Cool Suit Technology Inc., Livonia, Michigan, a company that specializes in customized cooling systems for auto, boat and airplane racing teams. Motor racers tried for years to find an effective method of body cooling but T t gets pretty hot in a rac- early systems were unreli- Iing car. The powerful en- able and too heavy and gine is, of course, the big bulky for race car use. Den- heat contributor but there nis Carlson, president of are other factors, such as Carlson Technology, sought aerodynamic design mea- to develop an effective sys- sures that detour cooling air tem after a driver blacked away from the cockpit. Tem- out in the 1978 Brazilian peratures in the cockpit of Grand Prix. He learned of 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit cool suit research per- are not unusual and an ac- formed by Ames Research tual thermometer reading at Center and a contractor, one race last year showed Acurex Corporation. Under an astonishing 215 degrees. contract to Ames, Acurex At such temperatures, driv- developed a heat-stress alle- er's elevated body tempera- viating liquid-cooled helmet tures can cause fatigue, de- liner for military pilots after hydration and even collapse. a series of accidents in Viet- ties. Last year the winners of So more and more drivers nam had suggested heat ex- 12 major racing champion- are taking to "cool suits"-- haustion as the cause. The ships used Carlson cooling helmet liners and/or body system, which pumped a systems; in one race vests through which a fluid cooled fluid through chan- alone--the 1986 Talladega circulates, cooled by a nels in the helmet liner, 500--there were 24 Carlson refrigeration unit and proved effective in eliminat- systems in use, compared pumped through tubes to ing 40-60 percent of stored with five in the prior year. A the garments. At lower right, body heat. xMcool Head is a trademark of Life Ayrton Senna, winner of the In 1980, William Elkins, a Support Systems, Inc. 1986 Detroit Grand Prix is key developer of the cool- tightening a helmet liner ing system as an Acurex em- while a member of the pit ployee, left the company to crew attaches the connec- form Life Support Systems, tion to the cooling unit. In Inc., Mountain View, Cali- the upper photo, Dale fornia. LSSI supplies helmet Earnhardt, 1986 NASCAR liners and vests to Carlson Winston Cup champion, Technology. The latter com- shows off his cool vest. pany customizes a complete Their Carlson Personal interior cooling system, in- Cooling Systems, which are cluding hardware, controls based on aerospace technol- and other components tai- ogy, are supplied by Carlson lored specially to the re- quirements of the user. Ac- ceptance of the Personal Cooling System is growing, says Dennis Carlson, as is the number of success sto- 104 Public Safety.