Walt Arfons

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Walter Charles Arfons (December 10, 1916 – June 4, 2013)

jet engines for these types of competition.[2]

Walt was born Walter Stroud, on December 10, 1916, in

feed mill in rural Springfield Township, Ohio, where the Arfons brothers exercised their mechanical skills and ingenuity.[3]

Walt began building

Green Monster, and the name was to stick to his joint projects with Art. Along with many other racers, the duo switched to using surplus aircraft piston engines, particularly the Allison V-1710 engines, due to their abundance, cheapness, and great reliability. They were the first drag racers to reach 150 miles per hour in the quarter mile. In the late 1950s, however, the brothers amicably split up.[citation needed
]

On August 6, 1960, Walt introduced the first jet-engine dragster. He used a

Indianapolis Raceway Park one year when the race had been rained out.[citation needed
]

In the midst of the Detroit automakers' performance competition in 1967,

funny cars, a Chevrolet Camaro, a Mercury Comet, and Ford Mustangs.[citation needed
]

Arfons also commissioned Tom Green to drive the jet-powered Wingfoot Express, as a result of a severe hand injury sustained when unloading the Wingfoot upon arrival at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The car held the World Land Speed Record for three days during the battle between Art Arfons and Craig Breedlove.

In 1965, Walt Arfons built Wingfoot Express 2, which reached 605 miles per hour (974 km/h), but it did not qualify for an official record. It was powered by JATO rocket bottles.[4]

Walt died on June 4, 2013, of heart failure, in

Green, OH.[citation needed
]

References

  1. New York Times
    . June 15, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  2. ^ "Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  3. ^ "Art Afons". Thrustscc. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  4. ^ "Jet Assisted Chevy" in Mythbusters television program aired on February 22, 2009

External links

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