From: AFE12@aol.com
Message-ID: <6b.158dd3e8.2852bb33@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 19:35:15 EDT
Subject: Race challenge
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Reply-To: lancair.list@olsusa.com

          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
          <<  Lancair Builders' Mail List  >>
          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>
I've been out of town for the last week, so I'm finally getting around to 
replying to this.

Never tell a man that his girl is ugly or his airplane is slow. <ROTFLMAO!>

I forgot that little rule recently and the result is now a rich man (anyone 
who has a loose $10k to gamble is rich in my humble opinion...) wants me to 
find a Lancair, set up a sanctioned race course, and race his Chevy small 
block filled with race parts against a "stock" TSIO-550.  My last $10k went 
into tooling for my aircraft;  My next $10k will be going into fabrication.  
I don't need to put up $10k to satisfy some rich man's fantasy when the best 
sanctioned and observed air race course in the world exists right next door 
to me.  All race fans (not just myself) have been waiting 4 years for an 
Engineair to show up at Reno and race against all comers like everyone else. 
Looks like we'll be waiting a while longer.

Let's get some things straight.  I didn't say that the "420 HP" Engineair 
small block Chevy was not as good as a "350 HP" Continental, I said it wasn't 
any better.  I also said the "600 HP" big block Chevy Orenda (derived from a 
Can-Am racing big block) wasn't any better.  We don't know what the two newer 
larger displacement efforts will do when they fly and race, and I made no 
claims or comments about them.

I made the assertion that the Orenda was no better than the Continental based 
on its performance of "running in the red" to stay ahead of a known stock 
Lancair IV at the annual owners fly-in.  The Lancair that had won for several 
straight years had run a very consistent speed, and did so again.  The 
Orenda, "rated" at 600 HP had to redline to keep only 1 mph ahead.  From this 
I calculate that the Orenda is only good for the same power (or less) than 
the stock Continental or has enough excess drag to discount any power 
advantage.  Please feel free to challenge this assertion;  I am open to 
alternative logic.  I expected more from a $110,000 engine that turns a 4 
place Lancair IV into a 2 place with its excessive weight.  I would certainly 
recognize that the Engineair is at least cost competitive with the stock 
Continental;  something we can't say for the Orenda.

In cross country race after race, the factory Engineair (N420HP) has 
performed within a few percent of many Lancair IV's equipped with TSIO-550's; 
 sometimes slightly faster, sometimes slower, most of the time about the 
same.  One might debate the state of tune of the Continentals competed with 
was not "stock" or they were not being run under conditions that they could 
reach the book TBO.  One might question that of any entry, including N420HP.  

We do know that the entry we worked on (Lee Behel's Venture) had a dead 
stock, non-turbo, PMA manufactured IO-550 and only our aero mods and went 3 
mph faster than N420HP in the 2000 Dayton to Oshkosh race.  It also did this 
with the primary GPS taking a dump and Lee's 9 year old son running 
supplemental navigation on a hand held. <LOL>  I personally feel Lee is one 
of the best pilots I know, however to attribute this victory over N420HP 
solely to a difference in skill or luck is ridiculous;  no race is perfect, 
and everyone has their problems including the winner.  Lee and his son still 
managed a 315 mph average there and a 311 mph average at the 2001 Sun 100 (a 
record speed for that race I have been told).  They also ran an entire week 
at Reno in the same trim at 309 to 311 mph around the Sport Class course at 
density altitudes from 6,000 to 8,500 ft. while a stock Venture ran within 1 
to 2 mph of Lee's baseline from 1998 when his aircraft had no aero mods 
except taped gap seals.  From this, we can pretty much say that we know what 
Lee's airplane is good for in it's current form in cross country and pylon 
racing.  If he changes nothing, I would be very surprised at any finish in 
any cross country race (of reasonable length and running with and against the 
winds aloft) outside of 310 to 316 mph.

In the coverage of the 1999 Kitty Hawk to Osh race, Jim Rham gave the 
following commentary of his second leg:

"The upper winds were still strong, so I elected to stay at 4,500 ft.  I flew 
the airplane at 35.5" MAP and 4,200 engine RPM, which is about 97% power...

...At 4,500 ft. we had around 12 knots of wind on the nose most of the way 
and my groundspeed was 235 to 242 knots most of the time."

I have no reason to doubt these figures since they correlate well to several 
other races that N420HP has competed in.  So let's break this down.

242 and 235 ground speed with a 12 knot head wind averages to 250.5 KTAS or 
287.5 mph TAS (Jim did not give a KTAS, we are calculating this from his wind 
quote).  At 4,500 ft. in an ISA atmosphere, this translates to 230.7 KIAS at 
the "97%" power level.  Simple power vs. speed conversion to 100% power 
yields ~233 KIAS from a claimed 420 HP.  Note that we are being very generous 
here;  if the OAT was anything higher than an ISA standard 43 degrees F, the 
density altitude would be higher and the IAS lower.  So I am granting a great 
deal of performance margin in these calcs that probably isn't there.  With 
the higher temperature that other participants have told me was present in 
that race, the IAS would drop by at least 5 KIAS for the quoted altitude.

In pylon racing (at Reno, on a sanctioned and observed course) a stock 
Lancair IVP with no mods is good for 280 to 285 mph (218 to 221 KIAS 
depending on density altitude).  It's a narrow range because only a couple of 
people have tried it so far.  The rest of the Lancair's flown around the 
pylons have been highly modified, so we are not counting those to be fair to 
Engineair.  

In cross country racing, the same aircraft are good for 280 to 305 mph 
(discounting the 2000 Oshkosh winner as a "non-stock" entry based on 
Engineair's opinion).  Clearly, the Venture loses less on the pylon course 
vs. cross country when compared to a Lancair and no matter how good the 
piloting, most of this is due to the higher aspect ratio wing.  The wide 
range of 225 to 240 KIAS reported from TSIO-550 Lancairs for these cross 
country races corresponds to a wide range of participants, and relative 
engine/aircraft variations.  This correlates well to the 220 to 240 KIAS that 
most new TSIO-550 equipped Lancair IVP builders claim at 100% power under 
5,000 ft.  The high end would correspond to a carefully detailed aircraft 
like N420HP.

I have also NOT included two Lancairs that raced at Reno with extensive 
modifications.  Only the unmodified, no spray bar water, no ADI entries are 
used for this comparison.  No excuses there.

So we end up our comparison (as of June, 2001) with the Engineair at 228 to 
233 KIAS and the "stock" Lancair IVP's at 220 to 240 KIAS.  There are more 
TSIO-550's flying than Engineairs, so we only have the prototype for 
comparison.  This prototype falls in the middle of the range of the "stock" 
TSIO-550's.  So we would expect that if N420HP ever came to Reno and raced on 
an observed, sanctioned race course, its performance would be virtually 
identical to Lancair IV's equipped with TSIO-550's.

Yes, all the Continental owners are over-revving and over-boosting their 
engines.  So can Engineair.  All's fair in war and racing.  I eagerly await 
an Engineair equipped Lancair shattering the speeds that TSIO-550 Lancair 
IV's have proved time and time again.  It hasn't happened yet;  Orenda didn't 
do it either.  I had a builder ask me the other day what I would recommend 
for an engine and I said, "can you wait 6 to 12 months?".  That should be 
time enough for the customer built Engineair aircraft to beat (or not) the 
factory performance;  time for the other two big displacement engines to fly 
and beat (or not) all the Continentals;  time for a FADEC and ceramic 
equipped Continental to beat (or not) all the stockers;  and time for a few 
of the Walter turbines to debut and everyone to see just how much fuel they 
really burn for all that power, and how much power they have left at altitude.

Since this race challenge is coming from a member of the Engineair LLC group, 
we really have no idea of the state of tune the engine would be in.  It is 
doubtful that it or any other engine in any challenge race will be one that 
has seen "TBO" or will be run at a power level that could reach "TBO".  In 
the meantime, I will sit next to our fully timed, measured, sanctioned, 
officiated race course, watch and publish the results, the mods, and the 
cost, as I did this year in Kitplanes (June 2001 issue, pg 20).  Concerning 
gambling, I am in one of the world centers of gambling and no where else will 
you see so much BS attached to so much money;  walking, talking or not.

In SANCTIONED PYLON RACING, when the flag drops, the BS stops.  

Eric Ahlstrom,
Race fan, driver, engineer, and armed with a calculator and stopwatch....
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LML website:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore:   http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair

Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>