Kilos accident

[daveracerdsh]

Aaron

Just want people to know that Aaron did not come to me and ask to run my boat, I came to him....which is why I feel so awful right now. If he had been perm. injured I never would have forgiven myself.

[hydromom]

Dave he was trilled at the opportunity and so happy he went that fast. No one blames you Dave. We know it is a good boat, Aaron is a smart racer and things just happen. No one should be upset with you. Aaron says he wishes you would stop feeling bad about it, "it wasn't your fault at all... just a freak accident." Things happen. Relax, enjoy your vacation... he is going to be okay.

Carla ( The mamma again) :-)

[hydromom]

Denise took pictures tonight of your boat, it does look like it can be repaired. I just brought a chunk of decking off the sponson to him, figure friends dropping by can sign it for him. LOL

[dsprint2000]

Sorry to hear about this! Hope all goes well for Aaron. We sure had a good time with him ay Pearrygin last week.

David

[Dave M]

Thoughts

Hope you get well soon Aaron. Sounds likea fun time until lift off.

Dave, don't feel too bad. I stiruggled with your philosphy for a long time when I built boats for the public. I always thought, what if... took me a good two years to just not think about the what if. But I realized I built one of the safest, fasted boats out there at the time. What they did to them after they received them was out of my control. I can't babysit. This season I let my dad run my FEH rig all year. Of course I know he is perhaps one of the best if not the best drivers in boat racing. But, I still worried a TON each time he was out there. So I guess you just sit back and let it happen. I can say if something did happen, it was doing something loved !!

Speedy recovery !!

[hydromom]

you mean this one??? Heard Aaron did mess up his lower back...............get well soon bud!

Thank you Denise Johnson for capturing this photo.

[Al Peffley]

Allow Time to Recover and Some Thoughts on Safety Gear

Hey Aaron,

We will pray for a speedy recovery for you. Don't push it in the recovery process. It takes a long time to fully heal bone and muscle breaks. There is plenty of time to rest until next race season... ;-)

This is why I always wear helmet straps and a newer style motorcycle racing neck brace when running my PRO hydro. I noticed that the German team drivers were wearing motorcycle racing, full back armor pads at the F-250 World's Cup in 2008. I am seriously considering wearing back armor in the laydown because impacts with the rear cowling and hull can damage the driver's back when ejected from the hull during a blow-over incident.

Sounds like your mom is a real supporter of your racing passions. Take time to heal. We are thankful to hear that the injuries were not more serious. Be aware that side effects to your body's health and functions due to the incident's events may become noticeable to you months after the accident. Keep your doctor informed. Take care.

Al & Bonnie Peffley
Excalibur Racing

[daveracerdsh]

Next year

I will hopefully be constructing a new DSH boat using honeycomb....something I have never done before. If anybody has any thoughts or ideas on glues etc. let me know....

[glen wesanko]

DSH flies ?

Glad you are okay Aaron, must have been a great ride, for awhile..........And as for you Dave Anderson, I can't believe you were trying to talk me into campaigning one of those death traps ! 1CW

[seanp3]

I will hopefully be constructing a new DSH boat using honeycomb....something I have never done before. If anybody has any thoughts or ideas on glues etc. let me know....

Hysol..... Have you got a source for the honeycomb?

[blueskyracer]

Hysol..... Have you got a source for the honeycomb?

But use it in very smal portions cause it weighs about the same as lead!!

[daveracerdsh]

Wasenko

Hey Wasenko...when you are ready to put your big boy pants on come talk to me......you are not man enough to run a D!

[John C167]

Don't forget Dave, Glenn flies in Helicopters (They "Beat" the air to fly) ! He knows What dangerous is !

[Al Peffley]

"Glue"

Dave,

When the boat builder carefully chooses components and mixes the chemical parts properly for the right application, West Systems epoxy (with select powder fillers) joins, fills, and seals all sorts of dissimilar composite structures in a composite hull buildup. My JDS had a composite S-glass/aluminum sandwich bottom, a reinforced GrEp/Kevlar side (needed vacuum bagging), and a GrEp dash. Make sure you fill the ends of the composite panel cells before joining them with adjacent structural parts. The hull never delaminated after two blow-overs behind Wart and three rolls (all ending right side up - amazing, come to think about it.) All of the construction was accomplished with West Systems products.

As a side note: Ed Karelsen told me at the Spanaway Inboards race last month that he and Jon used "Elmer's White Glue" on almost all of my composite 250ccH hull. The hull is made with aircraft quality S-glass/nomex honeycomb on the full panel bottom, both combing sides, sponson rear bulkheads, fuel cell bulkhead, and dash -- it has never delaminated, deformed, or cracked since 1989 after about 18 full seasons of boat racing! I think Mike B's dad blew it over once during testing.

From what I have seen and heard from mechanical engineers and composite hull racers experienced with both unlimited and outboard hydro hulls, you will be lucky to get two seasons of racing without experiencing cracking or delamination issues out of a hull constructed with a conventionally-sealed, GrEp panel hull bottom. As an example, Alex Cremona's new 'betta hull cracked almost nine or ten inches up the rear keel area at the 2008 World's Cup. You might need to add a thin, hand-layup of S-glass outer layer material to the bottom water contact surfaces to insure that water does not enter through a compromised outer sealant layer. Believe me, I know this because I worked on the B-2 and space programs at Boeing; I knew a lot of composite structure design and manufacturing engineers.

Sorry to "hijack" Aaron's "get well" thread and offer an answer to Dave's question (something for you to read while waiting in the hospital for your custom back brace, Aaron - LOL.)

Aaron, Lee Tietze told me yesterday he recovered from a similar spinal injury accident when he raced motorcycles -- he might have some good advice for you while you are recovering this winter. Be patient with the healing process (no pun intended). There will always be other race team support and foreign travel opportunities in the years to come if you stay interested in boat racing.

Al

[DiGia54D]

I will hopefully be constructing a new DSH boat using honeycomb....something I have never done before. If anybody has any thoughts or ideas on glues etc. let me know....

Dave, Shannon Bowman used Honeycomb on some of his Bezoats. He would be the person to ask.