Are they really using NOS?

[Arctic Cat]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

NO2 in the frame tubing?

Some aerobatic planes with tube frames are pressurized with nitrogen and monitored with a gauge in the cockpit. Any loss of pressure indicates a crack in the frame.

[Leo]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

But nitrogen is inert, not an oxygen source...
I've heard of using it as an anti corrossion method, kind of like the old method of oiling the inside. Never heard of it as an indicator, cool!

I didn't know Miss A2 used nitrous, some exotic fuel additives were mentioned though. Wonder if it was ever really put to the engine?

[DWYER]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

That's an awesome idea.

[DWYER]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

I didn't know Miss A2 used nitrous, some exotic fuel additives were mentioned though. Wonder if it was ever really put to the engine?

I don't think they really ever got to opener her up all the way. From past articles, posts and interviews - I gather that they were just starting to open her up when the tragedy happened. What a sad,sad,sad day that was.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

im sure Miss Ashley II used NOS as well (snip)...

Yes she did. They used it to make up for the lower boost available with the two speed (not two stage) blower on the Griffon version they used. It would have been wonderful to see just how fast that airplane would have gone as they worked on the development program.

It sure was a beautiful airplane, inside and out!

Though he has retired from bringing racers to RENO, if you ever see Bill Rogers in the pits, thank him for what he brought to the sport..


There's a bunch of stories on the site that followed the airplane's progress... the "site search" button on the main page of the site is your friend.

[spacegrrrl]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

After years of watching Ray get out front and then jus GO we all wondered how he did it. When Frost got caught a lot of people went "Hey, I wonder"...
I am sure it was just his getting into smooth air, the engine warming up, his awesome tight flying, but one had to wonder if all speculation over the years had any truth to it. He NEVER got caught doing anything of the sort as far as I know so he was either very good or very clean.

There sure seemed to be some "shenanigans" there but never was proven. I know we used to watch every day at the end of the races Ray would pull the plane out away from everyone else with the cowl off and run the engine for a bit while clearly doing some other "fiddling". The speculation was some "secret sauce" was being put into a hidden chamber in the gas tank or some such. The the next race after a couple of laps something very definite seemed to change, almost like flipping a switch, you could see noticable black smoke from the engine and the plane shoot ahead, by the end of the race the smoke went away and the plane seemed to be slowing down. I hadn't noticed it on my own till someone made me watch the pre heat ritual then the follow the plane in its next heat. We both shouted out "there it is" when we saw the smoke and heard the engine pick up while we watched the next heat and seemed to see the same thing repeated throughout the rest of the races.

Maybe it was just the plane getting "up on step" or our minds playing tricks on us. Could have been a bunch of different things to be sure. If it was something sneaky it clearly was brilliant as I don't believe anyone ever found any indication of something out of order.

Just one more of the many amazing "stories" to emerge from the wonders of Reno!

Spacegrrrl

[spacegrrrl]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

I think you may be confusing two separate incidents....

The tank in the flight suit leg pocket was supposedly Jack Frost in the T-6 class in 1998.

The F-1 incident may be the time that the guy was bringing the tanks on-site for Art Scholl to use in his routine, but he walked into the F-1 hangar and said aloud "Delivery for Ray Cote...."

By the time I heard the story it was way past "third hand" and sounds like it must have been very scrambled in the telling.

I have heard of NOS being hidden in frame tubing but I think that was in the context of car racing.

Spacegrrrl

[Sparrow]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

There are enough videos out there of unlimited hydro's if you want to see what it looks like when the squeeze is on line. Enrichment fuel has to be there at the same time the NOS comes on, therefore the "black" cloud you speak of...... We ran it on the test truck once.......interesting.

[IcePaq]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

NOS is a company who sells N20 injection systems.

N02 is nitrogen dioxide which is most commonly produced by excessive combustion temperature.

[stuntflyr]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

I liked the way the T-6 pits used to smell during the nitromethane period.
Chris...

[Ron101502]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

I seem to recall Lyle telling me the NOS system on the Bear made about 800 more HP, half from the extra oxygen and half from the cooling effect on the intake charge. It's my understanding that when Lyle set the straight line speed record of 528 mph the first 3 passes were around 541 but then the nitrous ran out and the last pass was only 511 which lowered the average, although I have also heard that severe low level turbulence made the last pass slower. Maybe somebody in the know can elaborate. Nitrous isn't easy to use on these big motors, there is no way to enrich the mixture and retard the spark like in automotive systems.

[eeyore]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

Automotive applications inject fuel with the NOS. Running NOS for the time of an air race would require some way to keep the bottle from freezing out. Auto race classes where it's NOS or a supercharger the NOS cars are more reliable

[planecrazy2]

Re: Are they really using NOS?

Ray Cote was a boyhood hero of mine. I grew up in El Cajon, CA. and he was the "The Man that won at Reno". IN MY HOMETOWN!

It was well known Ray was using steroids, among the folks down at the Chamber of Commerce....