LocostUSA.com

Yeah, I had to blow a whole day out of my schedule and missed three people (and their builds) I wanted to see. Next trip should be behind the wheel of a Locost, so I won't get bumped. The airline had sold more tickets than they had seats so I slept at SF under a bench overnight. They treated me okay; I got a replacement ticket and a $200 credit on any advertised fare over the next year...but since I'm always flying the locost way (cheapo seats on internet specials) it's not likely I'll get to use it. So I landed a day-and-some-change late, and sacrificed some of my fun to the gods of time. Oh well, such is life. I got to see some of the country I hadn't planned on, hopping standby from airport to airport to Richmond...it's all grist for the mill.

On the bright side, the '92 donor is pretty nice except for aesthetics, and who cares, right? Jon W provided and installed a turn signal so I don't even have to use hand signals. I don't have a horn, but if I keep the top down I can yell.

When I get my own PC on line, I'll post some photos.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Folks, I had a great trip, met wonderful people I had only read posts from, saw fascinating works in progress and some finished cars too, got to blast around the skid pad with Jon W and in general had too much fun, but now that I'm landed my things-to-do list is overpowering my fun-stuff list, and I don't know when I'll have the time to do my wrap-up of How I Spent My Summer Vacation. It could be a winter retrospective.

Frontest burner is to put something about our Automotive X PRIZE project on our site...the X PRIZE Foundation posted web addresses for the first 31 Letter of Intent teams on August 1, and Kinetic got a few thousand hits off it...and not a word on our site about the AXP or what we're doing about it. So that's going to be top priority for a bit, and then there's the GRM $2007 Challenge Car, busy busy busy.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Now that the dust has settled a bit, time to get these posted...where was I? Oh yes, first stop Fredricsburg VA, where Andy (I'm doing first names only; if these guys want to go public they can start a build log) is building an RX7 powered Locost...and put me up for the night in a comfy camper--considerably comfier than the floor of SFO.

One unusual feature of this vehicle is, it's the first successful usage of the HF pipe bender I've seen. This roll bar wouldn't pass a tech inspection, and it's considerably heavier than it needs to be, but I do believe it would keep the asphalt out of the cockpit were it called upon.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Next morning, up to Chantilly VA, to see Thomas's Yamaha R! car under construction. He ought to have a build log too; I'll email all these guys and tell them they'd be welcome here.

His frame front section is of interest; since the bike engine doesn't need the width a car engine needs, he's tightened up the engine bay, and moved suspension components around as needed.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

A little sidebar here: after we got back from oggling his build, we noted a nearby Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (the Udvar-Hazy near Dullas Airport) and I'd never been there and my ego wouldn't let me pass it by 'cause one of my designs is on display--an early ultralight called a Pterodactyl Fledgling. The one they have hanging was the first ultralight to fly transcontinental, back in '79 of a previus century. It's a nice display, with a lovely plaque identifying the designer as...John McCornack. Who? I guess somebody figured Jack was a nickname for John. It's still pretty darn cool!

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Next stop, Sinking Springs PA, for Jon's GRM Challenge winner. You've seen it before, and I trust you're following his At-om build, so I'll go easy on the photos...but here's a snap of a rear upright so you'll know he didn't get all that gorgeousness courtesy of Photoshop.

Jon took me out on the back roads in the Locost and let me take the wheel on the way back, then it was off to his skid pad (I gotta find myself one of those) to show off the combo of sticky tires and suspension. It was the first time in my life I've hit 1g on four wheels (and I haven't done it on a bike in over half a lifetime).

This car has an enthusiasm for corner entry that has to be experienced to be understood. It goes where you point it, but it sure expects you to point it someplace and it doesn't keep a heading without adult supervision. Perfect for autocross.

He had a couple of white Miatas on the driveway, and baby makes three, so we had a donor party.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Then north to Nathan's. He's a young guy with courage and imagination; there's a lot of original work going on in his build. He's done a fair bit of tuner stuff before (his Mini is a little rocket) but this is the first time he's tackled a project that starts out as tubing and ends up a car. It's a Miata-based Locost, he's designed and built his own rear subframe attachment, he's one of the early adopters of the Kinetic front control arms (see, I told you he had courage!) and as long as I was coming out I brought him a roll bar kit to save shipping. Hey, I travel light, it was no problem, right?

Wrong. The security folks had a real problem convincing themselves there was nothing nefarious inside the hoop, since they couldn't see through it (it's bent, y'know) and apparently it was resistant to X-rays. The inspection would have been a good job for a trained gerbil; send him in one end, collect him at the other end, and run the sniffer over him to see if he picked up traces of explosives. Anyway, even without the gerbil, they okayed me in time to catch my plane, so it was a happy ending.

By the way, I came up with a cool way of making rollbar braces. It's on my website somewhere...

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

Heh. Yeah, that's me. At least I don't look as filthy as the picture on your homepage. I'm going to have to rearrange a build... I have lots of pictures, just sloppily gathered.

And I'm being REALLY courageous! Wait till you see what Jack's making me now...

Nate
SteyrTMP

Then south to West Virginia, to the home of LocostUSA.com, to meet our host Chet, live and in person. His build log on this site is throrough enough that posting these pix is a waste of photons, but in case you've never clicked on his Builder's Log entries and missed the original thinking on his scratch built car, here are a couple views of his roll bar and diff attachment.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles