The Green Monster was the name of several vehicles built by Art Arfons who was often described as a "junk yard genius", and his half brother Walt Arfons. They were initially Dragsters, at first powered by junked automobile engines, then by war surplus piston aircraft engines (Ranger and Allison V-1710), which were plentiful, durable, and cheap, then by jet aircraft engines. The jet powered dragsters developed into jet powered vehicles built to break the land speed record, finally a series of turbine powered pulling tractors. Art Arfons (born February 3, 1926 in Akron) was three time the world land speed record holder. ... Walt Arfons (born 1916?) is the half brother of Art Arfons, his former partner in drag racing, and his competitor in jet powered land speed record racing. ... Drag racing is a form of auto racing in which cars attempt to complete a fairly short, straight and level course in the shortest amount of time. ... The term aircraft engine, for the purposes of this article, refers to aircraft reciprocating, or rotary, internal combustion engines as opposed to jet engines or turboprops. ... In general, a ranger is a keeper, guardian, or soldier who ranges over a region to protect the area or enforce the law. ... Allison V-1710 The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine was the only indigenous US developed liquid-cooled engine to see service during WWII. Known as a sturdy and trustworthy design, it nevertheless was overlooked in a number of applications due to problems with the supercharging. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1970 land speed record being set at Bonneville Salt Flats by Gary Gabelich Land Speed Records 1898-2002 The information below is for self-propelled wheeled vehicles travelling over open ground. ... Tractor pulling is a competition using tractors to pull a heavy sledge along a course. Usually the sledge gets harder to pull the further you travel. ...

The first "Green Monster", in 1952 was a three wheeled dragster powered by an Oldsmobile six cylinder motor, and painted with left-over green tractor paint. The name was applied on the car's first outing by the track announcer, who laughingly said "Okay folks here it comes; The Green Monster", and it stuck to all Arfons' creations. The car only reached 85 miles per hour (137 km/h), 20 miles per hour (30 km/h) short of the fastest car, but by 1953 the Green Monster Number 2, a 20 foot (6 m) long six wheeled car powered by a 2000 horsepower (1.5 MW) Allison aircraft engine, was hitting 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) in the quarter mile. Green Monster Number 2 was painted by Arfons' mother to resemble the World War II Curtiss P-40 Flying Tigers fighter airplane, with an open mouth showing large teeth. The top speed of the car was estimated at 270 miles per hour (435 km/h), and it could reach 140 miles per hour (225 km/h) in eight seconds from a standing start. Running on passenger car tires, the car required four wheels on the rear drive axle to withstand the power. At the first World Series of Drag Racing at Lawrenceville, Illinois, it clocked the highest top speed at 132.35 miles per hour (213.00 km/h), and eventually a world record of 145.16 mph (233.61 km/h). Jump to: navigation, search 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Oldsmobile (or Olds + Mobile) was a brand of automobile produced in the United States from 1897 to 2004. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that... The Curtiss P-40 was an American fighter aircraft which first flew in 1938 and played a vital role in the crucial middle stages of World War II. Developed from the pre-war radial-engined P-36 Hawk, the P-40 became known as the Tomahawk, the Kittyhawk, and finally... Jump to: navigation, search A blood chit issued to the American Volunteer Group Flying Tigers. ... A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Lawrenceville is the name of several places: Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville, New Jersey The Lawrenceville (N.J.) School Lawrenceville, Ohio Lawrenceville, Virginia (See also Lawrence, Lawrenceburg. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: Land of Lincoln, The Prairie State Other U.S. States Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) Senators Richard Durbin (D) Barack Obama (D) Official languages English Area 149,998 km² (25th)  - Land 143,968 km²  - Water 6,030 km² (4. ...

The later cars had various paint schemes where green was not necessary the dominant color. The six-wheeled Green Monster Number 6 became the first dragster to break 150 miles per hour (241 km/h) in the quarter mile. Green Monster Number 11, Art Arfons' favorite, hit 191 miles per hour to beat Don Garlits. Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is considered the father of drag racing. ...

The Arfons brothers then split up amicably, and each became interested in land speed record racing. Jump to: navigation, search 1970 land speed record being set at Bonneville Salt Flats by Gary Gabelich Land Speed Records 1898-2002 The information below is for self-propelled wheeled vehicles travelling over open ground. ...

General Electric J79 on display at the USAF museum.

The most famous "Green Monster" was powered by an F-104 Starfighter General Electric J79 17,500 horsepower (13 MW) jet engine with four-stage afterburner, which Arfons purchased from a scrap dealer for $600 and rebuilt himself, over the objections of General Electric and the government, and despite all manuals for the engine being classified top secret. This car won the land speed record three times during the closely fought competition of 1964 and 1965 with 434, 536 and 576 miles per hour (698, 863, and 927 km/h) in the flying mile (despite blowing a tire on the last record run), competing versus Craig Breedlove who eventually won the record with 600.601 miles per hour (966.574 km/h). Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links J79. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links J79. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a high-performance supersonic interceptor aircraft, capable of high speeds and climb rates. ... The General Electric J79 was a turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter aircraft and bomber aircraft. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... For other uses of afterburner, see Afterburner (disambiguation). ... The General Electric Company, or GE, NYSE: GE is a multinational technology and services company. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1970 land speed record being set at Bonneville Salt Flats by Gary Gabelich Land Speed Records 1898-2002 The information below is for self-propelled wheeled vehicles travelling over open ground. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... Craig Breedlove (born March 23, 1937) was a five-time world land speed record holder. ...

In 1966 Arfons returned once again to Bonneville, but had only reached a maximum speed of 554.017 miles per hour (891.604 km/h) when, on run number seven at 8:03 AM on November 17, Arfons crashed his Green Monster badly at 610 miles per hour (982 km/h) when a wheel bearing froze. He subsequently built another Green Monster land speed record car, but sold it to California rancher Slick Gardner without ever driving it. 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... Geography - United States Bonneville Salt Flats is the name of an ancient lake bed in Utah. ... November 17 is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece. ...

In view of his wife's concern over the risk involved in land speed record racing, Arfons instead turned his talents to turbine powered tractor pulling with great success, fielding a series of Green Monster pull tractors along with his son and daughter. Tractor pulling is a competition using tractors to pull a heavy sledge along a course. Usually the sledge gets harder to pull the further you travel. ...

However, in 1989, Arfons returned to Bonneville with Green Monster Number 27, an 1800 pound (820 kg), 22 foot (7 m) long two wheeler. The car left the ground at 350 miles per hour (563 km/h), and Arfons rebuilt it into a less radical four wheeled vehicle for 1990, but could manage only 177, 308 and 338 miles per hour (285, 496, and 544 km/h). In 1991 he tried again, but once again had to give up with handling problems. Jump to: navigation, search 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External link

• http://www.americanjetcars.com/aarfon.htm