Bob, Gary, gang:
Just waking up on our first morning in OSH, and glad you received the results for AVC! Mike also probably received them from Chris, and is probably calculating the points and then will post them on the SARL website.
It was a great race...very well run by Eric and the staff, and very well run by all the racers.
The results were pretty darn fast, despite the nearly complete lack of tailwinds. There were many strategies employed, but the real challenge was to choose an altitude, and choose how you were going to climb to it, and when you were going to descend...how one flew the race really made a difference in these conditions, and Bob, your comment about "plan the flight, fly the plan" is spot on here. We had 8 racers over 300 mph, and Marty Abbott of Canada set a new AVC top speed record of 401.09 mph in his Garrett TPE-331 powered Turbine Legend. Paul Tackabury ran 344.59 mph in his turbocharged Lancair IV to take the unlimited class, Lee Behel (a Reno Racer) took the Sport LX (Lancair Legacy class) in 331.16 mph...and had the best fly-by's in Mitchell, IMHO. Harry Hinckley took the Sport Class in 312.36 mph, and Tom Martin outgunned the rest of us in Sport FX class by a margin, winning with a 262.21 mph...in a fixed gear airplane (F1 EVO Rocket). Bruce and Steve Hammer had the first ever tie in the Formula FX Blue class...OK they were in the same airplane...but we all figure they were fighting each other on the rudders to try to yaw the airplane to make their side finish first...or lean forward to win by a nose!
They ran 255.74 mph in another fixed gear airplane (Glassair III TD), down on the deck where the wind was almost nil, and at times a headwind.
In the RV classes, there was some great racing. Dave Anders and John Huft battled it out in the new RV Gold class, with Dave running 240.58 mph in his highly modified RV-4, and John running 232.42 mph in his highly modded and super-fast RV-8. Dave ran the race at 9500, but I forgot to ask John where he ran...but I know he said he was going to go as fast as he could, and climb at 100 fpm until he saw the max groundspeed, and then when it started to drop, go back to where it was fastest. Not sure where he leveled off, but will try to find out.
In RV Blue, six racers ran over 200 mph! Bob, you were so close to a trophy, with only six seconds between you and Tom Moore...after 376 miles. That's so close, as you know!
In RV Red, Chris Murphy and Bob Vasey battled it out in their RV-4s, with Chris winning at 199.09...another 4 banger RV at nearly 200 mph!
There were two mechanicals, with a Lancair 360 having a failed starter solenoid at the start, and a KR doing a precautionary landing for an unusual smell in the cockpit. The KR landed in case it was a smoke-like smell, but it had disappeared quickly, and after checking the airplane out, he continued and finished, with no further incident. The start crew stayed with the Lancair, helped him swap his solenoid, then launched him and followed in the support plane to Fon Du Lac.
For race strategy...Gary, I know you saw where Tom and I were. Launch order in Sport FX was Tom, Wayne, Mark, then me. Tom ran right to 17,500, where he had a slightly better wind than the three others at lower altitudes. We started at 11,500, and then climbed for better winds, with Mark and I stopping at 15.5, and Wayne trying 17.5. The three of us were in sight of each other much of the way. Wayne didn't like it at 17.5 with his Sport Wing (RV-like wing, same one I have), so he ran back down to 11.5, then went lower. Mark and I stayed at 15.5, and with the EVO wing, Mark slowly pulled ahead of me...to perhaps 2 miles ahead.
As you mentioned Bob, the winds were supposed to get better as we went east, but that never materialized. The forecast was also for headwinds down low on the east part of the course, and I think that did occur.
Tom Started down about 110 miles out from the finish due to the clouds, and said he wished he'd waited. My plan was to get as high as I could, and stay there as long as I could, then descend at 1000 fpm to the finish. When Wayne didn't like 17.5, Mark and I stayed at 15.5, and Wayne went on the hunt for winds and speed down lower...which cost him (he usually beats me!) I tried to warn him about the headwinds down low!!
Mark's plan was similar to mine, and he and Tom pointed out my math error on Top of Decent calculations, or I may have started down too late. I chased Mark down, but lost sight as we worked through the scattered puffys between 7K and 3K, then picked him up a few miles from the finish and chased him in, closing to about 1.3 miles behind him. Somehow I was able to make up a little ground in the decscent and the cloud dodging, and finished in 4 seconds longer and 0.15 knots slower than him. We've now traded back and forth in 3 consecutive races, and have a great time running against each other (and chasing Tom and Wayne!) Wayne said he was happy to have "given" us this race, especially me, since it was my first AVC! Said something under his breath about throttling back...ahem...yeah right Wayne!
Then he chugged 3 or 4 beers and we all laughed and enjoyed the awards banquet!
Our planes are all still at Fon Dul Lac, and hopefully this morning, they will have opened up parking for us here at OSH, so we can go git 'em and fly them here! We're remaining flexible, but I hope we can get the racers to the show soon, and celebrate with the rest of the RV gang.
The race was great fun, and looking forward to seeing everyone here! Bob, it was a real pleasure to meet you and run in a race with you. Glad you are home safe and sound, and my best to Jeanine...I'm sure the AVC was not quite the same for all without her in Bluebird! Next year!!
Cheers,
Bob
airventure cup race
Linear Mode
