EXTREME R/C

Back in 1988? I first became interested in radio control and the potential for scale truck pulling". This story takes off from there with the life of a eccentric professional engineer and creative licensed architect and the creation of the legendary "Brass Bear" Clod Buster. At this time the NR/CTPA rules were not written and there were no rules for classes. During 1988 to July 1989 the truck and I went through learning curve experiences, truck pulling contests, wins, ribbons and trophies, broken plastic components and engineering. The pulling of scale weight sleds over 20-30 feet on carpet, dirt and concrete with weights from 50 to 150 pounds became less and less of a challenge. This led to new areas of endeavors and the potential for long distance truck pulls 5280 to 7920 feet pulling instead a parade float weighing 70 to 120 pounds! This included creative assistance and support from Bill Holtz, AIA at Benson Woodworking, Alstead, New Hampshire.

The concept first occurred at the Sussex County Fairgrounds where we had a pole barn and were demonstrating scale truck pulling using the weight sled. People there could not really appreciate or become impressed with what the truck was actually doing until the weight sled fell over at the end of the finish line and the sound of +100 pounds was heard echoing through the barn! We found a "red wagon" hitched it to the Clod and then started giving the kids a ride. First one kid (70lb), then 2 kids (140lb), and finally "large" kids – grownups (260lb!). The spectators went nuts and the potential for pulling things other then the weigh sled took off.

This was the first time the truck was entered in a parade. This parade runs each year in lovely Saxtons River, Vermont a small country town in southern Vermont. In fact the town is so small that the parade actually runs through town twice! The parade route totals about 1.3 miles and includes level ground and some small hills. Our first float (see photo) was based on a little red wagon to be pulled by the truck over the entire route and would test the stamina and endurance of the 4 motor truck. The float was called ???? and included several stuffed bears and a 12V car battery and weighed about 60 pounds was three feet tall and four foot long complete. The truck went the full parade route, drew many rounds of applause, laughs, finger pointing and received "Honorable Mention" and made the local newspapers. We then said to ourselves wait till next year! The Brass Bear had its first successful "full pull" of 7,920 feet!!!!!!!!!

More Photos
Heading into Saxtons River, Vermont
Down Main Street
On the way to the Vermont Pretzel Store
Photo Op.....

Now that we knew the truck could run for extended periods of time using a car battery we went on to spending more time building the actual float. We took the opportunity to build a float to celebrate Bill's sister's new company called the Vermont Pretzel Company (they make great stuffed pretzels!). The intent was to build a float to attract attention, draw up new business and the bring attention to the store opening in Saxtons River, Vermont. This float was built on the solid wheels and axles temporarily borrowed from my 19 inch Snapper lawn mower. The base of the float held the car battery and also provided support for a 1 inch copper tubing frame that was eight feet square and would hold up a giant pretzel build from construction grade fabric wrapped around chicken wire and filled with ??? bags of Styrofoam pellets. Filling the pretzel with these pellets would be a story in itself!!

The eight foot pretzel was then complimented with a three foot tomato and mounted within the copper frame. The signs were painted and attached and the finishing touches were added. Initial tests were made on a side street in Oakland, New Jersey before being brought to Vermont. Needless to say it brought about many strange looks from pedestrians and passerby’s!! On parade day we brought the assembled float into town on the back of a hay wagon bringing pulled by a Massey Ferguson Model ???? farm tractor. The starting point of the parade included a wide variety of floats, antique cars, bikes, fire engines and this eight foot pretzel to be pulled by the Brass Bear! Many people walked over to use and said "Are you sure that this little truck can pull this pretzel?" or "Are you sure your batteries are powerful enough to last?" both questions and several others added butterflies to our stomachs and last minute doubts.

Down the hill and into town removed these last minute doubts as the Brass Bear and its four Black Magic motors roared to life! Pulling into town with the eight foot pretzel weighing about 90 pounds and watching all the yelling, laughs, photo shots, and finger pointing made all the hard work leading to this day worthwhile. The Vermont Pretzel Company sold out ??? pretzels that day and the Brass Bear won first place in the Saxtons River 4th of July parade and a new trophy which in this case was shaped like a root bear float but made from wood (see photo). The float went on to become a window piece in the Vermont Pretzel Company store in Saxtons River. After the parade we said to ourselves how can we top this next year?

More Photos
Building the frame while staying at night at the Mohonk Mountain Resort in Upstate NY
Getting the pretzel on the frame, maybe we should check that drawing again?
I told you it would fit!
Family photo, you never know what you can do with a little imagination and hard work!

Learning from our two previous floats and various "technical" problems we went on to build our most ambitious float the "Fuelasaurus". This float was based around Facility Energy Services, Inc. a consulting engineering firm which Edward Brzezowski is a partner and in 1990 and 1991 received State and National Awards for energy innovation. The theme of the float was to tame the energy monster with Facility Energy Services. The monster itself was 7 feet tall and made from sheetmetal and various heating system components (see original sketch)! The monsters head was built from two oil burners!

The float was mounted on a garden tractor cart to which a third wheel was added. Inside the cart would be various support devices as well as the car battery. The first trip to the plumbing and heating supply house to purchase the sheetmetal and ductwork brought several inquisitive looks and ended with "What day is that parade?". The supplies filled the back of our Jeep Cherokee (see photo). The fourth of July weekend this year was spent building and painting the monster body and float signs (see photos).

This float included special effects to compliment the monster. The first special effect was sound. We wanted the monster to sound like "Godzilla" so we rented Godzilla 1985 from the video store and recorded the necessary monster sounds. This was run through a cassette player and amplifier which was controlled by one of the oil burner "Emergency On/Off Switches" on the side of the monster. Another special effect was a Lionel O-gauge train set which ran underneath the monster. This was tied through another emergency switch and 100 watt 12Vdc to 120Vac inverter in the float. The final special effect was a smoke generator in the monsters tail which was controlled via a modified thermostat on the monsters neck!

The overall "Fuelasaurus Float" was 9 feet tall and 8 feet long and weighed about 120 pounds. Getting this float to the parade required that we tow it with the Jeep and attach the "Brass Bear" and the parade starting point. This required special hitches on both vehicles and a combination pulling bar was built that could be for either pulling vehicle!! Testing before parade day was done on my 440 foot driveway and showed major redesigns for the Brass Bear.

More Photos
Stocking up on "raw materials" to build a Fuelasaurus?
The body and base take shape
It takes a hitch to pull a float, actually two of them in this case....
How's that train move around?
Ready for Show Time.....

Web page created 9/8/98 ehb

http://www.gti.net/ebrzez/RC-Projects

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