[pete c]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

drmiller:
You posted a pleasant positive response on my thread about my hydraulic in wheel drive. Not sure what is going on with you but I certainly admire your dedication and progress on your quest. Not many people can make their ideas become reality, but that should not be a reason to go after them. Ken Fry seems to be driving his vehicle in the video, if you didn't look at the link. I wish you would, it's a very nice design as well as an excellent execution.

My idea goes back 40 years when I was a young man of 20. I read about an Opel getting 124 MPG. Basically a stock car with radial tires and a block under the gas pedal to limit travel and the vacuum operated secondary of the carb disconnected. They pulsed the car to 45 MPH and shut the engine off and glided down to 15 MPH. The contest required them to average 25 MPH.

So, 41 years ago I knew you could get 124 MPG at 25 MPH average. It only took me another 30 years to figure out a way to potentially obtain the same economy without the speed variation. It requires absolutely the most efficient drive and storage systems available. Only in the last couple of years has my financial situation become secure to the point where I could actually build a vehicle to incorporate my design.

I have found the people on this forum to run the complete range of applauding my efforts to serious concerns about the design specifics. Sometimes it seems like they are trying to destroy my dream, sometimes they seem to be genuinely interested. Been around her for a few years which adds some credibility.

Maybe by the end of my 62nd year on the planet I will finally get my design built. I haven't tried to be critical of your efforts, because I understand the difficulties involved, and my project incorporates something that has never been built before, which complicates things exponentially.

I don't possess a lot of formal education, but learned to read voraciously at age 8. I learned grammar when there were no computers to correct mistakes. I learned to love efficiency in my teens studying the area of human powered flight, of which one example is in the Smithsonian today.

I have found through my life that the most important ingredient in inevitable success is determination. You demonstrate that same determination and you should not let comments bother you so much. I wish you success as well as wishing everyone who has a dream an equal success in achieving their own dreams.

It cost me nothing for you or them to succeed and maybe one day one of our successes will actually contribute to a real change that makes life better for us all.

The only defeat that makes me victorious is the defeat of my enemy, and I have no enemies, so I only need to see the victory of my dream becoming a reality.

regards
Mech

^^^^Wisest guy on a board full of wise guys.

Outstanding post, OM.