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Great Northwest Air Race III pt. 1

hydroguy2

Well Known Member
Great Northwest Air Race III

I was looking forward to a few days off and Kris and I heading over the Ephrata Washington for the GNAR III. Kris had an issue at work and cancelled, so I was going solo. The flight over was beautiful and smooth at 12500 but had a 30kt headwind. Oh well I had a nice view.

looking south west into Idaho as I near the MT/ID border near Mullen pass
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This was looking north towards Lake Couer dAlene' site of the Aug 18th Pappy Boyington Cup Race
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Landed at Ephrata 2.4hrs, later around 0930 local time and spotted Bob Axsom’s Race 71. Apparently we were the first arrivals. Race director John Smutney strolled over with a bottle of ice cold water…perfect!

One of the highlights for me was meeting Mr Van himself. It is not often a person gets to meet the designer and engineering behind their airplane. He seemed very down to earth and soft spoken. We talked about drag reduction, wing tips and also Bob Axsom's meticulous testing and documentation of results. Bob is a true experimenter. My impression of Van after my short 20 minutes...he's just a regular guy, in spite, of all his fame in the Experimental Aviation world. Before he left to go launch his electric powered motorglider, I asked him for a photo op in front of Aurora.

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Racers trickled in and Bob A drove some of us to lunch. Back a while later and a few more folks had rolled in. I was content to hang out and visit with many of the racers. Many folks were making final race preps, while others met at the Mexican Restaurant for a little friendly banter.

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Back at the field, Team Ely was applying a special formula speed wax. It appeared they had also moved out of their house from the pile of gear they unloaded.

Best SARL logo goes to The Canadian Rocket...a first timer!

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The next morning the place was abuzz with final arrivals and prepping. John gave a well prepared briefing and off we went to calm the nerves and light the fires.
 
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RE: Very Jealous

Brian, great pix and write up on your most excellent air race adventure.......and to meet the MAN......are you kidding me, now I am really jealous.
 
GNWAR

My first race John did a great job of hosting. I had a blast looking forward to some more races. Van was there for the North West nationals,(glider stuff). He has a real cool electric self launch glider white with big black letters on the tail and wing RV. We had great racing weather overcast and reasonably cool temps. That is just backward of what the glider guys like. sorry for them but great for us. I managed to get 2nd. place in RV gold 217 mph carrying a passenger too much fun. If you have not tried it you should. Good people, hanger lying ur uh flying what could be better.
 
GNWAR

My first race John did a great job of hosting. I had a blast looking forward to some more races. Van was there for the North West nationals,(glider stuff). He has a real cool electric self launch glider white with big black letters on the tail and wing RV. We had great racing weather overcast and reasonably cool temps. That is just backward of what the glider guys like. sorry for them but great for us. I managed to get 2nd. place in RV gold 217 mph carrying a passenger, too much fun. If you have not tried it you should. Good people, hanger lying ur uh flying what could be better. Really nice people those racers.
 
The line up for morning start. Did you know that Wittman Tailwind ran 231mph last year at GNAR II…in the rain!

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I launched in the #8 position behind a Glasair III that said he should run 210 but has seen 225mph before. Everyone in front of me was clearly going to be faster with one possibility. Fellow RV Blue class racer and seasoned veteran Bob Axsom in Race 71 was the number 5 spot. Bob and I should be comparable in speeds but he has experience and details that make him the man to beat for me. Starting right behind me was Bob Babler in Race 7RB, an IO-375 powered RV-7 running in the RV gold class.

Sorry no more pics until about an hour into the race.

Start (Ephrata-KEPH) 47˚18'06.33"N 119˚30'40.72"W
Turn 1 (Odessa-43D) 47˚20'39.86"N 118˚40'52.25"W
Turn 2 (Davenport-68S) 47˚39'14.59"N 118˚09'51.24"W
Turn 3 (Grand Coulee Dam-3W7) 47˚55'30.80"N 119˚04'37.38"W
Turn 4 (Mansfield-8W3) 47˚48'40.35"N 119˚38'00.39"W
Turn 5 (Quincy-80T) 47˚12'46.70"N 119˚50'48.56"W
Finish (Ephrata-KEPH) 47˚18'06.33"N 119˚30'40.72"W

Skyvector link:
http://skyvector.com/?ll=47.6354849...A.K1.68S:A.K1.3W7:A.K1.8W3:A.K1.80T:A.K1.KEPH

My race plan was to climb at the start to harness the forecast tailwinds. The wind didn’t seem to be up there and the racer in front of me was gone. I never saw him again until later that evening in the chocks. I was showing 190kts I think, before I started a shallow descent. The actual race is a blur but I was tracking Split times during the turn calls. It seemed like Race 7RB, might have been inching up on me but we started close together so hard to say. I was losing time to Race 71, anywhere from 3-5 seconds per leg. I made some lousy wandering turns. I need a working autopilot to help hold course. At turn 4, I thought I had opened the gap on Race RB, but gave it all back with an overturn and correction. A short few minutes later I took a pretty good jolt and smacked the canopy even though my belts were pretty tight. I made a quick call to tighten your belts.


About 2 miles further, the engine noise got louder and vibration increased significantly. I pulled the power and radio’d “ABORT” as I watched the cowl bumping up around the fuel spider and the prop shaking pretty good. I figured I just blew my engine but maybe only a jug. The vibration made me think I lost part of the prop…I just didn’t know. Quick scan showed I had oil pressure, but no indication on #2 CHT’s and EGT was 400-ish. The engine seemed to be making some power at 2000rpm but still flexing the cowl. I turned inward on the course thinking I could limp to Ephrata, it’s gotta be just over the ridge to my left, (it was but about 19nm). I hit nearest on my GPS, but my brain kinda froze until my newest BEST friend Race 7Rb, Bob Babler, said turn right and stay over the highway. He aborted also and stayed with me until we both landed. Bob said don’t go left, there is nothing out there for landing. Behind me 11nm was Mansfield turn 4, also not the best terrain for part of it. To my right was Waterville in 14nm. By this time I let bob guide me and I gave up on the radio freq’s and GPS stuff. Someone on the radio mentioned Chelan was over the hill and the river to the west with A&P service. I was able to hold altitude with the engine running noisily and keeping oil pressure. I think we were about 110-120kts. I asked B check for smoke and oil running out. I didn’t know how long the engine would stay running. Bob flew up next to me and then under to check for oil. No issues from his view. It was a long 5 minutes or whatever to get to the airport. I kept the highway off my left wing and flew approximately pattern height…just in case. When we reached Waterville, I reduced power and had significant noise increase popping and vibration. I nudged the power back to 1700 as I turned final. I told Bob I was leaving the power alone until I had pavement under me, as a Go-Around wasn’t looking like an option. Made a pretty good landing and the engine stayed running. I figured I was on the ground, so spun around and gave her some throttle to taxi back to the parking area, she sounded bad but was running. Bob landed when I was clear.

the red lines are the course and the yellow pegs are events. the yellow thin line is the route to safety
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WHEW! On the ground Waterville
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My Escort Bob Babler lives less than 30 minutes from here and knew the area well. What a great person to have sucking your exhaust in my time of need.
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Ok so now it?s 11:15 or so, we are on the ground and I have zero tools, no tie downs and no clue. AND the airport appears deserted on this fine Saturday. A few minutes later a man, Larry and his son drove up and opened a hangar full of cars and stuff but did have some tools. Then he said Look back there, it?s an RV-4 I started in 1993 or something like that. He left us with a pliers and screw driver to haul a small refridge. Cowl off, we see very little sign of anything bad?except a broken exhaust pipe.

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That?s it? I pulled the prop through and had good compression on all cylinders?.that?s it?.all that racket for a busted exhaust! We struggled to find help, but finally Larry came back and helped me out. Bob hung out this whole time helping me make decisions. Bob loaned me some tiedowns, to secure Aurora If I had to leave her. We finally figured we could round up a welder to fix us up, so I let Bob go back to Ephrata. Well after multiple phone calls and no answers and visiting 4 houses and more phone calls, I managed to reach Dave. Dave was working his farm field 15 miles away and said he could be there in an hour or so but had to finish the field first. Dave turns out is not only the owner of Barnes Welding Service of Waterville, he also owns a real nice Supercub. Dave was able to tack the flange to the pipe and we pulled it off to TIG it back together at the shop.

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He called Jordan, the new shop whiz kid to ask about something with the TIG machine. Jordan drove over to help. Turns out he is a certified welder with aviation experience from Boeing field. He jumped right in and welded it up that would make Vetterman proud.
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Dave took me back to the plane and helped me reinstall everything. A test run looked and sounded good. All parameters were normal. Cowled her up and made some phones calls to let people know I was pointed to Ephrata. It was after 4:30 by now. I climbed hard at first to give me gliding distance, but pulled the power back to a sedate 20?2300. No issues on the short test flight. Whew home sweet home. Race director John being a gracious host, met me as I shut down and offered to warm up some brisket or chicken left from the after party. Most all racers had bugged out, except the 2 Grummans, and they were loading up as I grabbed some fuel. After I wolfed down some protein, I wandered back to my tent. It was 5:40 and after talking to my wife, I thought ?let?s go home, then remembered I?m losing an hour going east, so thought I was going to run out of daylight?. I don?t fly at night in the mountains, especially with a plane that just puked on me earlier the same day. A quick look at Weathermiester showed clear skies and big tailwinds 20-35kts+, trip time of 1hr53, KEPH to 8U8 direct. I could make it if the winds held and no issues. AND if I hustled to break camp. The plane was loaded and planning complete, I broke ground shortly after 1800hrs local, 1900 in Montana. It has been getting dark around 2120 or so at home. I should land with minutes to spare and had Missoula (KMSO)as an early stop or Helena (KHLN) if I as cutting it close. First issue was when I contacted Approach to get flight following. Negative transponder...huh, it worked yesterday?.then I remember the TED little antenna was missing when was under the plane. I think it got shook loose earlier today wonder why?  Approach said, "unable to resume own navigation". I mentioned I had engine trouble earlier and made a precautionary landing, so was hoping to have someone else watching me. ?5BK, Hang on? turn right 30 for radar confirmation. Climb to 9500 and report any and all attitude changes. After a few minutes at 9500 doing about 192kts GS. I told them climbing to 11500, once there I was rewarded with 199kts GS. Burning 8.4gph 20.7? 2450rpm.
South of Spokane GPS shot
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Looking north near Mullen pass. I was occasionally between layers of thin clouds, and was screaming along waiting to get whacked.
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The speed hung 197-202kts GS for most of the trip, but started climbing around Missoula. Here is just past KMSO . Power and Altitude unchanged
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The closer I got to the Continental Divide, the better the tailwind. I was indicating 178-180KTAS but the GS just kept climbing. I saw 222kts but got this pic as I crossed the Divide.
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Started my descent as I passed over Helena and turned the corner for home. Beautiful sight when you can see home after a long day. I tucked Aurora in and load my stuff in the truck. In the setting sun over the Elkhorn Mtns
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Life is Good!
 
GNAR III Race results

Results By Time:


Race # First Name Last Name Aircraft Class Elapsed Time Speed (MPH) Speed (KTS)
57 Bill Beaton Harmon Rocket II Sport FX 00:51:51.000 240.98 209.40
37 Red Hamilton Wittman W10 Tailwind FX Red 00:53:09.000 235.08 204.28
TF Brent Travis RV-4 RV Blue 00:55:29.000 225.20 195.69
77 Stephen Christopher RV-7 RV Gold 00:56:26.000 221.41 192.40
391 Jason Rovey RV-8 RV Blue 00:56:48.000 219.98 191.15
05 Eric Scheppers Glasair Super II FT FX Blue 00:57:19.000 217.99 189.43
270 Dan West RV-8 RV Gold 00:57:24.000 217.68 189.16
71 Robert Axsom RV-6A RV Blue 00:57:50.000 216.05 187.74
13 Don Owens RV-7 RV Blue 01:00:59.000 204.89 178.04
SB George Ford RV-4 RV Red 01:02:26.000 200.13 173.91
61 Tim Bovee Mustang II FX Red 01:04:34.000 193.52 168.16
30 Don Otis AA1A FAC5 01:18:10.000 159.85 138.90
55 Linda Street-Ely AA5A FAC5 01:18:12.000 159.78 138.84
SC Larry James 8KCAB Super Decathlon FAC4FX 01:23:45.000 149.19 129.64
8G Tom Tracy C-182 FAC3FX 01:24:33.000 147.78 128.42
33 Dave Whitelaw C-172 FAC5 01:31:40.000 136.31 118.45
108 Andrew Soleimany C-172 FAC5 01:32:12.000 135.52 117.76
8R Dan Wood C-172 FAC5 01:34:47.000 131.82 114.55
WS Jerry Riedinger C-172 FAC5 01:37:04.000 128.72 111.86
7 Al Gilson C-172 FAC5 01:38:38.000 126.68 110.08
556 Randy Henry PA-28 FAC5 01:45:08.000 118.85 103.27
53A Rick Danz C-172 FAC5 01:56:53.000 106.90 92.89
155 Brian Carroll RV-7 RV Blue DNF
7RB Bob Babler RV-7 RV Gold DNF


Results By Class:


Race # First Name Last Name Aircraft Class Elapsed Time Speed (MPH) Speed (KTS)
57 Bill Beaton Harmon Rocket II Sport FX 11:31:11.000 240.9777834 209.4040501

05 Eric Scheppers Glasair Super II FT FX Blue 11:40:04.000 217.9941507 189.4318116

37 Red Hamilton Wittman W10 Tailwind FX Red 11:31:24.000 235.083689 204.2822201
61 Tim Bovee Mustang II FX Red 11:50:35.000 193.5162324 168.1610738

77 Stephen Christopher RV-7 RV Gold 11:37:01.000 221.406345 192.3969285
270 Dan West RV-8 RV Gold 11:37:29.000 217.6776667 189.1567944
7RB Bob Babler RV-7 RV Gold DNF 0 0

TF Brent Travis RV-4 RV Blue 11:37:59.000 225.1973218 195.6911986
391 Jason Rovey RV-8 RV Blue 11:36:54.000 219.9770787 191.1549296
71 Robert Axsom RV-6A RV Blue 11:39:33.000 216.0466525 187.7394813
13 Don Owens RV-7 RV Blue 11:45:16.000 204.887096 178.042088
155 Brian Carroll RV-7 RV Blue DNF 0 0

SB George Ford RV-4 RV Red 11:48:02.000 200.1286397 173.9071009

SC Larry James 8KCAB Super Decathlon FAC4FX 12:13:08.000 149.1904247 129.6429851
8G Tom Tracy C-182 FAC3FX 12:11:26.000 147.7788063 128.4163217

30 Don Otis AA1A FAC5 12:06:21.000 159.8468836 138.9031983
55 Linda Street-Ely AA5A FAC5 12:06:04.000 159.7787477 138.8439898
33 Dave Whitelaw C-172 FAC5 12:23:10.000 136.3057971 118.4465455
108 Andrew Soleimany C-172 FAC5 12:20:58.000 135.5173327 117.7613883
8R Dan Wood C-172 FAC5 12:28:28.000 131.8237883 114.5517848
WS Jerry Riedinger C-172 FAC5 12:29:06.000 128.722851 111.8571429
7 Al Gilson C-172 FAC5 12:29:26.000 126.6782501 110.0804326
556 Randy Henry PA-28 FAC5 12:38:05.000 118.8462087 103.274572
53A Rick Danz C-172 FAC5 12:51:49.000 106.8988855 92.89262798
 
Wow, what a story. Glad there was only minor damage. You think it was solely turbulence that caused it or was there an underlying problem before?
 
No, I'm betting a crack as already developing and the hangar was loose. The turb just added the additional stress for failure at that moment. it as already going to fail
 
Brian,
I picked up my tie down rings and ropes today at the Barnes Welding shop at the Waterville Airport, Waterville, WA. The lady at the front desk who I think is the owner?s wife and also an airplane owner said she was outside at home when you landed on Saturday and you scared the heck out of her. She told me in her own words ?Oh my God that engine sounded terrible?. I said no that?s Brian?s noise abatement approach - just kidding! I let her know that you had made it home OK Saturday evening. I also told her that you had posted some information on a website about VANS RV's seen around the globe about the adventure and of the folks that helped out with the repairs and now Barne?s Welding was famous. I gave her the VAF website information and as I was leaving she was logging on and having the guys in the shop over to take a look at it.
You met the nicest people when you fly around in a VANS RV. At the Ephrata airport I also ran into Van on the ramp and he was gracious enough to stand by my plane and let my wife take a photo of the both of us. Thanks VAN! For those of you that are still building, keep pounding those rivets, it will get finished, mine took 7 ? years to finish.
Bob
N797RB
 
That is one for the books! Sounds like you handled it very well! Running a small farm machinery dealership, I always tell my people that its not if a machine will break down, but when. I guess airplanes are the same way, just a little more pucker factor involved! Glad it wasn't anything more serious.
 
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