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  • 3km Record attempts.....

    Hello,

    I saw on a thread with some discussion of 3km speed records, what Rare Bear had to do etc. What I can tell you is what the methodology is now for the 3km, that VooDoo is getting ready to do. In some small ways it is different and in most, it is the same from the Rare Bear days . It comes down to the airplane going very very fast, staying in one piece and the pilot being on the top of his or her game! The basic groups/categories are things such as: Land Plane, Internal combustion powered, Jet powered, Lighter than air, sea plane, gliders etc. For the sake of those interested here, we are talking about the category C1... Which defines, “Land Planes” internal combustion engines. The next portion of category is the weight of the aircraft of record. The NAA/FAI has weight windows defined in Kg identified by a letter, like a,b,c,d, etc.. Each letter identifies a weight category bracket. So it makes no difference what you have as long as it falls in the weight window. Fuel doesn’t matter, what engine you have or airframe none of that matters. Only the internal combustion engine powered land plane in the the weight window. So an F1 Nemesis, or NemesisNXT are each in different weight categories, and a would be a different weight for a Mustang.

    The 3km is the ultimate defining speed of an aircraft due to the constraints of the course, and the altitude in which the record is done, etc. It is the most exciting, most defining and most impressive of all the aviation speed records!

    So here’s the basics. The aircraft, in the NAA/FAI weight category is presented for the attempt/s. The plane can do as many attempts as they want. The aircraft can go make an attempt, If not happy with the speed, or they bust one of the requirements, they can go again, and repeat as often as they want. The aircraft, is weighed ready to fly, with pilot, fuel, liquids, everything ready to go including the NAA provided GPS telemetry, for each attempt. The aircraft MUST leave the ground with the all up weight within the NAA/FAI defined weight category that was applied for. In our case we were able to cross over between 2 different categories, C1b 500-1000kg, and C1c 1000-1750 kg by adding fuel and ADI for the heavier category, or stripping all that stuff out for the lighter category.

    The telemetry is some what like a differential GPS, basing the position and speed of the candidate aircraft relative to the base unit.

    There is a NAA observer/monitor, Brian Utley, who developed the system and maintains it for the NAA. Brian is an amazing individual, an aircraft nut, and IMHO records would be much much harder than they are now without his services, his brain power, and dedication! During the record attempts Brian is the care taker for the base unit, as well as the on board system. By saying harder, I mean that the logistics portion is easier than days gone by, and MUCH less expensive than before. In days gone by it was typical to need about 12-15 NAA certified monitors, for an attempt. RB had to do this, as did we with the little world beater Nemesis F1 waaaay back. The record attempt difficulty is no easier than before, because the flying is basically the same and is as difficult as it always has been.

    The 3km is a straight line course, that has virtual, GPS timing gates at each end of the 3km straight line course. The course can be put anywhere, not necessarily on an airport. The gates are identified by land marks etc, for the pilot to sight. For our attempts we always had the course, partly because it was just a BLAST to tear down the runway, using the CL as the center of the “window”. More on the window later. Outside of the 3km apart timing gates, at each end are, call them altitude entry and exit gates 1 Km out from the timing “gates”. The aircraft must be in the “window” for the what is now 5 Km distance, of which a fixed 3Km is timed. The “window” or box, is from the ground surface up to approximately 200 ft high X 200 ft wide along the entire 5km. The aircraft has to remain in the 200‘X200’ “box” for each pass of the 5Km. More about the course. Once the aircraft enters the 5Km long box, the aircraft has a maximum altitude that can be used for cool down and turn around etc once exiting the end of the 5Km long pass. The maximum altitude is basically 1500 ft (500 meters) AGL, measured from the ground of at center of the course. So prior to entry for the first pass the aircraft can go as high as it wants, dive down, BUT must be in the 200X200 box 1km out from the entry timing “gate” for the 3Km length. Once the aircraft enters the 1st entry gate, the aircraft can not exceed 1500 AGL AT ANY TIME, in the cool downs or turn arounds, or the attempt is void. So you come in 1km out from the entry timing gate. I thought of it as a “limbo pole”. Get under the “Limbo pole” fly FAST for 5km in the 200X200 box, stay there for what seems forever...., then you exit and can climb up to but not exceed 1500 ft AGL. Bust the 1500 ft max limit, the attempt is void. Make your turn around and back you come in the opposite direction under the limbo pole, go forever, exit, make the turn around back again in the original direction, limbo pole, go forever, exit, climb up to a max of 1500 ft AGL, and back in the opposite direction again limbo pole, go forever. The attempt can have as many passes as one would like, BUT ONLY the best 4 CONSECUTIVE passes, 2 in each direction are counted. There can be the best 4 CONSECUTIVE of 5, 6, 7, 8 however many passes is done. But NOT SO FAST little mister....! There is a time limit, of 20 minutes from the time the aircraft enters the first gate, to complete. The attempt speed of record, is the AVERAGE speed within the 3km gates of the 4 consecutive passes. NOT the highest speed of a single pass!
    This makes the 3km IS the defining speed the aircraft can go. It is done “on the deck” so to speak... These attempts are typically done at a high altitude airport or place. Higher altitude, the less drag on the plane. Turbos, super chargers, nitrous, ADI, Viagra you name compensates for the thin air and gives the engine the power even at the thinner air of the higher altitude.

    It is a very intense 20 minutes, with the pilot having to be on top of it, or the attempt is void. The crew/team, must have the plane ready to go, it is not a test session, it is a go fast as you can to try to break the existing record, by 1% or more. No doubt VooDoo and team are trying to brake the absolute internal combustion engine land plane (C1) speed record that the Rare Bear holds from so may years ago. That in itself is soooo impresive, how long ago that was! The RB record is one for the ages! Well done Lyle, John and all involved!

    Records are hard to break, they require a lot of thought a huge amount of work, a lot of luck, and lots of $$$$. They include having to have waivers for the speed and low level flying, closing the airport and surrounding areas for the attempts, and seems like filing everything including environmental impact statements, desert tortoise clearings, delta smelt head counts, all only in Ca of course....LOL! There are a lot of hoops to go through.

    So GOOD LUCK STEVO and TEAM, it will no doubt be a BLAST, and you and ALL involved will remember this for the rest of your life!

    Chase the Dream
    Jon

  • #2
    Re: 3km Record attempts.....

    It is great to hear your insight on the subject, Jon! I really appreciate you taking the time to post here!

    -Connor

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 3km Record attempts.....

      I sure hope there is a documentary crew with them to record history.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 3km Record attempts.....

        Originally posted by Nemesis View Post
        Hello,

        I saw on a thread with some discussion of 3km speed records, what Rare Bear had to do etc. What I can tell you is what the methodology is now for the 3km, that VooDoo is getting ready to do. In some small ways it is different and in most, it is the same from the Rare Bear days . It comes down to the airplane going very very fast, staying in one piece and the pilot being on the top of his or her game! The basic groups/categories are things such as: Land Plane, Internal combustion powered, Jet powered, Lighter than air, sea plane, gliders etc. For the sake of those interested here, we are talking about the category C1... Which defines, “Land Planes” internal combustion engines. The next portion of category is the weight of the aircraft of record. The NAA/FAI has weight windows defined in Kg identified by a letter, like a,b,c,d, etc.. Each letter identifies a weight category bracket. So it makes no difference what you have as long as it falls in the weight window. Fuel doesn’t matter, what engine you have or airframe none of that matters. Only the internal combustion engine powered land plane in the the weight window. So an F1 Nemesis, or NemesisNXT are each in different weight categories, and a would be a different weight for a Mustang.

        The 3km is the ultimate defining speed of an aircraft due to the constraints of the course, and the altitude in which the record is done, etc. It is the most exciting, most defining and most impressive of all the aviation speed records!

        So here’s the basics. The aircraft, in the NAA/FAI weight category is presented for the attempt/s. The plane can do as many attempts as they want. The aircraft can go make an attempt, If not happy with the speed, or they bust one of the requirements, they can go again, and repeat as often as they want. The aircraft, is weighed ready to fly, with pilot, fuel, liquids, everything ready to go including the NAA provided GPS telemetry, for each attempt. The aircraft MUST leave the ground with the all up weight within the NAA/FAI defined weight category that was applied for. In our case we were able to cross over between 2 different categories, C1b 500-1000kg, and C1c 1000-1750 kg by adding fuel and ADI for the heavier category, or stripping all that stuff out for the lighter category.

        The telemetry is some what like a differential GPS, basing the position and speed of the candidate aircraft relative to the base unit.

        There is a NAA observer/monitor, Brian Utley, who developed the system and maintains it for the NAA. Brian is an amazing individual, an aircraft nut, and IMHO records would be much much harder than they are now without his services, his brain power, and dedication! During the record attempts Brian is the care taker for the base unit, as well as the on board system. By saying harder, I mean that the logistics portion is easier than days gone by, and MUCH less expensive than before. In days gone by it was typical to need about 12-15 NAA certified monitors, for an attempt. RB had to do this, as did we with the little world beater Nemesis F1 waaaay back. The record attempt difficulty is no easier than before, because the flying is basically the same and is as difficult as it always has been.

        The 3km is a straight line course, that has virtual, GPS timing gates at each end of the 3km straight line course. The course can be put anywhere, not necessarily on an airport. The gates are identified by land marks etc, for the pilot to sight. For our attempts we always had the course, partly because it was just a BLAST to tear down the runway, using the CL as the center of the “window”. More on the window later. Outside of the 3km apart timing gates, at each end are, call them altitude entry and exit gates 1 Km out from the timing “gates”. The aircraft must be in the “window” for the what is now 5 Km distance, of which a fixed 3Km is timed. The “window” or box, is from the ground surface up to approximately 200 ft high X 200 ft wide along the entire 5km. The aircraft has to remain in the 200‘X200’ “box” for each pass of the 5Km. More about the course. Once the aircraft enters the 5Km long box, the aircraft has a maximum altitude that can be used for cool down and turn around etc once exiting the end of the 5Km long pass. The maximum altitude is basically 1500 ft (500 meters) AGL, measured from the ground of at center of the course. So prior to entry for the first pass the aircraft can go as high as it wants, dive down, BUT must be in the 200X200 box 1km out from the entry timing “gate” for the 3Km length. Once the aircraft enters the 1st entry gate, the aircraft can not exceed 1500 AGL AT ANY TIME, in the cool downs or turn arounds, or the attempt is void. So you come in 1km out from the entry timing gate. I thought of it as a “limbo pole”. Get under the “Limbo pole” fly FAST for 5km in the 200X200 box, stay there for what seems forever...., then you exit and can climb up to but not exceed 1500 ft AGL. Bust the 1500 ft max limit, the attempt is void. Make your turn around and back you come in the opposite direction under the limbo pole, go forever, exit, make the turn around back again in the original direction, limbo pole, go forever, exit, climb up to a max of 1500 ft AGL, and back in the opposite direction again limbo pole, go forever. The attempt can have as many passes as one would like, BUT ONLY the best 4 CONSECUTIVE passes, 2 in each direction are counted. There can be the best 4 CONSECUTIVE of 5, 6, 7, 8 however many passes is done. But NOT SO FAST little mister....! There is a time limit, of 20 minutes from the time the aircraft enters the first gate, to complete. The attempt speed of record, is the AVERAGE speed within the 3km gates of the 4 consecutive passes. NOT the highest speed of a single pass!
        This makes the 3km IS the defining speed the aircraft can go. It is done “on the deck” so to speak... These attempts are typically done at a high altitude airport or place. Higher altitude, the less drag on the plane. Turbos, super chargers, nitrous, ADI, Viagra you name compensates for the thin air and gives the engine the power even at the thinner air of the higher altitude.

        It is a very intense 20 minutes, with the pilot having to be on top of it, or the attempt is void. The crew/team, must have the plane ready to go, it is not a test session, it is a go fast as you can to try to break the existing record, by 1% or more. No doubt VooDoo and team are trying to brake the absolute internal combustion engine land plane (C1) speed record that the Rare Bear holds from so may years ago. That in itself is soooo impresive, how long ago that was! The RB record is one for the ages! Well done Lyle, John and all involved!

        Records are hard to break, they require a lot of thought a huge amount of work, a lot of luck, and lots of $$$$. They include having to have waivers for the speed and low level flying, closing the airport and surrounding areas for the attempts, and seems like filing everything including environmental impact statements, desert tortoise clearings, delta smelt head counts, all only in Ca of course....LOL! There are a lot of hoops to go through.

        So GOOD LUCK STEVO and TEAM, it will no doubt be a BLAST, and you and ALL involved will remember this for the rest of your life!

        Chase the Dream
        Jon
        Out of curiosity, did you make more than 4 passes on each attempt? How much time did you use up on each attempt?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 3km Record attempts.....

          Race 5,

          Good questions! We never got close to the 20 minute max window. I would guess that we were around 15 maybe 20 minutes wheels to wheels. Since the 3km course is really not very long, it is less than 10,000 feet long, so a couple of thousand feet longer than the Reno front stretch runway. At 400+ MPH it is only a matter of seconds that you are actually being timed. The add another Km on each end it doesn't take long. Most of the time is spent on the limited climb out and turnaround. And no only did 4 passes each time. It was hair raising enough and an intense time with all the altitude requirements etc. So no I after the four passes and turnarounds I was ready to land. Not sure,why but it is in some ways more intense than tearing around the pylons. Seems odd but it is really burned into the memory banks.

          Jon

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 3km Record attempts.....

            Originally posted by Nemesis View Post
            Race 5,

            Good questions! We never got close to the 20 minute max window. I would guess that we were around 15 maybe 20 minutes wheels to wheels. Since the 3km course is really not very long, it is less than 10,000 feet long, so a couple of thousand feet longer than the Reno front stretch runway. At 400+ MPH it is only a matter of seconds that you are actually being timed. The add another Km on each end it doesn't take long. Most of the time is spent on the limited climb out and turnaround. And no only did 4 passes each time. It was hair raising enough and an intense time with all the altitude requirements etc. So no I after the four passes and turnarounds I was ready to land. Not sure,why but it is in some ways more intense than tearing around the pylons. Seems odd but it is really burned into the memory banks.

            Jon
            Lyle always said the hardest flying he ever did was on the record runs.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 3km Record attempts.....

              Just curious: Is there a limit to the length and width of the turn around box other than altitude? I'm wondering if you would keep the same throttle setting or if you would throttle back to climb out, turn around, and line up for the next pass?
              "Lighten Up Francis....."

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                Originally posted by boomtown View Post
                Just curious: Is there a limit to the length and width of the turn around box other than altitude? I'm wondering if you would keep the same throttle setting or if you would throttle back to climb out, turn around, and line up for the next pass?
                I could be wrong, but I think your engine lasts longer if you reduce power a little on the turn around? At least when you had to do 6 passes?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                  Hello,
                  Again GREAT questions. No there is no space limit to the turn arounds. We always made sort of bent tear drop, when exiting the course. We would initiate a gentle right climbing turn, and reduce the power back to about 70-75% indeed to help the engine and the pilot for that matter cool down...... When we were using the ADI system for the heavier category we would pull back enough to have the computer shut down the system. The right turn would take us out pretty far, allowing for a very gentle left turn, we always like left turns better don't we.....? The key was to get up close to the altitude limit but not break it. We put a big post-it note top center on the panel with the maximum altitude, less 100 feet. I didn't take long to eat up 1500 feet from 400+ MPH..... Once we were "cooled down" enough, would start the gentle left turn around. By this time we were perhaps 5-6 miles from the airport. Call the crew, that we were starting to turn back in. Now we're on about a 4mile gentle turning "base" level at 1400 AGL. Bringing the power back on while beginning the gentle left turn toward the 1Km out "virtual limbo pole", and heading down hill. Another call to the crew, and here we come haulin'! Spot the land mark for the "limbo pole" check altitude, get the plane on the deck in the 200x200 window and HOLD ON! The average altitude for us in the gates was about 50 feet. A lot like the Valley of speed, which is REEEEEALY fun for the driver, and the people on the ground. Up close and personal! Hopefully this stuff gives a little insight into the intensity of what Steveo is going to be doing. Again it is HARD to break records, especially the ones they are going after. WOW! GODS SPEED STEVEO and VOODOO, BE SAFE!
                  Jon

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                    Thank you Sir for giving us the view from the drivers seat!
                    "Lighten Up Francis....."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                      Boomtown,

                      You're welcome, just wanting to give the viewers a little insight to what Steveo will be doing. There has been a lot of inquiries about what the 3Km is about. Not sure if they are doing the next distance up the 15KM while they are at it.. That is entire different animal, but not relevant at this time.

                      So you're welcome and hope you all enjoyed reading about the most prestigious aviation WORLD SPEED RECORD the 3KM!

                      Jon

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                        Dang! That sounds like dancing on the edge of the volcano! Thanks for the first hand report Jon. We sure miss seeing you fly the pylons.
                        '71 S.D.1000, '85-'91,'94',95,'97-'99,'02,'04,'06,'08,'10,'13,'14 NCAR.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                          Originally posted by toldjaso View Post
                          I could be wrong, but I think your engine lasts longer if you reduce power a little on the turn around? At least when you had to do 6 passes?
                          The reason Lyle was reducing power during the turn arounds, was not so much to "save" the engine as it was to reduce the energy that the airplane had moving it through the sky. I was at the end of the runway with a radio reminding Lyle "Nitrous Off, Nitrous On during the runs. The airplane was going directly over my head during the runs. It was a unique situation because he was fully at speed by the time he got to where I was standing directly under the flight path. It felt like the air was being sucked out of my lungs every time he went over. BTW At this moment in time Lyle is 837 Days, 2 Hours and minutes from holding the record longer than the Nazis.

                          We are excited wait to hear that Stevo has broken the record. Lyle always thought that he was going to hold that record until September when Tsunami was going to beat it..........Less than a month, So on August 20,1989 we set the record for the first time just to break it. Then on August 21, 1989 We raised the record from the August 20 speed to a speed designed to make it as hard on Tsunami as we could. If the Nitrous would not have run out when it did we would have had a record in the mid to high 530 area. But no regrets we did good.
                          John Slack

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                            I was wondering, if in the future Voodoo ever wanted to go back and get a speed 1% above Rare Bear's speed, would they also have to go 1% faster than their current 531.53 mph? So in other words they would have to go 536.85 vs the 533.66 needed to be 1% faster than the Bear?
                            Random Air Blog

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 3km Record attempts.....

                              Originally posted by Samuel View Post
                              I was wondering, if in the future Voodoo ever wanted to go back and get a speed 1% above Rare Bear's speed, would they also have to go 1% faster than their current 531.53 mph? So in other words they would have to go 536.85 vs the 533.66 needed to be 1% faster than the Bear?
                              Nope 533, but to beat Will's record (their record now) it would be 536
                              Reno from '99 to '22

                              Comment

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