point your eyes towards this image..
i had this bookmarked for over a year but it got buried at the bottom of my ever-increasing list of things to blog. there are a couple of interesting things about the photo. first off, these 5 enormous tracks are not parallel to each other. it just so happens that the angle at which the photo was taken resulted in an illusion of sorts, kinda like magic. check the area out on google maps here and then come back immediately. deceiving huh?
then there's the site's function.
in order for a plane to safely land on an aircraft carrier without racing off the end, its tailhook needs to be 'caught' by arresting cables attached to the carrier's deck (see here). these cables need to be extremely strong and durable but also flexible enough so as not to stop the plane too quickly. these 5 test tracks, located at navair in lakehurst, are dedicated to testing these very systems and the emergency barricades.
the photo above shows an F/A-18 airframe sitting on a sled. on the back of that sled are 4 jet engines which, when fired up, will produce 42'000lbs of thrust and ultimately send the jet down the 2.8km track at a speed of 460km/h, into an arresting cable or barricade. if the plane stops: great. if not, the plane usually ends up in the clearing behind the track or amongst the trees. either way, an enormous, expensive amount of fun.
unfortunately i couldn't find any footage of a test in progress but instead here's video of the test track at holloman air force base, being used by a rocket sled travelling at 10'325km/h and breaking the world land speed record in the process. more info here.
seeing the lakehurst tracks reminded me of another unique test track i read about years ago, so i thought i'd dig up some photos...
for those who've never seen it, this is the old 5 storey lingotto building in lingotto, turin. at one time, when owned by fiat, it was the world's largest car factory but that wasn't its only claim to fame. car production started at ground level and as each car reached another stage of completion, it was moved up another floor until it reached the rooftop, hopefully finished and ready to be raced around the test track on top of the factory. unsurprisingly a track of that size has still not been seen on a building since. apparently the factory has now been converted into a (presumably) hideous shopping and entertainment complex. i believe the track is still intact but criminally disused.
[edit] here's the track being used in the italian job..
there was actually a similar track, on a smaller scale, above the imperia factory in nessonvaux, near liege, belgium. in 1928, following complaints from the locals about noise due to cars being tested on the roads, a test track was instead built within the premises. one end actually went through the factory, the other looped over one end of the building's roof.
for more of these photos, go here. for a nice write-up about the factory in liege, go here.
and that's that. let me know of any other similar tracks if you can be bothered. wired posted some nice aerial shots of a few regular test tracks last year, if you fancy looking at 'em, go hither.
bon voyage.
