PAST NEWS |
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2008 Dallesport Shootout - June 17 The WWU team has organized a shootout driving event with the University of Washington and Oregon State Formula SAE teams at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport on the banks of the Columbia River. The teams have spent the first day setting up the cars and tesing in the 80 degree weather, and will run through every dynamic event as they would at the competition in the next two days. So far, it has provided a great way for the teams to see how they stack up and proof out their cars in the hot weather. |
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Viking 43, now featuring sidepods? - June 11 Janicki Industries has extended it's donations to the team to include the production of direct tooling for composite sidepods on Viking 43. After some hasty design, the molds were machined from foam using Janicki's "putty pattern" technique, then sanded and prepped by the team. The durable carbon-fiber sidepods look great and weigh less than 2.5 lbs a piece! |
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WWU Formula SAE makes the front page! - June 8 The team and Viking 43 were featured in a front page article in the Dalles Chronicle. A reporter from the Chronicle came to watch the team while they tested the car at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport in Dallesport and spoke with member Eric Urness, who grew up in the area. The article can be found online HERE.
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PACCAR Tour and Janicki Photoshoot - May 1
The team brought Viking 43 to the PACCAR Technical Center, where the team has been doing weekend tests, for a "Lunch & Learn" discussion of the vehicle with PTC employees. In the afternoon, the team brought the car to Janicki Industries in Sedro Wooley for a presentation and design discussion. Afterward, a few engineers helped the team take some photos of the car in the mill where the tooling for our monocoque composite chassis was machined. |
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2008 Viking 43 video posted on YouTube - May 19 The exciting video previewed at our April 19 unveiling was finally finished and posted on YouTube. Director and WWU student Chris Koser did a fantastic job of capturing the last few days of production and one of the first drives of Viking 43 at Cart BC in Chilliwack. The video can be found on YouTube HERE or a higher-quality version hosted on our site under Media. Thank you to Chris and his team at Sourcelight Productions for your excellent work! |
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Running Chassis - 4/10/08 Last night the team stepped up and made a major accomplishment.
"At about 5:00 am this morning we had a running car that was moving its running gear.
That being said, we have a lot of work to do! We found out last night there are a few problems with the rear of the car. None of which are over the top and all seemed well. We need to sit down and figure out the best solution to the problem. My hope is that by the end of the day there will be some sort of solution to the problem.
I just want to say thank you for all who stayed through this morning while we tried to get the car to start under its own systems. It did and we loved it so let's keep up the good work and keep on rolling!"
-Trever McDermott (Controls Team Captain) This is a huge step in the right direction as this year the team has accomplished what most thought impossible. A new chassis has been designed, built (including the chassis tooling), and is now running about 2 months before competition, more than almost any previous WWU FSAE Team. We are all extremely excited to get the car running on the ground, after a few chassis dyno runs, and take it to the Porsche Club autocross this Saturday. |
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Almost There - 3/30/08 This week a few of the major accomplishments, among many, include the CNC machining of the oil pan, painting of the chassis, and final machining of the differential components. Viking 43 assembly is almost complete and the team is constantly working day and night to finish all the small tasks at hand to get the car driving. Amongst all the of busy work the business team has been hard at work finishing the cost report and accurately getting process descriptions for all of the manufactured or modified components of the car. A big thanks goes out to Ashlee, Erin and Eric for their hard work! |
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Details - 3/24/08 The past two weeks the engine team has been finalizing the tuning of our Honda F4i engine. The exhaust manifold was completed and tested greatly improving our low end power. A few modifications to the intake plenum, bell mouths on the runners and different runner lengths, have also improved the power output of the F4i. Meanwhile, the corners were checked and rechecked for clearance and any other small issues that may impede upon the suspension geometry. |
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Near Rolling Chassis - 3/12/08 Several team members have been having sleepless nights to stick to our deadline of a rolling chassis by the end of Today. All things are going smoothly and the car in its current state just needs the push rods and pull rods installed and it will be rolling. Note the energy drinks in two of the pictures. The bottom chassis half came out better than expected and with a little work the two halves were bonded and bandaged together. Afterwards the inserts and sandwich plates (metal doublers) were bonded in and the assembly of the corners began. |
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Chassis Top Complete - 2/17/08 Today the chassis team successfully pulled out the first part of the chassis! We are all very excited to have pulled a successful part and are currently working on the bottom half of the tub. The part turned out to have a few minor flaws but will still work for our chassis. Thanks to all for the help and advice on the process from start to finish. We hope to have the bottom half complete very soon and begin the bonding of the two halves. The trimming of the top half is almost complete at its current stage. The process involves a fair amount of sanding so that the two halves will precisely meet up. |
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