2008 Battlefield District Cubmobile Race

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rdlongsc
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Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:45 pm
Location: Richmond, VA

2008 Battlefield District Cubmobile Race

Post by rdlongsc »

The Battlefield District of the Heart of Virginia Council held its first race in years (I think 2002 was the last) this past weekend. All the Cubs had a great time and a new batch of leaders and parents are getting the hang of organizing this event again. I have posted pictures of the event on Photobucket:

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg24 ... Cubmobile/

This was the first event in our area to use electronic timing instead of a match racing format. We used the new Judge Cubmobile timer ( serial # 001) made by John Sheffler. The timer worked really well. I would recommend this to everyone. The Cubs really liked being able to measure their speed against the speeds of previous passes down the track.

My son's car in the two-tone blue car that is a tradiitonal design. Most of the cars in our District are a modified design that look more like dragster than the BSA design. These modified designs were more stable at higher speeds. All of the cars run in this event this year had been used for many years except for 2 (ours and the unpainted traditional model). I had not initially expected to see cars used year after year. I guess this due our only having only PWD, Raingutter Regatta and Space Derby experience where the entries have to built new every year. My son came in 2nd fastest among Bears and 3rd fastest overall. We were quite happy to beat so many cars that had campaigned for years.

rdlongsc
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sporty
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Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 1:00 am
Location: rockfalls, Illinois

Re: 2008 Battlefield District Cubmobile Race

Post by sporty »

rdlongsc,

You took alot of good pictures. I am pretty impressed !

Alot of safety items on the cars !! even side guards on some !! Awesome.

Pretty neat lift / starting gate !!

I see alot of smiling and happy kids !!


Great job !!!

Thank you so much for sharing those special moments and keep up the good work !!

How did the timer system work out and please share lots of input !! I have asked the pack to get one, fingers crossed !!

Sporty
rdlongsc
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Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:45 pm
Location: Richmond, VA

Re: 2008 Battlefield District Cubmobile Race

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The Cubs were very enthused about the timing system. They are used to seeing these at PWD events and "real" racing. They really liked this feature. I had a steady stream of boys coming by the timing tent to see how they did in their last run and comparing their buddies' times to theirs. There were no glitches with the timer during the event. After the competition, one of the older siblings was running a car down the track and lost control and hit the timer stand dead-center running full speed. It went flying and broke the nipples of both pressure switches where the tubing attaches. We will have to figure out something before October to fix this. Straw bales in front of the timer did not help because this boy hit it from the side (did I say he lost control?). I made a wooden mount for the timer that was designed so that the timer could not touch the ground if it was knocked over. Thanks to John Sheffler for making a robust product, the timer held up and the Velcro mount held.

I had never seen a Cubmobile race before and had to base the starting ramp and gate designs on those belonging to the few Packs whose websites contain pictures of their events and from the info on this message board. I made 6 identical trusses, then put braces underneath the decking to make ensure the trusses go exactly in the right spot every time. The ramps are assembled separately, then bolted together to allow the starting gate to mount repeatedly in the same place. The starting gate is spring loaded (screen door spring). It takes about 20 minutes to assemble from a collection of small pieces and about the same time to take back apart. I have the trusses in the church attic and the decking in my garage.

rdlongsc
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