Summer Holiday Quickshot - Portland

3:00 in the morning is a really unpleasant time to have to get up and go to the airport.
Our flight was at 6:00, and since it was international from Canada to the US, we were supposed to be there 2 hours before the flight - i.e. at 4:00am

Here is Quebec airport at 4:00am - yes, the only other person there is the dude sweeping the floor. I am soooooo glad I got up early.



Anyway, we get to Portland and head over to John Wayland's place.
Following the GPS led us to a quite little street, filled with all manner of electric vehicles that had gathered for the Wayland Invitational drag races.

Here's Otmar's electric Porsche 914.



And Father Time's Frankendragon.



But this was the car that we came to see - John's White Zombie.



Big Zilla controller, sweet Siamese 8 motor.



John: Oh No! Someone stole the batteries! We're supposed to be racing in a few hours! What will we do???
Otmar: Gee, who would do such a terrible thing? Though isn't Bill Dube in town with his Killacycle drag bike. Why don't we send someone over to steal his battery pack?
John: Excellent idea. But who can we send to perform such a nefarious deed?
Jim Husted: I got a truck.
Mark Fowler: I got a GPS.



So the dastardly duo of Jim and Mark head over to Killacycleville to discover...



Jim: Aha! The batteries are conveniently here on the bench ready to go.



Bill Dube: Noooo! My lithium ion batteries! Don't take my lithium ion batteries!



Jim: Quick Mark, hit him over the head with one of these motors in the back of my truck. I'll tie him up with this strap!
Bill: Ouch! (thud)



Jim: Ok, now to cunningly sabotage the Killacycle so that its tire bursts when it does its warm up burnout.
Mark: This is just like that episode of Batman where the Joker put a bomb in the Batmobile triggered to detonate when it went over 75 MPH. So are you using a device triggered by tire RPM, or perhaps motor current, or maybe...
Jim: Would you shut up. I'm just going to slash the tire and cover it with tape.
Mark: oh. ok.



And so the duo return with their ill gotten gains.



Meanwhile...
So Otmar, tell us about your new AC controller.



Otmar: Sure. Well, as you all know, reptile based technology is what you really need if you want to go fast with a DC motor, but to work with AC we've had to evolve something a bit more mammal based. Behold, the HamsterDancer! We've got three separate hamsters here, each with their own wheel, controlling the three phase power going to the AC motor. And the best part about it is that we are using parts that we already have in stock. I mean, what do you think we've been feeding the baby Zillas all this time?



Otmar: And here in the back are the batteries. Generously donated by John Wayland. These batteries used to be in the White Zombie. Oh one other thing - John's a really humble guy about his generosity and stuff, so don't say anything to him about the batteries, ok?



Jim: See that red stuff all over that motor there? That's um... paint - yeah that's paint.



Bob Rice: You know, It's one thing for John to not want the Zombie to get dirty, but are you seriously going to vacuum the road all the way to the race track?



To the track! (Portland International Raceway)



Steve Ciciora: Ok, we've got 1328 Energizers, 1296 Duracells, half a mile of tin foil and a dozen rolls of duct tape. We can fix this.



Bill Dube: John, you totally suck! You send your goons around to my place, beat me up and steal my precious lithium ion batteries!
John: Precioussss? It's mine! My Precioussss!
Mike Willmon (in background): Seriously, coconuts in Alaska grow to be this big!



Cayde: Hey dad!



Jim: Ok, now lets see how my little attempt at sabotage went. Muah ha ha! (rubs hands maniacally)



John: This is so funny - watch what happens when I call Tim on his cell phone just before the light goes green.
Jim: Your going to distract your own driver? Are you sure that's a good idea?
John: Maybe not, but gee it's funny - I get him every time - watch this. (dials phone)
Tim: Hel... Argh Wayland!!!



Bill Dube: Well, despite all the setbacks, we're finally going to race... (I hope)