[BAracer]

#46

In which what goes around comes all the way back again...

So we started with a chat about Clublife and how different people around the world run race events. Most seem to charge a small entry fee, most seem to include a break at some point, but that's where the similarities ended. In the English home counties it was break for tea and biscuits, in Canada it was for bagels and doughnuts, in the US it was for general hydration and energy bars, but in Wales it was to wind up your opponents. And you will have to watch the Chat to find out which clubs use any surplus funds at the end of the year to subsidise slot car purchases!

The core of this weeks Chat was Alan's presentation on the features of inline, anglewinder and side winder motor set ups. He described it as being for newbies, but you can't keep a slot car enthusiast quiet when it comes to anything technical and the questions started coming in at a rapid rate. So we learnt about: -

• The real reason why anglewinders were invented
  
• Why NSR AW pods are odd
  
• Why Thunderslot pods aren't
  
• Reverse pods
  
• Clockwise/anticlockwise running
  
• Gear mesh
  
• Gear lash
  
• Gear forces
  
• Gear shaped hand gestures
  

And despite Alan's best endeavours for us not get excited by motors, these being only the 4th most important factor in car performance, we picked up on where Dennis left off last week with a chat on the dark art of motor management, from how the run them in (without the use of electricity), how to spot a good one (no prizes for guessing who owns a nice bit of kit that can do that), how to increase performance (by the use of sperm whale tears), and how NOT to increase their performance (by the use of a vice). And for anyone wanting to go deeper, there is always "slotblog".

And to complete the circle, the Chat was tail-ended by a further discussion on Clublife and how prize money for races can either divide club mates or bring them together, depending on how the money is distributed. Someone even suggested that the skill is to enjoy the racing even if you don't win...


Anyway, watching this Chat will earn you a CPD certificate from, and I quote one of the contributors, the "University of Slot Cars".