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Bob Axsom

Well Known Member
This race went off very well as they have in the past in this West Texas location thanks to the great organizational work of Cam Benton (RV-4). Nine RVs were entered with almost half of them (4) in a group from New Mexico and Arizona. As I understand it Robert Faubian flew in one of the races earlier and when he got home he told his friends how much fun it was and one became four. That will continue to spread I'm sure as Jason Rovey (RV-8), Matt Martin (RV-4), Robert Faubion (RV-4) and Seth Baker (RV-7) were very friendly and "in" the post race results briefing. John Huft is such a good sport that he flew by himself in the RV Gold Class (390 engines or 540 for RV-10s only) even though his engine would have allowed him to run in the RV Blue class (360). The results obtained from Cam are copied below.

Bob Axsom

Race # Name Aircraft Class Elapsed Time MPH KTS


Race 66 Ernie Sutter Legacy Sport 0:25:18 272.91 237.15

Race 91 Bruce Hammer GlasairTD Sport FX 0:27:31 250.93 218.05

Race 18 John Huft RV8 RV Gold 0:31:55 216.33 187.99

Race 729 Chester Jurskis Bonanza FAC1RG 0:33:50 204.08 177.34
Race 60 Jeffery Johnson Bonanza FAC1RG 0:35:02 197.09 171.27
Race 60 Speck Bonanza FAC1RG 0:36:41 188.22 163.56
Race 193 Bobby Bennett Bonanza FAC1RG 0:45:23 152.14 132.21

Race 391 Jason Rovey RV8 RV Blue 0:33:21 207.04 179.91
Race 71 Bob Axsom RV6A RV Blue 0:33:42 204.89 178.04
Race 26 Mike Thompson RV6 RV Blue 0:35:21 195.32 169.73
Race BD Matt Martin RV4 RV Blue 0:36:33 188.91 164.16

Race 41 Cam Benton RV4 RV Red 0:34:27 200.43 174.17
Race 34 Chris Murphy RV4 RV Red 0:35:45 193.14 167.83
Race 311 Robert Faubion RV4 RV Red 0:35:50 192.69 167.44
Race B4U Seth Baker RV7 RV Red 0:37:08 185.94 161.58



Race 83 David Adams LongEZ Sprint 0:35:37 193.86 168.46
Race 42T Eric Frische Zodiac Sprint 1:06:05 104.48 90.79

Race 448 Jim Porter Cirrus FAC3FX 0:42:36 162.08 140.85
Race 456 AnnElise Bennett C182 FAC3FX 0:45:50 150.65 130.91
Race 41M Louise Scudieri C182 FAC3FX 0:46:06 149.78 130.15

Race 555 Team Ely Grumman FAC5 0:53:06 130.03 112.99
 
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Speeds regardless of class

This just got posted at www.sportairrace.org:

Race # Name Aircraft Class Elapsed Time Speed (MPH) Speed (KTS)
Race 66 Ernie Sutter Legacy Sport 0:25:18 272.91 237.15
Race 91 Bruce Hammer GlasairTD Sport FX 0:27:31 250.93 218.05
Race 18 John Huft RV8 RV Gold 0:31:55 216.33 187.99
Race 391 Jason Rovey RV8 RV Blue 0:33:21 207.04 179.91
Race 71 Bob Axsom RV6A RV Blue 0:33:42 204.89 178.04
Race 729 Chester Jurskis Bonanza FAC1RG 0:33:50 204.08 177.34
Race 41 Cam Benton RV4 RV Red 0:34:27 200.43 174.17
Race 60 Jeffery Johnson Bonanza FAC1RG 0:35:02 197.09 171.27
Race 26 Mike Thompson RV6 RV Blue 0:35:21 195.32 169.73
Race 83 David Adams LongEZ Sprint 0:35:37 193.86 168.46
Race 34 Chris Murphy RV4 RV Red 0:35:45 193.14 167.83
Race 311 Robert Faubion RV4 RV Red 0:35:50 192.69 167.44
Race BD Matt Martin RV4 RV Blue 0:36:33 188.91 164.16
Race 60 Speck Bonanza FAC1RG 0:36:41 188.22 163.56
Race B4U Seth Baker RV7 RV Red 0:37:08 185.94 161.58
Race 30 Kent Akin Viking FAC1RG 0:38:43 178.34 154.97
Race 448 Jim Porter Cirrus FAC3FX 0:42:36 162.08 140.85
Race 193 Bobby Bennett Bonanza FAC1RG 0:45:23 152.14 132.21
Race 456 AnnElise Bennett C182 FAC3FX 0:45:50 150.65 130.91
Race 41M Louise Scudieri C182 FAC3FX 0:46:06 149.78 130.15
Race 555 Team Ely Grumman FAC5 0:53:06 130.03 112.99
Race 42T Eric Frische Zodiac Sprint 1:06:05 104.48 90.79
 
Race description from the cockpit of race #71

In the pre-race briefing Cam Benton welcomed me back after a one year absence from racing, then to the group he gave us the altimeter setting of 29.83, went through the course, describing exactly where we were to make the turns, the altitude requirements (almost none), the in-flight radio calls to be made, the frequencies to be used, the rules on passing, emergency procedures and finally the start order with the fastest plane first. There were a lot more RVs than I had seen at any race except the AirVenture Cup Race and I was assigned to take off before all but John Huft in his super fast RV-8. I had seen the RVs on the ramp and I was concerned that my placement in the takeoff order might not be justified. I had used Google Earth to get images of the turn points, made up a detail race checklist including copies of the turn images, programed the race course into the GPS so I felt I was going to be OK even though I had just flown in that morning and had never seen the course itself.

We were allowed to start our engines when we wanted but we could not taxi until directed to do so by the ramp marshall. I taxied out behind the Bonanza of Chester Jurskis who I had beaten before and felt I could do it again. We could start the take off roll when we wanted so I was leisurely about starting to avoid the need to pass and slow down as a result.

I called "Race 71 start", advanced the throttle and released the brakes. The actual start was at the far end of the runway so I stayed low, accelerated until the end, then turned left off of runway 22 to 124 degrees and climbed a few 100 feet above ground level.

The first turn was 26 miles away and it was around the right side of a plateau sitting in a canyon with an outbound heading of 067 degrees. At low altitudes it is hard to get a good overall perspective and picking up natural turn points can be a problem but I saw the lead in canyon and some manmade details and the plateau itself well before the turn. I heard the planes ahead calling the turn and I was making a ground speed in the 180 knot range so everything seemed in order. Not too long after race 18 and 729 made their turn 1 calls I banked around the plateau, called "Race 71 turn 1" and headed off toward turn 2. Not long afterward I heard Race 391 make his turn 1 call - "he is not far behind" occurred to me.

I had checked the winds aloft and decided for this race to just stay low and not try for a tailwind gain at a higher altitude. Turn 2 was a dirt strip 26 miles from turn 1 and the elevation dropped from turn 1's 3,084 ft to 2,415 ft at turn 2. So, I drifted down with the terrain. The ground speed picked up to between 190 and 200 knots and I knew all was well in that regard but I had to find this dirt strip with nothing but a north south road and a house by the strip as visual aids. There was a 10 minute penalty for not making the turns as specified (cutting a pylon) and as the distance remaining rapidly decremented below 5 miles I became more and more concerned and started a slight drift to the right to keep the turn on my side of the airplane and the airplane to the right of the turn point. Well inside a mile I saw the house and the dirt strip just off to the left a little wide but it was a very tight turn from 067 back to an outbound heading of 264 degrees so I thought I could come in tight outbound and all would be well but the turn around the house over the dirt strip was wider than I would have liked. I made my "Race 71 turn 2" call and almost immediately I heard "Race 391 turn 2". He was obviously ahead of me as far as race time was concerned.

As I rolled out of the turn and fine tuned the heading to turn 3, I had to think of what I could do to maximize my speed. The ground elevation of turn 3 is 3,187 ft so I decide to hold my low altitude back over the higher ground and come up to clear Floydada runway south of the central buildings as late as practical.

The Speed to turn 3 dropped off to the low 170 knot range. The distance to turn 3 was 25 miles and I expected to have no trouble picking up the paved runway of Floydada - I was wrong! As I got closer I began to really sweat it and since this was a slight right turn to 290 degrees I needed to be on the left side of the turn point, putting it on the semi-blind side of the airplane. Inside of 5 miles I saw some low structures off to the left. I debated with myself but turned to put the airplane off to the left or south of those structures if they were the turn point. As I raced in that direction I saw the airport well off to the right and turned back to the real turn point. I had seen nothing of Race 391 but just as I was getting ready to transmit my turn 3 call I heard "Race 391 turn 3". As I made my turn 3 call I saw him low and off to the right. The plane was streaking hot and beautiful. I was higher but it was like I was tied to him. I eased out the mixture trying for more speed and saw the EGT creep up to 1326 F degrees on cylinder #4 but the speed decayed slightly and I could sense that the distance between us was growing. I eased the mixture back into what felt like a sweet spot below 1300 F degrees and the speed came back and we were locked by an invisible bond again racing to the finish. Race 391 called his finish and then I called "Race 71 Finish" knowing that I had been beaten but feeling OK about the effort.

In the post race briefing I learned that Jason Rovey had beaten me by 21 seconds in his 180 hp RV-8 at 207.04 mph. Me and the Blue Bird (RV-6A) averaged 204.89 mph with its 180 hp - not bad and if I had held up my end a little better the speed would have been higher. I will probably not soon forget the moment I spotted the blue and white RV-8 streaking across the the ground low to the right and in front of my plane.

Bob Axsom
 
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hot race in more ways than one

I went to 5500msl on the first two legs. I was seeing top ground speeds of 188kts up there. My GPS distance to go to the first turn was at 0, but I wasn't sure which plateau was the correct turn so I went to the one to the farthest southeast and made my turn. I don't know if that was the correct place or not. From that alt. it all looked pretty much the same.

Going into turn 2 I made a gradual decent. This is where I goofed. I had it in my head that the outbound course was to the northwest and took up a course of about 320 deg when in fact the correct course was infact closer to 265deg. I think this is when Cam passed me. I too saw my competition ahead of and lower than me. At first I thought I had caught Mike Thompson but soon realized that I had opened the door for Cam. High oil temps be darned (230deg) I pushed the thottle up full and tried to catch Cam. I headed for the deck and was ever so slowly catching up but I knew I had already blown it. It just goes to show that there is no room for error in this sport if you expect to win. In the future I will model Bob's preparation methods as my own are not sufficient for these types of courses.

This is one race I would have liked to watch from the ground. I did manage to get some cockpit video during the race. I haven't seen it on a big screen yet but I think it has a good shot of Cams tail.

CM Race 34
 
RV Blue Class Winner

Jason Rovey's RV-8 Race Number 391

2010WT100036.jpg
 
Great write up Bob and Chris. the write ups mean more than the speed numbers, at least for me. Good job, I can't wait to try my hand
 
Difficult Turn

The Squeeze was flying great--2850 on the RPM, 170+ knots of true airspeed and 180+ knots of ground speed on the way out. Turn 1 was easy, but I just couldn't find that little airstrip at turn 2. Not wanting to incur the pentaly, I turned wide--but I think I went ten miles out of my way. That's where all my time went.

Still, it was a blast. Looking forward to the next one.

-Matt
402BD
 
Great event!

What a great event and great hosts. Thanks Cam, and Tim (Rocket Aviation) for a FUN time. I'm glad it wasn't the West Texas 125, I couldn't take it if it was that hot, oh--It's the distance not the temp-duh. And Mike, great job on the video.

Seth and Jason (Arizona used to be part of New Mexico so we get to claim Jason!) did great, I told Seth that the Etch-a-Sketch might not be the best instrument for navigation! Like they say "You can sure tell those boys from NM, you just can't tell'em much!" And all I can say about Jason is, he seems so nice for being that vicious!

Matt showed himself well in "Lemon Squeeze" and we are glad to have him on board with the NM Squad. Hey Matt, any chance we could set up a race out of Alamo maybe over White Sands?? Just a thought, don"t know how much pull you have Maj. er, I mean Col. (inside joke, pancake breakfast). The paper work should be a snap!

Hack, we missed ya and hope you get the canopy and the temp issue fixed, let us know if we can help. We need another yellow -4 for the intimidation factor!

Hopefully we will be able to host everyone at a race in Southern NM in the not to distant future with Mike's help. Don't worry it won't be in the summer, we like it hot, just not THAT hot!

Finally if you didn't do the canyon/river run after the race you missed something special, thanks Cam

Adios
 
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