RV Top Speeds

Bob Axsom · #1 08-09-2009, 03:38 PM

For 2.5 years SARL has been sanctioning cross country air races and keeping track of the results. Most RVs fly in the RV Red (320) or RV Blue (360) classes but some with other engines or personal choice enter other classes. Under the Sport Air Racing League (www.sportairrace.org) time period that has been limited to Dick Martin who has a "390" in his RV-8. I copied the information via SARL and tried to format it in Excel for a fit here but it may take some effort to sort it out. After I got the information and extracted the RV speeds I sorted the list by speed only, with the fastest speed first. I think an objective observer will find the RV-8 is just faster than the rest but beyond that there are some suprises.

Bob Axsom

Speed Rank, Race, Date, Class, Aircraft Type, Pilot, Speed MPH

1 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Huft, John 249.91
2 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Ross, Jon 233.14
3 Taylor 100 09 3/15/2009 RV Blue RV-8 John Huft 231.64
4 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 Sport FX RV-8 Martin, Dick 231.63
5 Colorado 150, 08 6/28/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Huft, John 229.31
6 Rocket 100 08 11/22/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Huft, John 227.20
7 Rocket 100, 07 11/17/2007 RV Blue RV-8 Huft, John 224.15
8 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 223.89
9 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 Sport FX RV-8 Martin, Dick 223.67
10 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Carroll, Alan 222.97
11 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Christman, Dave 222.00
12 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-8 Ross, Jon 221.00
13 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-8 Carroll, Alan 220.68
14 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-7A Moore, Tom 217.97
15 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Blue RV-8 John Huft 217.69
16 Taylor 100 09 3/15/2009 RV Blue RV-8 Alan Carroll 217.46
17 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 216.80
18 Taylor 100 09 3/15/2009 RV Blue RV-8 Dave Christman 216.73
19 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-7 Mullaney, John 216.54
20 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Schryver, Fred 215.76
21 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-7A Moore, Tom 215.09
22 Taylor 100 07 5/19/2007 RV Blue RV-6 Attaway, Robbie 214.58
23 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 214.06
24 AirCap 200 8/23/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 213.08
25 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Berry, Damon 213.06
26 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Blue RV-7A Verdier, Jean-Pierre 212.74
27 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-8 Jordan, Scott 212.72
28 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-8 Schryver, Fred 212.72
29 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-7 Klusmier, James 211.56
30 Rocket 100 08 11/22/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 211.55
31 Texoma 100 09 5/30/2009 RV Blue RV-6 Mike Thompson 211.52
32 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 211.40
33 Taylor 100 09 3/15/2009 RV Blue RV-6A Bob Axsom 209.85
34 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Blue RV-4 Harris, Winn 209.02
35 BCAF 150, 08 5/3/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 208.81
36 Colorado 150, 08 6/28/2008 RV Blue RV-8 Carroll, Alan 208.68
37 Texoma 100 09 5/30/2009 RV Blue RV-7A Rusty Williams 208.43
38 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 208.01
39 Texoma 100 09 5/30/2009 RV Blue RV-8 Pat Tuckey 207.82
40 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 Sport FX RV-8 Dick Martin 207.65
41 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Blue RV-8 Jon Ross 207.65
42 Taylor 100 09 3/15/2009 RV Blue RV-6 Mike Thompson 207.64
43 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 207.52
44 AirCap 200 8/23/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 207.47
45 Memphis 100 08 10/18/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 207.44
46 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 207.13
47 AirVenture Cup 08 7/27/2008 RV Red RV-3 Vasey, Bob 207.10
48 TVA Air Race 09 6/13/2009 RV Blue RV-6A Bob Axsom 205.97
49 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Red RV-6A Klusmier, Larry 205.87
50 Colorado 150, 08 6/28/2008 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 205.56
51 Grace Flight 08 10/4/2008 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 205.43
52 Colorado 150, 09 7/22/2009 RV Blue RV-6 Mike Thompson 205.43
53 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Red RV-3 Vasey, Bob 205.01
54 Taylor 100 09 3/15/2009 RV Red RV-4 Cam Benton 204.86
55 TVA Air Race 09 6/13/2009 RV Blue RV-6 Mike Thompson 204.18
56 BCAF 150, 08 5/3/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 203.95
57 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Red RV-6 Weisgerber, Dave 203.91
58 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Blue RV-8 Alan Carroll 203.54
59 Memphis 100, 07 10/27/2007 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 203.52
60 Colorado 150, 08 6/28/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 203.29
61 Rocket 100 08 11/22/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 203.07
62 Rocket 100, 07 11/17/2007 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 202.92
63 Grace Flight 08 10/4/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 202.15
64 Denton 100 08 6/14/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 201.51
65 Rocket 100 08 11/22/2008 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 201.30
66 Taylor 100 07 5/19/2007 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 200.49
67 Texoma 100 09 5/30/2009 RV Blue RV-6 Dennis McCright 200.43
68 Rocket 100, 07 11/17/2007 RV Red RV-4 Benton, Cam 200.37
69 Memphis 100, 07 10/27/2007 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 199.11
70 Colorado 150, 08 6/28/2008 RV Blue RV-7 Haley, Gary 199.09
71 Colorado 150, 09 7/22/2009 RV Red RV-4 Chris Murphy 198.97
72 Memphis 100 08 10/18/2008 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 198.83
73 Memphis 100 08 10/18/2008 RV Blue RV-8A Labarreare, Chuck 198.74
74 Memphis 100 08 10/18/2008 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 198.65
75 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Blue RV-7A Tom Moore 197.14
76 Rocket 100, 07 11/17/2007 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 196.91
77 Taylor 100 07 5/19/2007 RV Red RV-4 Benton, Cam 196.13
78 West Texas 100 09 4/11/2009 RV Blue RV-6 Mike Thompson 195.55
79 Texoma 100 09 5/30/2009 RV Blue Unknown Thomas Jett 195.55
80 Wichita 300 7/16/2007 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 195.53
81 Memphis 100 08 10/18/2008 RV Red RV-4 Smith, Dwight 195.50
82 Taylor 100 07 5/19/2007 RV Red RV-8 Jones, Bryan 195.00
83 Colorado 150, 09 7/22/2009 RV Blue RV-4 Jeff Hall 194.19
84 Taylor 100 07 5/19/2007 RV Blue RV-6A Axsom, Bob 194.16
85 Colorado 150, 09 7/22/2009 RV Blue RV-7A Brad Reak 193.78
86 West Texas 100, 07 10/6/2007 RV Blue RV-6 Thompson, Mike 192.40
87 West Texas 100, 07 10/6/2007 RV Red RV-4 Benton, Cam 191.50
88 West Texas 100 09 4/11/2009 RV Red RV-4 Cam Benton 191.36
89 AirCap 200 8/23/2008 RV Red RV-4 Smith, Jim 191.27
90 Colorado 150, 08 6/28/2008 RV Red RV-4 Murphy, Chris 190.62
91 Texoma 100 09 5/30/2009 RV Blue RV-7A Tom Moore 189.63
92 West Texas 100 09 4/11/2009 RV Blue RV-6A Rance Nymeyer 188.86
93 Taylor 100 07 5/19/2007 RV Red RV-3 Hackett, Willy 187.53
94 Denton 100 08 6/14/2008 RV Blue RV-4 Bruggers, Ken 187.24
95 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Blue RV-7A Jean-Pierre Verdier 186.75
96 Texoma 100, 08 4/19/2008 RV Red RV-6A Heathco, Charlie 186.17
97 AirVenture Cup 07 7/22/2007 RV Blue RV-7A Verdier, Jean-Pierre 185.30
98 Memphis 100, 07 10/27/2007 RV Blue RV-6A Lee, Ron 182.59
99 Memphis 100, 07 10/27/2007 RV Red RV-4 Smith, Dwight 182.28
100 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Red RV-3 Bob Vassey 178.99
101 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Blue RV-7 Gary Haley & Stephen Stephenson 159.65
102 AirVenture Cup 09 7/26/2009 RV Red RV-6 Steve Campbell & John Popel 159.19

Ron Lee · #2 08-09-2009, 04:21 PM

In my defense I kept the speed down to let others do better.

zspivey · #3 08-10-2009, 07:31 AM

Bob,
Thanks for posting this information. Several weeks ago, someone attempted to start a discussion on realistic speeds for RVs. Your post gives an idea of what is possible to achieve. My RV8A will not reach the numbers you posted but your post provides a goal.

grobdriver · #4 08-10-2009, 11:54 AM

Bob, we actually have four 390-powered RV's in the League.

- Mike

Bob Axsom · #5 08-10-2009, 02:12 PM

You would know Mike (Chairman and founder of the SARL). I have met Dick Martin several times in the AirVenture Cup and I knew he was saddled with the requirement to fly against the Rockets and fixed gear Venture because of the "390". When I went through the 409 line items associated with each participant in every SARL sanctioned race, his is the only one I found in a non-RV red or blue class. Just curious if I missed them or they belong to the Sport Air Racing League (www.sportairrace.org) but haven't raced yet?

Bob Axsom

Alan Carroll · #6 08-10-2009, 05:17 PM

Bob,

Just for fun I took your list, edited it slightly, and calculated average speeds for the different models (disclaimer: these numbers are completely unscientific and probably contain errors!):

RV-4 (320): 199 mph

RV-6A/7A (360): 203 mph

RV-6/7 (360): 204 mph

RV-8 (360): 218 mph (214 without John Huft)

As you know the absolute speeds don't mean much because of different race conditions, pilot strategies, etc., but the comparison is interesting. The 8s are faster, more so than I would have expected. HP may be part of it (180 to 220+? in this group), but I doubt this is the whole story.

It would be interesting to add the Rockets to this list, to see the effect of shorter wings and 50% more HP.

Bob Axsom · #7 08-10-2009, 05:42 PM

Good idea Alan. Give me a little while - I'll separate the staight F-1s from the EVOs as well.

Bob Axsom

deene · #8 08-10-2009, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Axsom

You would know Mike (Chairman and founder of the SARL). I have met Dick Martin several times in the AirVenture Cup and I knew he was saddled with the requirement to fly against the Rockets and fixed gear Venture because of the "390". When I went through the 409 line items associated with each participant in every SARL sanctioned race, his is the only one I found in a non-RV red or blue class. Just curious if I missed them or they belong to the Sport Air Racing League (www.sportairrace.org) but haven't raced yet?

Bob Axsom

I'm a member and have a IO390 in my RV8, just out of phase 1, but haven't raced yet. I hope to get into the race scene once I recover from a foot operation and get my ship cleaned up.

I have some early encouraging speeds but am somewhat concerned that the 390 ships are somewhat "orphaned" and must run against as much as 550 ci 350+ hp Rockets which are essentially an RV8 with a very big engine, almost 50% more cubic inches, while a 390 is only ~8% more than a 360. I guess an "inbetween" class might be opened as more 375's and 400's show up.

Well, I'll have to pursue this with Mike Thompson and Mark Fredrick who are personal friends and live very close.

Bob Axsom · #9 08-10-2009, 08:00 PM

When I noted the small number of RV red class entries in the AirVenture Cup this year Mike mentioned the posibility of opening a RV Gold Class for the big engined RVs so the idea is simmering in our leader's thoughts. I think he feels bad about you guys having to fly against the bigger engined rockets.

Bob Axsom

Quote:

Originally Posted by deene

I'm a member and have a IO390 in my RV8, just out of phase 1, but haven't raced yet. I hope to get into the race scene once I recover from a foot operation and get my ship cleaned up.

I have some early encouraging speeds but am somewhat concerned that the 390 ships are somewhat "orphaned" and must run against as much as 550 ci 350+ hp Rockets which are essentially an RV8 with a very big engine, almost 50% more cubic inches, while a 390 is only ~8% more than a 360. I guess an "inbetween" class might be opened as more 375's and 400's show up.

Well, I'll have to pursue this with Mike Thompson and Mark Fredrick who are personal friends and live very close.

Bob Axsom · #10 08-10-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Carroll

Bob,

Just for fun I took your list, edited it slightly, and calculated average speeds for the different models (disclaimer: these numbers are completely unscientific and probably contain errors!):

RV-4 (320): 199 mph

RV-6A/7A (360): 203 mph

RV-6/7 (360): 204 mph

RV-8 (360): 218 mph (214 without John Huft)

As you know the absolute speeds don't mean much because of different race conditions, pilot strategies, etc., but the comparison is interesting. The 8s are faster, more so than I would have expected. HP may be part of it (180 to 220+? in this group), but I doubt this is the whole story.

It would be interesting to add the Rockets to this list, to see the effect of shorter wings and 50% more HP.

I am time limited Alan so I Am just going to throw it out here raw. Harmon Rockets are included as well:

Race Date Class Aircraft Type Race # Pilot Speed MPH Speed Kts
AirVenture Cup 2008.ar 7/27/2008 Sport FX EVO Rocket 109 Martin, Tom 266.54 231.62
AirVenture Cup 2008.as 7/27/2008 Sport FX EVO Rocket 4 Siegel, Paul 255.49 222.01
AirVenture Cup 2008.at 7/27/2008 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Hadath, Wayne 251.55 218.59
Tennessee Valley Air Race 2009.ac 6/13/2009 Sport FX EVO Rocket 109 Tom Martin 250.32 217.52
Rocket 100, 2007.aa 11/17/2007 Unlimited F1 Rocket 104 Meyn, Wolfgang 249.55 216.86
Memphis 100 2008.ab 10/18/2008 Sport FX EVO Rocket 109 Martin, Tom 247.29 214.89
Rocket 100 2008.af 11/22/2008 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Hadath, Wayne 246.07 213.83
Memphis 100, 2007.ab 10/27/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Hadath, Wayne 245.32 213.17
Memphis 100, 2007.ac 10/27/2007 Sport FX EVO Rocket 9 Martin, Tom 244.21 212.21
Memphis 100 2008.ac 10/18/2008 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Hadath, Wayne 243.38 211.49
Rocket 100, 2007.ab 11/17/2007 Sport FX EVO Rocket 9 Martin, Tom 243.31 211.43
Tennessee Valley Air Race 2009.ad 6/13/2009 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Wayne Hadath 242.3 210.55
Rocket 100, 2007.ac 11/17/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Hadath, Wayne 238.65 207.38
Memphis 100, 2007.ad 10/27/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 57 Edmiston, Ray 234.77 204.01
AirVenture Cup 2009.am 7/26/2009 Sport FX F1 Rocket 14 Wayne Hadath 234.74 203.98
Memphis 100 2008.ad 10/18/2008 Sport FX F1 Rocket 33 Linebaugh, Jeff 234.64 203.9
Memphis 100, 2007.ae 10/27/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 32 Rhodes, Howard 231.86 201.48
Memphis 100, 2007.af 10/27/2007 Sport FX EVO Rocket 86 Holcomb, Gene 230.62 200.41
Memphis 100, 2007.ag 10/27/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 414 Butcher, Darren 230.25 200.09
Rocket 100, 2007.ae 11/17/2007 Sport FX Harmon Rocket 70 Manda, Mark 230.10 199.95
Memphis 100 2008.ae 10/18/2008 Sport FX F1 Rocket 86 Holcomb, Gene 230.01 199.87
Rocket 100, 2007.af 11/17/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 57 Edmiston, Ray 229.97 199.84
AirVenture Cup 2009.an 7/26/2009 Sport FX F-1 Rocket 56 Mark Fredrick 229.67 199.58
Colorado 150, 2008.ab 6/28/2008 Sport FX F1 Rocket 57 Edmiston, Ray 227.79 197.94
Tennessee Valley Air Race 2009.ae 6/13/2009 Sport FX EVO Rocket GF George Fisher 227.75 197.91
Taylor 100 2009.ad 3/15/2009 Sport FX EVO Rocket 158 Mark Frederick 227.64 197.82
AirVenture Cup 2007.ar 7/22/2007 Sport FX EVO Rocket 4 Siegel, Paul 222.95 193.74
Rocket 100, 2007.ag 11/17/2007 Sport FX F1 Rocket 45 Berry, Dean 222.27 193.15
Memphis 100 2008.af 10/18/2008 Sport FX Harmon Rocket II 757 Marshall, Wayne 212.97 185.07
AirVenture Cup 2009.ao 7/26/2009 Sport FX EVO Rocket 4 Paul Siegel 210.57 182.98

Bob Axsom