Indy spec rear wings...need a memory jog

[Deleted]

As I recall it; as the tires got wider and the turbos got bigger in the early '70s the rear wings got huge until a time came that required rule changes. When was that time? I seem to recall the wings went from the full width of the car down to the width between the rear tires, followed by limits based on wing area. When did that happen? I'm looking at Eagle wings and trying to sort through the variety of sizes and shapes and figure out what and when they applied at Indy. Google is just a ball of confusion on this topic.

[2lapsdown]

I think the big reduction in wing size came in 74, but there are more qualified people out there to speak on this.

John

[racewrench87]

Indy was 74, if I remember correct ,the size was reduced during the 73 season, not certain.

[pje]

mb2501.proboards.com/thread/3213/1974-rear-wings

Our discussion on this topic awhile back

Paul Erlendson

[indy]

Paul beat me to the post - that is the link that I found, too. lol

IIRC Michael Portaro went over some of these changes since he researched the specs to do his 3d printed wings from each of the Indy winners 1972 to 1976. You might be able to find that via the search feature here.

Jordan

[Deleted]

Thanks Paul
That helps a lot

Daryl

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2017 10:50:15 GMT -5 indy said:

Paul beat me to the post - that is the link that I found, too. lol

IIRC Michael Portaro went over some of these changes since he researched the specs to do his 3d printed wings from each of the Indy winners 1972 to 1976. You might be able to find that via the search feature here.

Jordan

Just checked Indycals and was looking at Michael's Shapeways parts. I'll probably get some on order. What I had in the back of my memory is what I remembered reading in Autoweek at that time. From late '60s to the late '70s I would looked forward every other week to my subscription arriving. I devoured them because there wasn't much else in print back then.

[indycals]

One interesting note - the Donohue 72 McLaren in the Speedway museum actually has the 55" late 73 rear wing (i.e., it's incorrect). And yes, I did measure it :-)