• TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Inspection
    • Heat Treating
    • Lubrication
    • Materials
    • The Gear Industry
    • Gears by Type
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
    • Subscribe
  • VIDEO
    • Gear Technology TV
      • Ask the Expert Live
      • Revolutions
    • Industry Videos
  • BLOGS
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • ADVERTISING
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
    • Print Advertising
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • Print: Specifications
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
    • Online Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-mail Advertising
      • E-mail: E-Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: AGMA Industry News
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
  • CONTACT US
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Blogs » Gear Talk With Chuck » Failing Boldly

Gear Talk With Chuck
Gear Talk With Chuck RSS FeedRSS

Manufacturing / Inspection / The Gear Industry / Processes / Grinding / Testing / Trade Shows & Events / History / Gear Expo
Charles schultz
Chuck Schultz is a licensed engineer, Gear Technology Technical Editor, and Chief Engineer for Beyta Gear Service. He has written the "Gear Talk with Chuck" blog for Gear Technology since 2014.

Failing Boldly

May 22, 2014
Charles D. Schultz
No Comments
[starbox] Aside from the pure mechanical beauty of it, my favorite thing about the Indy 500 is the tradition. What’s more, few events can match it in terms of size or spectacle; you can’t really appreciate it on television. Many longtime fans boast of never missing the race and can expound for hours on race strategies, heroic drivers, and genius builders. My own special memories are more engineering-oriented. I am a student of the spectacular failures that have shaped the results over the years. Some of my pals think I have applied that history of failure to my own midget racing team. But that is a topic for another day. The first 500 radio broadcast I can recall was the 1963 event. I was a fan of the new rear-engine Lotus Fords and thought the officials robbed Jimmy Clark of the win by not black-flagging the leaking Watson-Offy of eventual winner Parnelli Jones. The start of the 1964 race was marred by a fatal wreck, and after the long, sad delay, Lotus fans were disappointed as the Dunlop tires the Lotus team used were shedding big chunks of tread. Almost every year since there has been a very public and expensive failure to talk about. Lloyd Ruby’s car ripped apart by a fuel hose; the STP turbine car forced out due to a $6 ball bearing in its gearbox. Things weren’t much better the next year for the cheese wedge Lotus-turbine when it lost a fuel pump. It was almost like the curse of the Novi stuck to the STP brand. Ignore how much money or engineering know-how has been thrown at it — “The Brickyard” has a way of humbling even the most experienced racers. Historians recall the 1935 entry of ten Ford V-8-powered Miller race cars and their weak point — a steering box too close to the exhaust pipes. 1920’s genius Harry Miller continued to bring advanced technology to the event, only to see his reputation tattered by their failure. The lesson I take from this is that bold engineering breakthroughs seldom succeed without lots of testing and careful development. This is true on the race track and in the gear shop. I wonder what failure will be remembered from the 2014 race.

Recent Comments

Thank you for this - Happy Saint Patrick's...

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
FEATURED VIDEO
  • A Look at Helios Gear
May 6, 2022
RECOMMENDED
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • State of the Powder Metal Industry

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_30_Image_0001.jpg
  • The Afterglow of Furnaces North America 2022

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • AGMA
Powered byAGMA
Copyright © 2023 Gear Technology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact