MG Car Club of South Australia
THE LIFE OF BRIAN’ S THEORY
A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK AT AN MGA IN FULL FLIGHT
Written by Graham Byass in collaboration with Brian Lee
T
he vehicle, a white MGA, was pur-
chased by Brian Lee in the 60s,
from Bob Bazzica. Brian never intended
to use the MG for any purpose other than
his personal pleasure.
His inquisitive nature got the better of
him while he was studying motion phys-
ics during his teaching degree at Flinders
University in the 60s. The white MGA SA
23-492 , was to be the perfect subject for
a series of experiments relating to the
physics of launching objects from an in-
clined plane. It was, as the sales bro-
chure stated “ a perfectly balanced piece
of machinery from front to back.”
With his fellow students, Brian soon real-
ised that the perfect launching ramp ex-
isted within the university grounds, a
road out of sight, no traffic, and with a
small hill at its crest, followed by a hori-
zontal landing strip. The angle of the in-
cline was just about perfect – although it
could not be varied without major con-
36
struction engineering works –not an
option.
The vehicle needed to be accelerated
to various speeds to measure the ef-
fects of forces needed to actually
launch it into the air – all four wheels
needed to be off the ground and the
MGA needed to move through the air
whilst remaining perfectly level, to prove
Brian’s theory.
The day of the experiment was perfect
weatherwise – no rain, no wind, and
mild summer temperatures – outside
influences would be minimal.
The first of 4 runs at a launch speed of
30 mph achieved almost no launch at
all, and it was not until the third run at
60 mph was recorded, that the desired
“4 wheels off the ground affect” was
achieved – but not quite enough to
prove Brian’s theory. The wheels
needed to be further off the ground, and
so a final approach at 75 mph was