Derby Talk

Ron, Welcome. Please make sure you check with your organizers before using the kit. I know a lot of scouts are not allowed to use precuts and you don't want to hearbreak of having your son's car disqualified the day of the race. Either way, if you have access to tools, I would suggest at least doing...

If you must use all parts, I would probably grind it as thin as possible (or drill holes in it to reduce weight), reshape it a little and use it as a spar to conect the pontoons. I would then use the rudder supplied in the kit attached into the rear spar and watch my boy speed down the gutter.

I would definitely ask before doing anything. I wouldn't think, you would have a problem with your idea but, in my way of looking, there is nothing even saying you have to USE the slots, just that you can't move or remove them. If it were just me (and not my son's car) I would leave the slots, drill...

I also have a copy of "Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets" by David Meade and "Speed to the Finish" by Randy Davis. Both are great books and give a lot of information. I can't and won't say a bad thing about either. That being said, my son has "Learn to Build a Winner" on his...

Thanks so much for the info. I have one of the little ones (just made wolf) so we should have these for our Jan 2010 season. I have four more years to play

Thanks so much for the info!

This is sorta a double post as I initially posted elswhere- However, This is hot off the press- I spoke with BJ Ryan & also Kahoot. A gentleman named Mr. Nelson will be in charge of alot of this next year ! As Mrs. Ryan will no longer be in the same department. Forgive my ignorance, but I don't...

Good luck. With that amount of work, I'm sure the car will run great. Have fun and take some photos.

Awesome ship, great photos, wonderfully entertaining post. Thanks for sharing.

Slotown,

Nice pics. Looks like the boats have plenty of room to spare and the kids are having a good time. Thanks for putting them up.

I suspect you are correct. After the boy put on sanding sealer, two coats of white, two coats of blue and his stickers, it no longer turned around the line. I suspected something like the weight. After all that paint it still ended up 17.7g with prop, 3 rubber bands, dowel and everything.

Graphite,

I don't think we are going to get any pictures of the 8" pipes on the tables, any chance you can put up picks of your free standing setup with 4"pipes?

Any stomach for organizing a group of volunteers to build a new track or refurbish the old track? Maybe, in your area, a fund raiser to buy a new track would work better? I figure, if the track is the problem, start at looking to improve the track. Even if it is a two year process, it can be part of...

Let me preface this little story by saying that our pack seems to have an extreme shortage of volunteers for some reason (60+boys) and this whole thing appears to have been organized by 4-5 people. I do appreciate their hard work and dedication. Yes, I voluteered to help and did what was asked and m...

That would largely depend on the speed the gate is coming down. A slower gate will still give an advantage. The slow gate can still be found on many manual (meaning it doesn't drop by spring but rather being pushed down) starts.

Nice garage. Tell us a little about the cars though. Three kids or is dad running one or more in the open class? I see two with extended wheel base and one that looks stock. Different rules or choice of little one (Wolf, maybe).