Dessau Autobahn / 10km Land Speed Record Section
This is the 10km track as it was used in 1939 by Rudolf Caracciola / Mercedes Benz. Some very nice photos in this article: http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/fahr ... 29353.html
"Rudolf Caracciola's record of 432.7 km/h (268 mph) over the flying kilometre on 28 January 1938, still remains the fastest ever officially timed speed on a public road as of 2015" [wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes- ... ekordwagen] [this was actually on Frankfurt Darmstadt in '38, but the records of '39 were conducted in Dessau]
"Bereits einen Tag zuvor fuhr Caracciola, mit 480 Pferdestärken unter der Motorhaube, aus dem Stand eine Meile mit 204,6 und einen Kilometer mit 177,4 Stundenkilometern. Der neue Rekord in der so genannten D-Klasse bis 3 Liter ließ die Autobahn zwischen Dessau und Bitterfeld in die Automobilgeschichte eingehen." [ http://www.weissandt-goelzau.de/spurens ... t/rekorde- im-geschwindigkeitsrausch.html ]
Right now it is just a ridiculously long piece of Autobahn. The section was puposely built for record attempts in the 1930 and records were attempted during the statistically coldest days of the year, between and 22 and 29th of January. You can still drive there yourself when you go the A9 from Leipzig to Berlin, and it has always been one of my favorite pieces of Autobahn, because of the nice steel bridges and the sensation of speed.
The track was however deemed unsuitable for the land speed record by Caracciola and Mercedes ("still too short"). An attempt at 600km/h with a 3000 hp, 3 axle car built by Ferdinand Porsche was planned to take place in Bonneville in the next year, but never took place because of the war.
V2.1 Slightly altered background, times etc identical to 2.0. Version 2.0 or 2.1 should be used in squidheads competition, because it gives the most precise values.
V3.0 For a preview of Version 3.0 go here: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=9307&p=97672#p97672 Version 3.0 is NOT to be used in squidheads competition, because I am still working on it!
The straight section is 10,000m long, and absolutely straight and level. (in Google Earth I could never find an exact 10,000m straight section but slightly less)
It can be used to stop five categories of land speed records
Absolute Record = Maximum Speed (trivial)
Standing Mile at Split1 = Sector 1 Time
Standing 5km at Split2 = Sector 1 + Sector 2 Time
Flying 5km = Sector 3 Time
Standing 10 km = Total Time
Flying kilometer / Mile could be estimated by dividing the Sector 3 by 5 (because the car will probably reach top speed by then) but thats not very accurate because the car may be still accelerating.
Mercedes Benz T80
Mercedes Benz T80 aka "Porsche Rekordwagen" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_T80
"The body of the vehicle is formed like a very basic diffuser thus using the Bernulli principle in order to create downforce and improve stability and traction at high speeds. This, by the way might be one of the very first uses of the Ground Effect, decades before it appeared on the BRM and Chparral Formula One racers of the 60s." [ wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes- ... ekordwagen ]
"Another great innovation of that design/patent of Mickl was the integration of an inverted wing which was responsible for the creation of downforce, thus increasing the stability of the vehicle. Most of the people believe that the use of wings to create downforce on vehicles is an idea of the 60s pioneered by Colin Chapman and his Lotus 49 racer. However, the truth is that the German rocket powered rail-racer of the late 20’s Opel-RAK.3 was the earliest example of a vehicle equipped with wings creating downforce. (You can also see Jalopnik’s article “Spoiler Alert: A history of Downforce). This vehicle however did not use inverted wings but rather normal wings that were pitched to negative angle of attack such that they would generate "negative lift"." [ wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes- ... ekordwagen ]
"The massive 44.5 litre Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 was selected to power the record-setting car. The engine was an increased displacement derivative of the famous DB-601 aircraft engine that powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter in production at the time, with the DB 603 ending up as the largest displacement inverted V12 aviation engine in production for Germany during the World War II years. The DB-603 fitted was just the third prototype (V3) engine of this variant and tuned up to 3,000 hp (2,200 kW), roughly twice the power of the Bf 109 or the Supermarine Spitfire. The engine ran on a special mixture of methyl alcohol (63%), benzene (16%), ethanol (12%), acetone (4.4%), nitrobenzene (2.2%), avgas (2%), and ether (0.4%) with MW (methanol-water) injection for charge cooling and as an anti-detonant." [ wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_T80 ]