Butterflies make RV-10's a whole lot faster!!!

[glenmthompson]

Well, I am not going to come out and say anything except, man ohhh man, this plane has humbled me. The previously mentioned Vans speed of 201 mph @ 75% is, ..well, what appears to be now actually less than what we are getting! In other words, N331JH, to my complete and total amazement, is F*A*S*T*E*R, let me repeat myself faster than what Vans says!!!!!! All I will say officially for the record, is that my TAS calcs showed several mph higher than 201 during our trip back from Kansas. By my Garmin 296, we flew from 8K2 to KMEI, 626 miles (all numbers mentioned will be in statute except where noted) in 3.5 hrs, take off to landing, including ATC vectoring, climb, and approach, T/O to LDG. Now, simple math says 178.8 mph right? Did I also mention the EFIS 1 showed left quartering headwinds @ 30 knots on the average, and we flew @ 9500'. Do the ol' simple order of magnitude math and you will see by the guessing method that we pretty much had to be over 201 mph TAS to get that number. Further justifying my higher than 201 TAS calcs during cruise.
The next leg was from KMEI to FD38, in 3.4 hrs, total distance of 653 for.....192.1 mph. Now, this leg showed an average left quartering headwind of ooohh like 12 knots. the lowest groundspeed we saw this leg was 193 mph, and the highest was 202, aaannnnddddd folks, the EFIS 1 showed ALWAYS a headwind (hence my nickname Headwind Glen ! ), much to my chagrin and confusion. Other aircraft also concured with the winds we we experiencing @ 9500'.
I finally got the E-1 fuel flow dialed in REALLY accurate, and the FF and tank fill, showed 13.5 GPH @ cruise.
How loud can one say WOW?
Glen

[glenmthompson]

Per a recent request...Please note...
****The gills leave the fuselage warm to the touch 18" fwd of the door leading edge, and fwd as far as I can reach from the pilot seat with my lanky *** arms. The warmth measures, centered, 4.5 inches above the top of the wing spar.
****IMHO I cannot help but doubt that the gills are affecting the "wing fairing effect" much if any, due to the 4.5 inches above spar flow of hot air.
**** The cowling aft of the gills is showing the typical "raised grain" effect due to higher heat in the area aft of the gills, further demonstrating the HUGE amount of heat leaving the gills at cruise. This cruise was at 9,500', 160 mph IAS and OAT of 65 deg F.
**** It is my observation and humble opinion, that when we take the fresh air from the unused heat muffs from out of the tunnel, we just find we have cured the tunnel heat problem. Standby for further testing when I get a free day to even breath and check my theory.
What say Vans in relation to this tunnel theory? ( PS, they ARE aware it is hot, and are quietly addressing the problem.).
Glen

[cstanley]

Look at this month's AOPA. In their regular article regarding their give away airplane, and then in a separate longer article, there is a good discussion about the effect of air exiting the low pressure side of the cowl.

[Mike S]

For those of you who get Bob Collins's newsletter, theere is a story there about how an aft C/G effects speed--------------about the same as what was reported in the start of this thread.

Seeing as the C/G change was only one of the changes to the plane, it makes me wonder what-----if any-------effect the gills, and the re-rigging of the flaps and alierons had.

Anyway, glad to hear that Glen is enjoying the plane, and that it is making Vans numbers.

Mike