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| Miss Bud, this Gear's for you!
Down the straightaway at 200 miles per hour, Jim Kropfeld eases the Miss Budweiser into Turn One at a mere 150.
His expert driving skills and the sleek beauty of his national champion unlimited hydroplane belie the dangers facing
him. Stresses build on both boat and driver. The chop on the water is compounded by a crosswind, and Kropfeld
feels every bounce and twist as he fights to pull through the turn without sliding out of it. He's been through it all, including the terror of a blowover, so he concentrates. Hold those sponsons on the surface ... almost flying, but not quite
... keep the prop in the water ... everything under control. There's a lot to control, too.
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The Gear Works 500 S. Portland St. Seattle WA 98108 |
The Bud "dances" along the course,
her sponsons on and off the surface of the water. At the stern, her prop often breaks clear of the water, then slams back in.
In an instant, the load on the drive train goes from heavy to zero, then back to heavy again. Engineers call that
"spike loading," and it causes extreme abuse on the prop, drive shaft, gearing, and engine. If any part of the system isn't
up to the punishment, Miss Bud isn't going to finish. Does Kropfeld think about that while he's racing? "If he doesn't, I sure
do," says Ron Brown, Budweiser Racing Team Manager. "Of course, Jim's aware of those concerns, but his mission is
driving, not worrying about them. That's our job before the race, to provide him with a boat that's got what it takes to
finish and win." Actually, there are three Bud hulls, and a fourth is being built at the team's
Seattle headquarters. Under the guidance of owner Bernie Little, the newest Miss Budweiser will have advanced
safety features, including an F-16 fighter aircraft canopy, a half-hour oxygen supply, and a five-way driver restraint
system.
As you'd expect, the team can't use just any gear box. Theirs is a double reduction unit designed specifically for
the Miss Budweiser by John Maddock of Los Angeles. Inside the cast-aluminum housing are gears made by The Gear Works from
aircraft-quality 4820 forged alloy gear steel, manufactured to the most stringent criteria for metallurgical integrity. Each
is selectively case-hardened and precision-ground to AGMA Quality Class 12 or better. Special tooth profile
modifications are made to handle the extreme loads of racing from vibration, deflection, and harmonic stresses.
There are three gear boxes with different ratios used by the Budweiser team. Each is part of a modular powerplant
"package" that includes an engine, gearbox, output shaft, and associated drive train components.
How important is the gear box? "Hey, without it, we don't run!" says Ron Brown. "It's critical, just like the
hull, the engine, the crew, or the driver. You don't get to be two-time consecutive national champ without a great gearbox,
and last year we finished 18 consecutive heats without a mechanical failure." The Gear Works has been providing
gears and services to the Budweiser Racing Team for more than 15 years. "The support has been tremendous:' Brown
says; "they give us whatever-it-takes service, like meeting a crucial deadline. In racing, something unpredictable always
happens, and that's when The Gear Works comes through for us." When you have crucial gear needs,
give us a call -- we'll come through for you, too.