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It was a blast! Yes, for Rico and I a VERY LONG day, and at times pretty dang hot! But we found shade, good friends, and a lot of fun!

On his first run Dennis stopped the radar gun at 37 MPH. He had posted the second fastest speed at that point. The car was handling great! In his second run Dennis reached 38 MPH and his first two runs had him in fourth position and qualified for the finals. The nine fastest cars made up the first set of elimination rounds. Although the Hawksbill Flyer ran fast and true it just wasn't quite fast enough to beat the veterans of the hill. We finished nineth overall out of 56 entries. We feel we accomplished a lot in our first attempt and we are very proud of Dennis and all that he accomplished in building and driver the Hawksbill Flyer! Thank you Dennis, this was a fantastic experience for all of us!

Congrats to the etire NASTE Team on the hill supporting Dennis and the Hawksbill Flyer, Al Cristensen, Rico Locati, Jimmy Jones, and our fantastic pusher Troy Hart! You guys did an outstanding job!

Today was the day Team NASTE left its mark on the Portland Adult Soap Box Derby held on Mt. Tabor. Congratulations to Dennis Hart on his excellent finish and fast runs!

..................................!

You're welcome Doc!

See you on the 25th!!!!

The story for NASTE this month IS the Hawksbill Flyer!

Our Team NASTE entry is ready for Saturday's race. Here's the latest update from our Crew Chief/Builder/Driver Dennis Hart:

"Bill -

Luckily, when I began trouble shooting the video problem I found that the rear plug had simply come undone with all the vibration.  Reconnected it and taped it up.  Works fine.

Also put a strong white glue on that rock ding on the rear left rim.  Don't think it will be a problem.  Evidently its not too smart to go racing around on roads with stones and gravel.  Duhh.

Lastly, weighed the van and allowing for the weight of 14 gallons of gas that I added after the first weighing, we are only at approximately 210 ponds.  That's 90 pounds shy.

We can add about 40 lbs with rock filled milk jugs.  Maybe we just ought to go light on the first run and see what happens. Please think this over.  Lighter would be faster offf the line, but they will catch us downhill.

?????

= Dennis"

WOW! 90 pounds under weight and we still easily hit 35 MPH. I have no doubt that with an added 90Lbs of ballast we will have enough speed! I also feel the section of the track where it starts to level out after the "Learning Curve" is where the race could be won or lost. After walking the track at Mt. Tabor twice, rolling down the course on a bicycle, and from our testing on Sunday and seeing how quickly speeds can scrub off when the road starts levelling off, I think the extra 90 pounds is critical in helping the car maintain its speed through this slow section of the track. I know for sure the Hawksbill Flyer has very low rolling resistance, I've pushed it enough!

Zactly!...........

Yes there is a brake, but it was not used in any of today's test runs. The roughness and resulting friction of the road surface seemed to be the biggest cause for the losses in speed/momentum. We are also thinking the car maybe a little on the light side. Dennis is going to weigh the car this week and add extra ballast if we're under weight.

Today was the day for a full test of the Flyer's capabilities. I am happy to say the test runs were a huge success!

This is a video of the first test run. This first test was on a mild incline so we could test the steering and overall handling at a slightly lower speed. I had the oportunity to drive the Flyer in one test run. I found the car to be very stable and smooth. The steering was smooth without being too twitchy. It was a fantastic oportunity! Thanks Dennis!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IddGksn … e=youtu.be

After the first two test runs we changed locations to a steeper and longer hill. We started this run with very little push, which with a good hard push I'm sure Dennis would have reached higher speeds! The car ran smooth and predictably as I followed in the chase van. Dennis reported that the cars streering was excellent and the car handled quite well even at higher speeds! 99% of the construction of this gravity car was completed by Dennis himself. He did an awesome job on this racer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iBr4KS … e=youtu.be

I've been busy with "other" things, but I am quite sure Dave has been on task. We should think about hooking up with Dave for further R&D work. Things should slow down for me after mid September.

YES!

Secret HIGHWAY location!