"One Second in the Life of a Racer" by Tom Fey
The Unlimiteds go flashing through the racecourse, engines howling,
air shearing, heat waves streaming. Four hundred eighty miles an
hour is 8 miles a minute, and the elite racers take about 70
seconds to cover the 9.1-mile Reno course. If you could take a
souped P-51 racer flying the circuit at Reno, slow time down, and
examine just one second, what would you find?
In that one second, the V-12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine would have
gone through 60 revolutions, with each of the 48 valves slamming
open and closed 30 times. The twenty-four spark plugs have fired
720 times. Each piston has traveled a total of 60 feet in linear
distance at an average speed of 41 miles per hour, with the
direction of movement reversing 180 degrees after every 6 inches.
Three hundred and sixty power pulses have been transmitted to the
crankshaft, making 360 sonic booms as the exhaust gas is expelled
from the cylinder with a velocity exceeding the speed of sound.
The water pump impeller has spun 90 revolutions, sending 4 gallons
of coolant surging through the engine and radiators. The oil pumps
have forced 47 fluid ounces, roughly one-third gallon, of oil through the
engine, oil cooler, and oil tank, scavenging heat and lubricating the flailing
machinery. Perhaps 1/8 fluid ounce of engine oil has been either
combusted or blown overboard via the crankcase breather tube.
The supercharger rotor has completed 348 revolutions, it's rim
spinning at Mach 1, forcing 4.2 pounds or 55 ft # of ambient air
into the combustion chambers under 3 atmospheres of boost pressure.
Around 9 fluid ounces of high-octane aviation fuel, 7843 BTU's worth of
energy, has been injected into the carburetor along with 5.3 fluid ounces
of methanol/water anti-detonant injection fluid.
In that one second, the hard-running Merlin has turned the
propeller through 25 complete revolutions, with each of the blade tips having
arced through a distance of 884 feet at a rotational velocity of 0.8 Mach.
Fifteen fluid ounces of spray bar water has been atomized and spread
across the face of the radiator to accelerate the transfer of waste heat
from the cooling system to the atmosphere. In that one second, the
aircraft itself has traveled 704 feet, close to 1/8 mile, or roughly 1.5% of a single lap.
Over 1.65 million foot-pounds of work have been done, the equivalent of
lifting a station wagon to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
The pilot's heart has taken 1.5 beats, pumping 5.4 fluid ounces of
blood through his body at a peak pressure of 4.7 inches of mercury over
ambient pressure. Our pilot happened to inspire during our measured second,
inhaling approximately 30 cubic inches (0.5 liter) of oxygen from
the on-board system, and 2.4 million, yes million, new red blood
cells have been formed in the pilot's bone marrow.
In just one second, an amazing sequence of events have taken place
beneath those polished cowlings and visored helmets. It's the
world's fastest motor sport.
Don't blink!