PULSE AUTOCYCLE NETWORK

[Steve Schmidt]

PULSE Versus HORSE and MULE

by Judy Johnson

Saturday May 16, 2009

Ray and I were invited to a surprise 50th birthday party of a flying friend of ours about a hour drive from Marion. Due to the poor flying weather we decided to drive the Pulse instead of taking the Aeronca Chief.



We were just 6 miles east of Sheridan, Indiana on Indiana State Road #47. Ray was driving about 50 mph when all of sudden, the car in front of us slammed on the brakes and we wondered why.

Then, we saw a herd of horses running at full speed across the road. There were 6 of them and one mule. The horses had gotten out earlier and the owner was attempting to round them up.



The car in front of us somehow managed to miss the herd and never stopped. The horses then seemed to the turn and run straight at us. At least one horse and the mule hit our Pulse. Ray recalls that he actually locked up both wheels and skidded slightly to the right as he tried to maneuver between them. We were probably down to 40 to 45 mph on impact. Ray saw a hoof including the nails on the shoe coming right towards his face. I believe the roll bar deflected the animals leg before it hit him.

We later learned it was a Tennessee Walker, a large horse, who hit the Pulse in the front shattered the windshield and his hoof that came within 3" of Ray's face. Another witness said that a mule also hit the Pulse and flipped over the top of us.



The Pulse mechanically is better off than you would expect, the other hand, the body is in need of extensive work. One of the tail wings were taken out and the turn signal lights were knocked off. We believe Ed Butcher would be pleased to know that even though this is a compact car, it is safer than a motorcycle when something like this occurs and the rollbar did its job.

Son-in-law Brad came with his big truck and trailer and we chained down the Pulse and delivered it to the body shop for repairs.

We're sad, but very thankful that we are alive, much less hurt! The Lord certainly looked out for us today.

Love,
Judy

[elden simons]

Ed Butcher once gave a story where a Pulse owner ran into a deer.

The vehicle apparantly drove under the animal which resulted in loss of windshield wiper, front and rear turn signals, and blood stripe across the top of the vehicle.

*odd comment from self: It didn't take much to lose a windsheild wiper off a Pulse for most vehicles.

[Bob Hichborn]

Ray and Judy,

Glad you hear you both made it thru the accident unhurt. Needless to say, if you had been in most any car, things could possibly turned out alot worse. Most people I've heard of that have hit deer, cows, etc, usually end up with totalled vehicles and some hospital bills. Of course, if you had been riding a motorcycle....?

So, it looks like you'll need a new windshield and some fiberglass work on the rear. Was your windshield glass or plexi? I'm interested in what happened to it. If glass, did it just shatter like a standard car windshield is supposed to or if it was plexi, did it just pop off? How did the sliding canopy fair?

Take care and safe riding.

- Bob
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"

[Ray Johnson]

Bob & Autocycle friends,

Appreciate your concern for us. The windshield was safety glass just like in an automobile. Thr horse hoof came down on it and it shattered like it was designed to do. At that moment it departed the vehicle.

Iam now looking for a new windshield. I would like to get glass again. However this looks to be impossible. Any suggestions. I know there are some plexiglass options out there......
_________________
Ray Johnson
Pulse #347
www.FlyInCruiseIn.com

[DMD1]

We might be able to help with plastic windshield (lexan?) We just had a windshield and canopy made. Canopy has lost some of its bubble and is closer to flat. The windshield looks really good but we have not installed. If it fits well I will get some pics taken. Later Dave

[Bob Hichborn]

Ray,

I noticed from the pix that it appears like both your horizonal and vertical stabilizers on the tail survived the mule/horse impact. Wow! That's pretty impressive. Are they foam or wood? How where they mounted to the original tail, a mounting plate of sorts that bolts into the tail section, then glassed. Nicely done!

- Bob
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"

[elden simons]

Flightless cosmetics:
Well, Bob, until someone shares the secret to add on tails, the assumptions you may have are probably right on.

One would probably need to install some sort of 'stiffner' under the body piece to reinforce against the stress that will be brought against the various velocities of air currents. *inhale...(long sentence)*

Like the original BD-200, foam was used for the body work with fibre glass used over it. I've encountered some hard packing foam during my time as Materials Handler. Its almost carvable like wood. I'm sure that is hard to procure anyways.

Anyways, I am still guessing that some rod-like metal is used and anchored (as mentioned earlier) under the body shell.
Without the so-called anchoring, stress fractures on the shell body will be quick to appear.
Whether or not foam is really necessary in the build-up of the costume add ons is up to the person's technique, I guess.
Stretching nylon screening around the frame rods and then applying resin and glass fabric seems like an idea.

So, this has been an uneducated guess.

[Jim Finch]

Now we know what Ray's crash looked like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJzj05TTAQ

[elden simons]

First off, thanks to Jim Finch for the link to the Horse/Car collision.

Steve Schmidt has recently posted photos of Mike Grindle's work on the Stampeded Pulse. I must mention that it took me a rough moment to identify the body part in one of the photos. It didn't look familiar at the angle it was supported at. A 'wheel pod' with a cracked stabilizer!

The photos provided were 'edutaining'. Still, refering to a question posed by Bob Hichborn. What's the secret to supporting the costume airplane tail? Saw the humorous shot of Mike's wife (?) working under the upper rear body shell. Well, I'm sure that wasn't Mike's legs showing!

[elden simons]

So, the latest news is that due to a weakened weld where a stabilizer mounts to the body, Judy Johnson experianced a bad spill during a turn.

Steve Schmidt reiterated the need to make special inspection of the stabilizer mounts hidden under the foam. I'm sure quite a few owners will be reluctant to delve so deep for such an inspection. Its a gamble, much like the inspection of the steering assembly.
It was posted some time ago to inspect some sort of large bolt or nut that is responsible for steering safety.

Practicly a major shake down for those of you who actively use your autocycles. I'll just put it on my 'To-Do' list. *Mutter-Mutter*