Air Fences Lifting

[martinmauger 584]

When a rider is unfortunate enough to go into an air fence so many times it lifts and the rider goes under it, hitting whatever is behind so the fence may as not be there. A thought occurred to me the other day, HGV covers have a strap every 2ft or so, so perhaps more fixings would help stop air fences lifting on impact. A strap or fixing every 2 ft may not be practical but just an extra fastening in the centre of each panel would help.

 

Prior to air fences tracks would be surrounded by boards or mesh fencing which may well still be present so if a kickboard was fitted aound the bottom of the solid part of the fence, even armco or just some kind of posts, then air fence panels with just an extra fixing in the centre would be more secure and so less prone to lifting on impact.

 

Depending on how the 'solid'-type air barriers as used at Berwick, King's Lynn and soon to Glasgow are fitted, maybe an idea could be used from those. Like I said, just a thought....

Edited January 1, 2017 by Martin Mauger

[Paulco 7,080]

When a rider is unfortunate enough to go into an air fence so many times it lifts and the rider goes under it, hitting whatever is behind so the fence may as not be there. A thought occurred to me the other day, HGV covers have a strap every 2ft or so, so perhaps more fixings would help stop air fences lifting on impact. A strap or fixing every 2 ft may not be practical but just an extra fastening in the centre of each panel would help.

 

Prior to air fences tracks would be surrounded by boards or mesh fencing which may well still be present so if a kickboard was fitted aound the bottom of the solid part of the fence, even armco or just some kind of posts, then air fence panels with just an extra fixing in the centre would be more secure and so less prone to lifting on impact.

 

Depending on how the 'solid'-type air barriers as used at Berwick, King's Lynn and soon to Glasgow are fitted, maybe an idea could be used from those. Like I said, just a thought....

Air fences have been a big step forward in rider safety , but as we've seen with Craig Watson , Ryan Fisher and Ales Dryml ( among others ) things can still improve further . Berwick led the way with their foam fence and that is definitely the way to go . Not just with rider safety , but with keeping a meeting flowing too . We've all had to hang about during meetings while a fence is repaired and reflated .

[speedibee 3,091]

Air fences have been a big step forward in rider safety , but as we've seen with Craig Watson , Ryan Fisher and Ales Dryml ( among others ) things can still improve further . Berwick led the way with their foam fence and that is definitely the way to go . Not just with rider safety , but with keeping a meeting flowing too . We've all had to hang about during meetings while a fence is repaired and reflated .

before we can move towards more tracks using the solid type air fence we need to loosen Briggo,s grip at the BSPA and SCB . the difficulty with "Air" fences is they need to be tethered front and centre , which invariably will involves some sort of stake into the shale and a ratchet strap arrangement of some sort . both things that could cause serious injury as an obstacle hit at speed .. some speedway only places may be able to bury the fixings below ground level ,but this would be really difficult on tracks that have stock cars

[foamfence 2,917]

Air fences have been a big step forward in rider safety , but as we've seen with Craig Watson , Ryan Fisher and Ales Dryml ( among others ) things can still improve further . Berwick led the way with their foam fence and that is definitely the way to go . Not just with rider safety , but with keeping a meeting flowing too . We've all had to hang about during meetings while a fence is repaired and reflated .

Kings Lynn has one too but I don't know of any others.

[Trees 2,814]

It's hard to believe that the FIM allow blow up "air fences" to be continued to be used given the serious injuries that riders have endured with them being lifted by bikes. At least at GP level the foam type fences ought to be used and all the others changed over time??

[Starman2006 2,355]

It's hard to believe that the FIM allow blow up "air fences" to be continued to be used given the serious injuries that riders have endured with them being lifted by bikes. At least at GP level the foam type fences ought to be used and all the others changed over time??

And you going to foot the bill i take it..

[A ORLOV 8,628]

It's hard to believe that the FIM allow blow up "air fences" to be continued to be used given the serious injuries that riders have endured with them being lifted by bikes. At least at GP level the foam type fences ought to be used and all the others changed over time??

Were these fences and lack of fixings not tested before they were introduced as there are a couple of fixes but none seem to be being used.

[Daniel Smith 5,666]

I still say my design I came up with some 10+ years ago is the way forward which I had sent directly to Airfence.

 

Basically each air fence panel has a hole through the centre.

Fixed to the front of each panel would be a 4 ply air pocket flexi plastic panel, about 5cm thick with a ficked eyelet on the reverse which allows it to be ratchet in place.

 

Those light impacts that happen a race could continue & the high speed impacts the flexi plastic prevents the air fence being lifted and punctured by the bike before the riders make impact.

[Tsunami 10,219]

I am aware of the safety of solid foam fences, but they can't really be a realistic mandatory requirement at most tracks. Berwick can leave their fence up, but at Stock Car venues they have to be totally removed from places as Kings Lynn, Lakeside, Ipswich, etc. This involves great teams of volunteers, mostly taking the fence panels down immediately after the speedway meeting. In the case of air fences fitted at Dog Track venues, the air fence is dropped, after being deflated, so saving there after meeting removal. If all these fences had to be physically removed after meetings, you might as well close up shop, as it is already very difficult to get volunteers to drop the fence, as well as removing the large sheets after the speedway meeting. The air fences are not unsafe, and their design is constantly being reviewed with new features being added or amended as time goes on.

Our 2 year old fence at Newcastle is an air fence that has to be dropped after each meeting so the dog punters can see the dogs little feet during the dog racing. The panels are 5 metres long and have 4 straps attached to the bottom of the underneath fence which is loosely clipped by a carabino clip to the mesh fence behind the air fence, we still retain a kickboard behind the air fence to give the bottom end some stiffening and support. A rider or bike can edge under the fence, but the gap is covered by a rubber skirt that does offer some resistance to either going into the fence so low down. Two suggestions that fans often come up with are having solid fastenings in the track under the fence(see speedibee's post above), and digging a pit under the whole length of the air fence, and as you can imagine neither is really practical. Another idea is to fill the air fence with water, which just shows what a furtile mind can come up with without thinking of the consequences.

[Stoke Potter 242]

I still say my design I came up with some 10+ years ago is the way forward which I had sent directly to Airfence.

 

Basically each air fence panel has a hole through the centre.

Fixed to the front of each panel would be a 4 ply air pocket flexi plastic panel, about 5cm thick with a ficked eyelet on the reverse which allows it to be ratchet in place.

 

Those light impacts that happen a race could continue & the high speed impacts the flexi plastic prevents the air fence being lifted and punctured by the bike before the riders make impact.

I would say a similar idea would allow airfences to be used again on the straights. It sounds as though it would stop the rider getting sucked in on the straights as used to happen.

[Starman2006 2,355]

I am aware of the safety of solid foam fences, but they can't really be a realistic mandatory requirement at most tracks. Berwick can leave their fence up, but at Stock Car venues they have to be totally removed from places as Kings Lynn, Lakeside, Ipswich, etc. This involves great teams of volunteers, mostly taking the fence panels down immediately after the speedway meeting. In the case of air fences fitted at Dog Track venues, the air fence is dropped, after being deflated, so saving there after meeting removal. If all these fences had to be physically removed after meetings, you might as well close up shop, as it is already very difficult to get volunteers to drop the fence, as well as removing the large sheets after the speedway meeting. The air fences are not unsafe, and their design is constantly being reviewed with new features being added or amended as time goes on.

Our 2 year old fence at Newcastle is an air fence that has to be dropped after each meeting so the dog punters can see the dogs little feet during the dog racing. The panels are 5 metres long and have 4 straps attached to the bottom of the underneath fence which is loosely clipped by a carabino clip to the mesh fence behind the air fence, we still retain a kickboard behind the air fence to give the bottom end some stiffening and support. A rider or bike can edge under the fence, but the gap is covered by a rubber skirt that does offer some resistance to either going into the fence so low down. Two suggestions that fans often come up with are having solid fastenings in the track under the fence(see speedibee's post above), and digging a pit under the whole length of the air fence, and as you can imagine neither is really practical. Another idea is to fill the air fence with water, which just shows what a furtile mind can come up with without thinking of the consequences.

Very good post apart from the bottom two sentance's. Our fences are D clipped right at the bottom and clipped at the top with the brass fittings. But it won't matter what you do they will still rise on impact, if you have a bike flying at them at 60 mph plus.

Great inovation for saftey but otherwise a bloody nightmare.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Starman2006

[speedibee 3,091]

Were these fences and lack of fixings not tested before they were introduced as there are a couple of fixes but none seem to be being used.

Briggs manufactured the first ones , so they were instantly approved without question

[A ORLOV 8,628]

Briggs manufactured the first ones , so they were instantly approved without question

That is understandable

[robert72 845]

And you going to foot the bill i take it..

Money shouldn't come into it over rider safety.

[Tsunami 10,219]

Money shouldn't come into it over rider safety.

Money will always be a major factor. Like it or not, if a fence was designed that just about eliminated all major injuries, and it cost £100K a track, they would not be implemented as if they did there would be no speedway tracks open.