Racecar Aerodynamics: Designing for Speed by Joseph Katz Book Review

For those of us interested in the aerodynamics of racing cars, this book provides good explanations of nearly all top-level aerodynamic theories.

Title: Race Car Aerodynamics: Designing for Speed
Author: Joseph Katz
Publisher: Bentley

Release Date: 09 March 2006

Pages: 270

ISBN: 08376 01428

The author Joseph Katz is a professor at San Diego state University and during his career has been involved in nearly all areas of motorsport from drag racing to formula one. Over this time he has written a series of publications focusing largely upon the aerodynamics of racing cars.

His book Race Car Aerodynamics: Designing for Speed is primarily written to cater for the larger audience and hasn’t made any assumptions about the readers’ prior theoretical knowledge. As such he starts each concept in a clear and concise manner starting from and building upon the basic fundamentals of aerodynamics. This approach allows for the book to be picked up by anyone from the professional engineer to the hobbyist and does not sacrifice content for either.

Anyone who reads this book no matter their level of knowledge will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the background theory and concepts that guide all aerodynamicists including wing theory.

The text and images contained in the book are all black and white (which has proved an issue for me in other publications where all the images have seemed to merge into unintelligible silhouettes) yet the lack of colours does not hinder the readers’ ability to clearly disconcern all aspects of each individual image. 

The overall breakdown of chapters within the book is good with individual topics explained fully and in detail, this allows for a smooth transition between concepts lending the book a nice flow through out avoiding confusion. Real life examples are almost always given to further help reinforce ideas to the practically minded reader.

The inclusion of a large variety of images and examples also means that the text does not feel quite as mathematically biased in this genre and as such it proves to be a much easier read following more along the lines of a highly detailed guide book opposed to a reference text.

The only small issue I have with this book are that it hasn’t had a more recent update to cover later Formula one examples as most of the information only covers up to around 2004, This does not mean that the information contained within is out of date as aerodynamics is more of an "evolutionary art opposed to a revolutionary one".

Within the book the author has also included greyed boxes containing formulas relevant to each specific are. Each formula box is filled with clear explanations of how the formulas are used, allowing for those with no previous experience to grasp the underlying mathematics governing the use of each. Personally I found these boxes especially useful. 

Although aerodynamics is heavily mathematically based, the general principles require no mathematical knowledge yet it is always a good idea to understand the maths behind the ideas.

Conclusion:

I really rate this book highly and I often find myself referring to it over some of my more analytical books like Understanding Aerodynamics by Doug McLean. The way the author always explains concepts in such a clear and concise manner is especially welcome, which is helpful if like myself you are a keen F1 fan and often find the televised explanations lacking and need a quick reference just to suss out possible benefits of recent changes. In this regard the book would make an excellent present for any one interested in forms of racing.

Although the book may fall slightly on the basic side of degree level texts it is still more than advanced enough for anyone interested in aerodynamics. A study of this book before reading more advanced publications would definitely help in achieving a greater base knowledge which can then be expanded upon in sections without trying to learn everything at once.

In all for anyone seeking more of an insight into the aerodynamics of racing cars, this is a highly recommended book.

Showa 380 multi-purpose work gloves/mechanics gloves review

These gloves now form the back bone of my whole families working glove collection, from the odd gardening use to full on oily mechanical tinkering.

Pros:

• Selection of sizes
• Washable
• Extremely grippy
• Comfortable fit
• Good price
• Long cuffs to stop debris getting inside

Cons:

• They are resistant to oil but they are not a barrier

These Showa gloves are manufactured from a woven Nylon with a Nitrile Butadiene rubber coating on the palm and fingers. I find the coating to be super sticky even on cool days and they even provide a bit of insulation from the cold which always helps, no more frozen banged and grazed knuckle moments from slipping here.

They grip exceptionally even when working in the rain or with oil coated tools which can be a nightmare without gloves, surprisingly they also feel the grippiest on smooth chrome handles of some breaker bars and ratchets with no loss of grip on the smoothest of surface finishes.

As the gloves are manufactured from a woven breathable material it also alleviates the horrible paste hands which I always suffer when using the non breathable latex gloves for any period of time. however due to this it also means that if you accidentally stick your hand in a puddle or a pool of oil its also going to get wet.

Despite their permeable nature these Showa gloves do a remarkably good job of keeping your hands dirt free with liquids penetrating through to your skin but not dirt and grime. If you really need to stay clean you could always wear a pair of the plastic gloves underneath or use a barrier cream such as this one Dri-Guard Barrier Cream,

I find the material to be the perfect thickness as it provides shielding from sharp edges but still allows for the right amount of sensitivity through the material.

Even though the gloves are advertised as multi-purpose delicate work I would find myself disagreeing and saying that they are a lot more capable as I use mine for absolutely everything. Although I will say that if you are looking for gloves to trim the brambles with I would suggest something in a bit of a heavier gauge material like these Showa Gardening Gloves.

For myself I can always find packs of these gloves readily available here Showa 380 Gloves and am generally inclined to go for the pack option simply because i have found them to be the best for what I do. A pack costs roughly £34.95 whilst individually they are £3.55 so the packs only really provide a modest cost saving I just appreciate the convenience of being able to always grab a spare.

I take a size 7/medium but there are also available in sizes 6/small, 8/large & 9/extra large. I find the 7/M fits most people leaving the 6/S for small hands and the 9/XL will fit even the largest.

Conclusion:

As far as I have found these are the best all round work and mechanics gloves available at a decent price. I highly recommend them great gloves that don't take away any of the feeling required when handling components yet still offer good levels of protection.

Teng Tools 6" Mega Bite Cable Cutters Review - MB444.6

These Teng cutters are a slightly heavier duty form of wire cutter. They are designed for cutting electrical cables to maximum diameter of 22mm whilst only requiring single handed operation.

Product specs;

• Titanium coated joints
• High carbon steel
• Vinyl coated handle
• Length - 160mm/6"
• Cutting capacity - 22mm diameter (Copper or Aluminium)
• Weight - 181g

Pro's 

• Sharp blades
• Perfect size for one handed use
• The vinyl coated handles are really grippy
• Great Value
• Cuts all sizes of common household cabling

Cons

• They take a bit of wearing in
• They wont cut steel reinforces cables

If I had to choose one pair of wire/cable cutters to use for the rest of my life it would be these.

Before becoming an engineer I had a brief delve into becoming a qualified electrician, absolutely everyone that I trained under has a pair of cutters similar to these as they are the most useful design.

This set of Teng cutters are manufactured from high carbon steel which is harder and tougher than tool steel or stainless steel which is normally used. As such, this provides the ability to hold a much harsher cutting edge than other similar products from cheaper manufacturers. The tool makes short work of any standard electric cables and even thin cooper, aluminium cables and even brass screws.

The above image shows a brief selection of cables which the tool has no problem cutting through or stripping the sheathing from, from left to right 0.5mm tinned copper / 3 x 1.5mm^2 general household wire / 2 x 4 core copper tinned stainless steel sheathed 7mm diameter.

Shown below is a closeup of the stainless sheathed cable detailing the smooth cut obtained without mashing the outer braiding. These cutters are also perfect for cutting coax cables.

As shown, the tool has twin crescent shaped cutting faces on the blades unlike a standard pair of snips. The crescent shape helps to trap the cable as it applies an equal cutting force around 80 percent of the wires circumference. This leaves no resultant force trying to eject the wire from between the cutting faces. This is opposed to standard edge cutters which due to the distribution of cutting load always have a resultant away from the hinge leading to the wire sliding away form the fulcrum of the cutters.

The crescent shape also has the benefit of squishing the wire less during cutting.

They are unable to cut steel cables and cutting steel screws will result in notched blades. If you are looking for a pair of cutters for this sort of application then I would suggest something more along the lines of these, Knipex Wire rope cutters 190 mm  

Although I am sure it wouldn't have been part of the original design specification the smaller of the two pairs of crescent blades are perfect for quick wire stripping with only a quick twist the cutters easily slice through any outer sheathing. Although not as good as a dedicated set of wire strippers because if your not careful you can simply cut through some of the strands they are lot better than using a Stanley blade or side cutters.

The only minor gripe I have had with this product since purchasing it (to replace an older notched pair) was that the middle separating cutting tooth offered a bit of interference upon closing but over time this has smoothed no end always leaving a clean crisp cut.

I also own a pair of the 10" cutters which I will review separately but as an everyday tool i would always recommend the 6" or 8" variation as a more useable sized tool.

Conclusion:

In all I would highly recommend these cutters to just about everyone, from the home DIY'er to the electricians and mechanics of this world. You will be surprised at the amount of uses that you find for them. They are available in a range of sizes as well as brands if you didn't feel like stretching to a Teng set I do know that the Irwin Visegrip Cable Cutters are available for an acceptable price and will be almost as good. I would suggest staying away from any unbranded versions though as they tend to be manufactured from lesser grade materials and have a habit of notching easily.

These are one of the most useful tools I own, I purchased mine from amazon Teng Tools 6" Cable Cutters (Mb444-6) Pliers - MB444-6