Unleashed

[wingman]

Tom McNerney was looking good this year -- still the world's fastest 4 cylinder Lancair?

It's always good to see a little 4 cyl leading a big six flown by one of Reno's most experienced racers! (Of course Crazy Dave HAS been known to sandbag just a little bit -- he really loves to win the Bronze rather than finish in the middle of the Silver).

Neal



URL=http://s150.photobucket.com/user/Wingmanphoto/media/Dago%20Red/_D7N1552.jpg.html][/URL]

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Unleashed

And you would have to search far and wide to find a nicer guy! BTW, Dudewanarace is Tom in real life, a frequent participant here. (Neal, I know you know that but for the benefit of visitors )

[Sky Critter]

Re: Unleashed

And, they had one the best looking air race shirts ever!

[Dudewanarace]

Re: Unleashed

Hey! Sweet shot!!!!!

Sorry for the late reply, taking me a while to get back up to speed here at home. Wait till you guys see the video, Dave and I had some great racing during the week, until Sunday that is.. haha He checked out right at the start.

Not sure if I shared it here or not, but here is the last lap from when I think the picture above was taken. You can see the shadow from Race 99 when I round pylon 3. Also note the GPS ground speed in the upper right.

Thanks for the compliments on this years shirt. It always a struggle to think it up, print them, get them delivered, etc.. But always seems to be worth it to see one around the pits at Reno.

I'll be posting more as I dig through the gigs of data, and find the good parts.

Tom McNerney

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Unleashed

Thank-you for the inside look!

[wingman]

Re: Unleashed

[Sky Critter]

Re: Unleashed

More mods planned for next year or perhaps a prop?

[Dudewanarace]

Re: Unleashed

Neal, again, awesome shot!!

You can see the flaps reflexed in that photo pretty well.

As for more mods:

I'm pretty sure a new prop would be the best single bolt on part to get more speed. It just happens to be the second most expensive part, next to the engine.. Also, I am above the speed/power envelope for the current "off the shelf" propellers so a new prop will probably involve a TON more work... It will take some time to figure out.

The engine really isn't a point of concern because it seems to be in very good shape considering the hours and it has what, 4 Reno Air Races on it! So while trying to live by the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality, I still think it would be a good idea to open it up and look around. Of the handful of XP-400's that have been built, I have the most hours by a long shot, and the toughest operating environments every now and then. So, my goal for the winter is maybe talking somebody in to helping me tear it down and inspect everything. Not an overhaul, but just a look around and check.

The other elephant in the room is the horizontal angle of incidence. As you can see in the first pic, the elevator is not in trail. Also, that is FULL nose down trim. I think there could be some speed gained, and a general improvement in overall stability, but geez.. LOTS of work.

Since I'm just airing it out here, haha.. Might as well through in some sort of EFIS! If for nothing else but collecting testing data. I'm all steam gauges except for the engine monitor, but it only gets CHT/EGT/Fuel Flow/Oil Temp. Everything else I have to write down or remember, and the accuracy isn't always there. When I'm trying to get every mph, a lot can be lost in inaccurate data.

Still working on video.. wow there is a lot to cover.

Tom

[Dudewanarace]

Re: Unleashed

Ever get that feeling there is an airplane off your right wing?

I'd say the only reason I didn't flinch is I was looking at pylon 4, and the weeds..

Be sure to full screen and switch to HD, way better view!

Keep in mind this camera is shooting a 170 degree wide angle, so, objects in camera are closer than they appear!

[Apteryx]

Re: Unleashed

Getting the canopy to close flush, would probably help