Dash119
Senior Airman
Not sure to whom you are referring, but I would think Pete Law had his hands in this somehow.
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Not sure to whom you are referring, but I would think Pete Law had his hands in this somehow.If I'm not mistaken I believe that system was designed by an engineer I used to work with, he was on the Rare Bear crew for many years.
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Bill HickleNot sure to whom you are referring, but I would think Pete Law had his hands in this somehow.
All of the important engines of WWII were developed in the nineteen thirties. In 1939, the Lockheed Constellation was designed around R3350s. You can design an aeroplane in three months. It takes way longer to design a reliable engine. If you design a new air racing engine that puts out 3000-4000HP, you are amortising your engineering costs over something like ten engines maximum.I kind of agree to a point. The main draw in post war air racing were all the old warbirds (unlimiteds)...
Ok and you said the magic word, COST - it's a matter of what the competitor is going or willing to spend and "IF" they are going to look to develop a new engine to begin withAll of the important engines of WWII were developed in the nineteen thirties. In 1939, the Lockheed Constellation was designed around R3350s. You can design an aeroplane in three months. It takes way longer to design a reliable engine. If you design a new air racing engine that puts out 3000-4000HP, you are amortising your engineering costs over something like ten engines maximum.
I know all about it - I worked at the airport where it was developed and knew people who worked on it and took it to Reno. Although a step towards a race plane (unlimited) built from the ground up, it was not successful as a racer unfortunatelyRead up on the Pond Racer, which was an attempt to design an unlimited racer with modern technology.
Again it's about money but your golden question How long is an unlimited air racer required to run? - about 16 to 20 laps depending on qualifications and practice laps - say about 5 hours! It's all about 3 days of qualifying and racingRapid prototyping may be an opportunity to build new WWII engines from scratch. RR Griffons? Napier Sabres? P&W R2800s? What fun! You will have to solve once again, all sorts of reliability and production problems that were solved during WWII. All those guys flying Curtis C-46s will thank you. Otherwise, you have serious engineering costs to amortise over a short production run. Hopefully, some billionaire is determined to fly his Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.
Is it worthwhile developing a new internal combustion engine? Power is the product of displacement, Mean Effective Pressure (MEP), and RPMs. MEP ultimately is controlled by your fuel octane number, which is taken advantage of by your supercharger and your compression ratio. RPM is mostly a function of how long you want your bearings to last. Modern technology might make your engine more fuel efficient, but nobody cares about that in air racing.
How long is an unlimited air racer required to run? A cooling system completely inadequate for a WWII P-51 Mustang mission, may last long enough to win an air race.
Hopefully they will spend the money but not trying to rehash an obsolete design (at least for air racing). It's all about acceleration, position and maintaining a course line. Something like a rebuilt Typhoon and Tempest will be great for nostalgia, but in the bigger picture will be bricks if not highly modified.Hopefully, some billionaire is determined to fly his Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.
I am looking here at the Wikipedia page on the Pond Racer. They were hoping for a pair of 1000HP engines. They got a pair of 600HP engines. A Merlin 32 had a single speed, single stage supercharger, and it put out 1600HP. An aircraft designed around it would have less frontal area than a Pond Racer. You could always buy a couple of Bugatti Veyrons, and take the engines out of them. The W16s are equivalent to an early RR Merlin. Are they as streamlined?Ok and you said the magic word, COST - it's a matter of what the competitor is going or willing to spend and "IF" they are going to look to develop a new engine to begin with
I know all about it - I worked at the airport where it was developed and knew people who worked on it and took it to Reno. Although a step towards a race plane (unlimited) built from the ground up, it was not successful as a racer unfortunately
Again it's about money but your golden question How long is an unlimited air racer required to run? - about 16 to 20 laps depending on qualifications and practice laps - say about 5 hours! It's all about 3 days of qualifying and racing
The biggest issue I've found at my years at Reno was some of these brilliant mods and designs (sport and formula) were not reliable enough to make it through 3 days of racing. Although stated you're looking at only a few hour of operation, you also have to make it through those 3 days without nothing breaking that will put you out of the race or worse. I know after a few hours of flying, the Pond Racer started having some maintenance issues (oil leaks IIRC) that affected other elements.I am looking here at the Wikipedia page on the Pond Racer. They were hoping for a pair of 1000HP engines. They got a pair of 600HP engines. A Merlin 32 had a single speed, single stage supercharger, and it put out 1600HP. An aircraft designed around it would have less frontal area than a Pond Racer. You could always buy a couple of Bugatti Veyrons, and take the engines out of them. The W16s are equivalent to an early RR Merlin. Are they as streamlined.
That is the problem with designing a new engine. With rapid prototyped casting patterns, it would also be a problem with new WWII engines, particularly anything with sleeve valves.The biggest issue I've found at my years at Reno was some of these brilliant mods and designs (sport and formula) were not reliable enough to make it through 3 days of racing.
How many bums in seats?"Speed Costs Money - how fast do you want to go?"
That's the mantra of any high-performance venue, be it air-racing, Drag racing, street racing and so on.How many bums in seats?
Interestingly enough, the event that put the most bums in seats throughout the week was STOL drag racing. Only the unlimited final had more people for the single event.How many bums in seats?
I've seen a few Eagle demo flights. The best one by far was at the 1997 Nellis air show which was the USAF 50th anniversary show. The normal flight restrictions had been relaxed and the F-15 put on a show that was simply amazing.I did the airshow circuit for a few years in the Eagle. The single biggest draw at airshows was the jet powered semi.
That's sort of embarrassing.The single biggest draw at airshows was the jet powered semi
Lee Shockley was the master of jet dragsters.I did the airshow circuit for a few years in the Eagle. The single biggest draw at airshows was the jet powered semi.
I did the airshow circuit for a few years in the Eagle. The single biggest draw at airshows was the jet powered semi.