| Race Order |
Entry # | Driver Name | Car Name | Mass (grams) |
Length (inches) |
Width (inches) |
Height (inches) |
Distance Traveled (feet) |
Running Time (seconds) |
| 18 | 24 | Chris Wrigley | Wrigley Express | 128 | 7 | 4.5 | 2.25 | 31.67 | 7.42 |
Balloon car designer Chris Wrigley writes:
My car was The Wrigley Flier. The design was straightforward; make the vehicle as light as possible and use the balloons as a catapult off a yard stick. The frame was a copper circuit board that was drilled out to reduce the weight. Standard RC car wheels wheels were used with precision ball bearings to reduce friction. The heavy rubber wheels were replaced with large O-rings. The axles were slipped through copper tubing which was soldered to the frame. Axles were re-soldered until the vehicle would travel strait. I tried jet propulsion however the vehicle was too heavy. While this vehicle came in 4th for distance, the catapult method was not considered "self contained" (not explicitly stated in the original rules). The changes for next year where obvious from watching the farthest entries:
- Release the energy slowly.
- Steering is very critical.
- Friction is important.
- Weight didn't limit the vehicles that won.
In other words, a complete redesign.
MB 1/9/99