan    #7        (open)     
   Cigledy, Mike    #8

Still sorting out some handling issues from last week, I was not running at my best, yet, I managed to complete the two qualifier rounds and start in the 4th grid position for the final A-Main!

The race itself was a little chaotic. With the fast drivers and fast trucks picking their way through the slower traffic. Again, I had problems getting my track rythem until the last few laps. Really not my best work at all. I was really concentrating on getting good laps in and not paying any attention at all to my position in the pack. I knew I’d been lapped at least twice by someone, but when the 10minute race was over, I was VERY happy with the results!!

                             Bremerton R/C Raceway
Novice A Main                                                 Round# 3, Race# 1
 8:24:46 PM  02/07/201
________________________Driver___Car#____Laps____RaceTime____Fast Lap___Behind_
                Wirtanen, Tony    #6      21     8:21.280     21.988           
               Livingston, Wes    #5      20     8:22.139     22.404           
              Demartini, David    #1      18     8:20.438     24.441           
                 Hansen, Dylan    #4      18     8:26.542     24.410      6.104
                  Pergam, Ewan    #7      17     7:54.331     23.808           
                 Cigledy, Mike    #8      17     8:00.449     25.100      6.118
               Kuiphoff, Chris    #2      16     7:55.236     26.385           
                    Arns, Zach    #3      13     6:37.676     26.224

Racing against some of the best Short Course competitors in the area, I managed to pull off a podium finish. I even turned my 2nd fastest lap so far! I think that if I’d not spent the first 15 laps crashing and lawn-darting the jumps I could have been right up there with the top 2 guys on the lead lap.

There’s always Wednesday Night Short Course racing! 🙂

racing, Radio Control, RC Trucks

Team Associated releasing a 4×4 SC10! Oh, is this a must have?

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While checking on the RC10.com site for blank setup sheets (I want to record the current tuning of my Factory Team SC10), I am faced with this:

NEW Team Associated SC10 4x4

SC10 4×4 Kit

1:10 Scale 4WD Electric Short Course Truck Kit.

Experience the thrill of four-wheel-drive action and performance with the SC10 4×4!

* Unique dual gearbox drive train coupled together with a 5mm heavy duty belt system with external tension adjustment
* 32 pitch front and rear gearboxes with sealed fluid filled differentials
* Decoupled center slipper clutch allows for front and rear wheel drive to slip independently, resulting in more traction and stability on bumpy track conditions
* CVAs with captured drive pins and heavy duty 6mm alloy axles
* 12mm hex drive KMC® replica wheels front and rear with aggressive short course racing tires
* Championship short course racing body (clear), with Team Associated decal sheet
* 13mm blue aluminum big-bore threaded shocks with low friction X-ring seals
* Composite modular tub chassis with Low-CG and Low Polar Moment design
* Enclosed water-resistant receiver box, and removable ESC tray for easy clean up and maintenance
* Ball bearing steering system with adjustable steering stops
* All metric hardware and ball bearings throughout
* Uses most 540 and 550 brushless motors

Video preview of the upcoming truck. Looks slick, and it looks like they addressed a few of the remaining issues in the 2WD SC10 (like the shocks, which are now being dwarfed in size and performance by competition, such as LOSI). Having just sheared my Factory Team truck in half tonight during practice (more on that in another post), this updated truck seems like a must have? But, is it? I don’t know. Yet!

More on this as information becomes available.

racing, Radio Control, RC Trucks

New Short Course body completed.

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Photos of my new SC10 body in progress, along with the final result.

Test fitting the new body, and marking for the body clip posts:

SC10 Body B - measuring for mounting holes.

Masked and ready for paint:

Body masked for the first stage of painting (main color)

Primary color applied. This silver does not adhere well, so I had to apply 4 main coats:

First few coats of main color go on.

After the 4 main coats of silver, 2 rounds of spot touch-ups were required:

After 4 main coats and 2 rounds of touchup. Main color is complete.

Next the detail colors were laid down. First the Competition Orange applies to fenders and sides. Next was the black layer for door stripes, and finally, a small layer of white for the detail stripe down the door stripe center. My experiment in using Sharpie pens to add some line detail to the body, mostly failed. I was able to apply the lines with acceptable results, but contact with the paint caused the lines to start bleed, making them puff-up, which is what you see in the photos. Big, soft Stay-Pufft like lines. It was a useful experiment.

Nearly completed result after 3 more colors applied.

After completing all the layers and a little touch-up in corners, all the masks are removed to reveal the bare painted shell.

Paint completed and all masks removed.

Finally, the end result, at least for now. A small amount of decals applies to give it some visual interest. The challenge here is to resist the urge to over-do the decals. I have piles of them, and the temptation to turn the thing into 3lb. rolling bill-board is sometimes bothersome.

Final Result.

A few of you may have noticed that this is not a Team Associated body, in fact it’s manufactured by their main rival. I selected this body for several reasons:

  • Price – it was $10 cheaper
  • Design – body has high wide wheel openings
  • Convenience – body was already fully trimmed.

Do you know who made it?

Racing, Photography, Software and Politics.