Another one for William McLean

mv031161 · #1 06-07-2015, 09:34 AM

Congrats to William "Wild eye ball" Mc Lean for another great job competing in aerobatics using an RV4. This time competing againt other 13 competitors in the Spoertman Category during the IAC East Coast Championship held ar Rome GA! Bill came from 9th place to 2nd overall. This mean if he had not screwed his first flight he would have won. bill competed against 2 super D,s, one Extra 300, one Giles 202, one RV8, one Yak 52, one Pitts S2b and the rest Pitts S1 of all different variations! Congrats Bill. 75 years old and Kicking B......!

WillyEyeBall · #2 06-07-2015, 11:18 AM

Mitch,
There was a computer error in calculating the scores for the 3rd flight, and I was second for that flight instead of 1st, but 1st for the forth flight. The very slight change in points moved me to 4th after the first two botched flights. We know Ron Schreck is a much better pilot than I, so the difference in score must be that my RV-4 is better than his RV-8. You know Mitch if you wanted to score better, you show trade that Giles 202 for an RV.

By the way you RVers, you're missing out on a lot of fun by not coming to play with the aerobatic groups.
Bill McLean
RV-4 slider
lower Alabama

ronschreck · #3 06-07-2015, 01:01 PM

Are we going to get into a RV-4 vs RV-8 discussion? NO. Bill and I did have a lot of fun this weekend. Unfortunately we both had lousy first flights, peaked late and missed standing on the podium with the national anthem playing in the background.

I am continually amazed that Bill and I seem to be the only RV pilots enjoying aerobatic competition. Why is that? There are about 7000 aerobatic RV aircraft out there. I will loan my parachute to anyone who wants to come out and give it a try. But beware, you will probably get hooked.

In closing... Bill, the RV-8 is far superior to the -4.

DaveLS · #4 06-07-2015, 01:05 PM

Congratulations Bill.

-Dave

mv031161 · #5 06-07-2015, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillyEyeBall

Mitch,
There was a computer error in calculating the scores for the 3rd flight, and I was second for that flight instead of 1st, but 1st for the forth flight. The very slight change in points moved me to 4th after the first two botched flights. We know Ron Schreck is a much better pilot than I, so the difference in score must be that my RV-4 is better than his RV-8. You know Mitch if you wanted to score better, you show trade that Giles 202 for an RV.

By the way you RVers, you're missing out on a lot of fun by not coming to play with the aerobatic groups.
Bill McLean
RV-4 slider
lower Alabama

Im taking a vacation from competition this year! Thats my story anyway and im sticking with it! RV4 vs RV8 huhhh? Hmmmmm...the way you woooped all of us, the RV4 might be the one (if onlyi could fit in it) LOL! Any RV,ers out there interested in competitive aerobatics? Bill has a nice inverted spin in his routine showing what that aircraft is capable of!

Johnnybgoode · #6 06-07-2015, 07:45 PM

Congrats guys! Bill, can we see a photo of your bird? Mitch was doing my vanilla RV-4's condition inspection and he was telling me that it's got some unique features.
Glad to hear it's working well!
Patrick

BCP Boys · #7 06-07-2015, 09:01 PM

Bill, Ron,
It was great to meet you both this weekend. I didn't get to see Bill in action but the one that I watched Ron do, he nailed it.

Nice job Bill ! Congrats to you sir.

Hope to have a chance to see you all again soon.

All the best,
Amir

sandifer · #8 06-07-2015, 10:29 PM

Bill, haven't you heard that competition acro is a young man's game, and that RVs are not well-suited to competition?

A real extreme sport isn't it?

Once again, nice job. You and Ron are excellent RV ambassadors. I had planned on Rome, but Wx prevented me from making the trip down.

WillyEyeBall · #9 06-07-2015, 10:29 PM

Great to meet other RVers at our IAC contests, and always enjoy looking at beautiful airplanes. Here's a picture of the modified wing tips, and no it doesn't make it faster, but improves roll rate and lowers stall speed compared to just flat wing tips. I also have a long list of little mods that make it a little better for competition.
Bill McLean
RV-4 slider
lower Alabama

bobmarkert · #10 06-08-2015, 04:21 AM

Congratulations Bill.
Still in phase 1 testing and this is spin week (kinda like Shark week but hopefully not as wet or scary). I'm going to include inverted spins. If you get a chance please give me a call.

Thanks
Bob
303 882-7410