AlW
Posts: 213
Joined: 2/26/2002
From: Bellevue, WA, USA
Status: offline
|
Hi All,
I think it time for me to make a few comments.
1. What we are doing here has NOTHING to do with pylon racing. The airplane is a Formula 1 as was defined in the AMA Rule Book a number of years ago. These rules are gone so we are simply having some fun with a fast airplane from a bygone era. There are no pyons involved and this NOT a race! In a pylon race with four airplanes an airplane is pointed at the pits/spectators approximately 40 times each heat at high speeds. In these speed runs the airplane is NEVER pointed at the pits/spectators, but runs parallel to them.
2. Ed, your dissertion on pylon racing, cages, off-course workers etc. etc. just does not apply. I am very familiar with all the iterations you spoke of since I was the structural engineer representing NMPRA in meetings with AMA on the design of those cages. NMPRA and AMA were way off base on the initial test program and I contacted Vern Smith (then NMPRA President) with my concerns and wound up agreeing to represent NMPRA in the design and test program. I attended AMA Executive Council Meetings, AMA Safety Committee Meetings and witnessed some of the rocket-powered sled tests at Tullahoma, TN. where we fired old F-1 airplanes at a number of various cage materials.
3. When I retired from Pylon Racing in 2000 I turned my interest to turbines, so I am familiar with the AMA regulations with these airplanes. Currently, we are not permitted to fly turbines in excess of 200 MPH. Remember that these airplanes are heavy - mostly in the 30-40-lb range. An F-1 at 5 to 6 pounds and approximately at the same speed has less than 20 % of the kenetic energy of a turbine model, so I don't think that the AMA should have any concerns.
4. The airplane in question was build by me a long time ago and is a Paul Stenberg De-night. It has a Nelson F/1 motor and the fuel was 30% nitro, 18% Klotz Kl-200 and 52% Methanol. A 10-ounce tettra tank was used. The prop was carved by me from a Rev-Up series 400 pylon racing prop. This fuel was chosen because we have a limited supply of Nelson F-1 motors and parts and just can't afford to damage motors with a lean high nitro run. The airplane has been flown four or five times - all these flights were made with a very long straigh away and gentle left-hand turns. Having raced Formula F-1 I can tell you that this airplane unloaded like none I have heard before. On the first flight the needle was set about like one would for aF-1 heat and after a circuit or two it went lean. Subsequent flights were launched with a much richer setting to allow for the unloading. The speed runs were flown with the airplane entering the straight section from a gentle dive and levelling out through the traps. The speed trap is one of the JPO systems and the speed is shown on a digital display in MPH. There are no stop watches in this system. I don't know how the system works, but I will tell you that we flew a turbine powered model through the same traps and compared the trap speed to the on board speed sensor, which is hooked into the ECU and got a very good correlation - within 2% at around 200MPH. In conclusion, I am sure that there are some skeptics out there, but based on what I have seen I am convinced that these airplanes can exceed 200MPH.
Al Watson
|
Printable Version
All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> Pylon Universe - RC Pylon Racing >> General Racing Discussion >> RE: Formula one speeds 
RE: Formula one speeds - 
