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| Grinding |
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| Still grinding |
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| Fixing the propeller |
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| Test-day tinkering |
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| Preparing for take-off |
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| Up and away! |
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Krazy Karters' Diary
It all started for us in the first week of January 2002. We only had a few days to fill in the forms and make a short video. So we filmed ourselves dismantling a friend's racing kart (he was in hospital at the time and could not stop us). We looked like a bunch of circus clowns in action.
A few weeks later Mark gets a phone call to say we have been short-listed and some of the production team would like to do a phone interview to see how technically minded we are. The interview went fine, even though other people in the office heckled us. The next stage, they said, was that some research people would like to meet us. A few days after that we got a call to say that they would like to come to the track to screen-test us – and could they screen-test four people for the co-presenter's position.
A screen test is when you first discover how many ways you can say the same thing to camera, and that everything in TV land takes four times longer than in the real world. This is when we first met Robert, and yes, he really is that mad. All we can say is the choice of co-presenter we made is the same one that the production team made. Some days later we were told we had a place on Scrapheap.
Prep day
Now we're getting excited: the time has come. So we set off to Basingstoke and arrive a bit early – an hour and a half to be exact. Eager or what? So we go and find breakfast in town and return at midday when we're supposed to sign in and meet Serena, Jo (another researcher) and the opposition. Oh!! – and our spending money. At this point you realise that the last thing you do is give a pair of Kiwis money, because the bar is now calling us.
Shortly after, we're bundled into a minibus and whisked off to the scrapheap, which is bigger than it looks on TV, but the workshops are smaller. We then get shown what tools we have and get to play with the quad bikes.
So now it's back to the hotel for dinner. This is when we get told: 'Don't drink too much and don't stay up too late – it's a long day tomorrow.' So it's back to the bar to meet the technical consultants John (our TC), Bill (the opposition's TC), Ann (the judge) and Jonathan (the safety consultant). The challenge is referred to as 'hairdressing', so after chipping away for an hour and a half we still know nothing. So it's back to the bar again to meet Sym, Richard and Zimmer, the engineering side of Scrapheap (we like these people – a lot). Most people go to bed by eleven o'clock, but John and Mark are still too wired and sleeping is the last thing on our minds. We finally retire at 2.30am.
Build day
Six o'clock. Time to get up and off to the scrapheap. First some mood pieces to camera, then breakfast, then we find out the challenge, then some more pieces for the camera on the scrapheap and in the workshop. Then the horn sounds and it's 10 hours to go. Suddenly it hits home: how fast can you really work?
After a quick team talk about what we need to find – two petrol engines, polystyrene, plywood, fan blades and skirt material – it's off out to the scrapheap. All I can tell you is, out there you just have to look – oh, and believe in the scrapheap fairy. After an hour and a half Craig has found the two engines and John has found the poly and ply. After finding some steel tube, construction begins. Then back out to find some blades and skirt material. Now everybody on the team is on construction to get the main body of the craft together. Whilst fitting the fan blades we discover that they are the wrong rotation for our purpose, so it's a mad dash in the dark to find more. With 30 minutes to go we find the right blades and get them fitted.
We fire up our thrust engine and blow a big cloud of dust and a cameraman out of the workshop. It looks pretty impressive. Just time for a quick sweep-up and the horn sounds. Time for a few beers, then back to the hotel and the bar for more beer. After a long discussion about what we could and should have done, we finally retire at 4.30am.
Safety day
This part of Scrapheap is beyond our control – this is when our and the opposition's hovercraft are scrutinised for safety by the engineering team, the technical consultants and the judge, so it's time for a nice lazy morning in bed. We take in a movie, dinner and generally just chill-out and talk tactics for tomorrow.
Test day
This is when we really discover whether our hovercraft works or not. We are allowed a bit of tinkering time, so we make some adjustments to our throttle controls and give the craft a quick paint-job. Now it's time, so Mark jumps onto the craft and moves up to the start line. Success! It works! It moves! Mark's worried – he thinks it's a bit slow. So we race three races, and you have to find out the result.
We're exhausted. We've ridden the roller-coaster, and now it's time to get off. Just time for a quick drink with the production team and the opposition before going home. So that's it, it's all over!!!
Not quite ... a few weeks later we went to a Hovercraft Club of Great Britain race meeting to see how small one-man hovercraft really race (they really shift!). And a few weeks after that we went to our technical consultant John Gifford's company, Griffin Hovercraft, where he makes big commercial hovercraft, and had a trip out into the Solent (fantastic!).
All we can say is that the Scrapheap experience is amazing, so get the forms and a couple of friends and try it for yourself. The people are great: we made new friends. We hope to try again next year.
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