AC Speed - Paging Ron Levy

danhagan

danhagan

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danhagan
Was looking at race results and saw these two Grumman entries:

Name Speed MPH
Stuart Morse 184.31
Team Ely 172.71

Are you familiar with either? I've only gotten speeds like that with a massive tailwind. Do you know what mods they have if any? Thanks.
 
what race? what type of grumman were each flying?
 
I bet a taildragger AA-1 with 180hp could do that. Only for an hour or so though lol.
 
I don't know who Team Ely is, but Stu Morse flies a more or less stock AA-5B, N5TU (get it?). He has several mods, including the LoPresti nose and induction system, LyCon ported and flow-matched cylinders, PowerFlow exhaust, Sensenich prop, and a number of drag reduction clean-ups. But the engine itself is a stock (although well-tuned) O-360-A4K. No doubt that eye-popping speed was due to tailwinds, because after side-by-side flying with him, I know his plane is not that much faster than mine. I think that flat-out, his plane will do like 145-148 KTAS at sea level compared to around 142 for mine. He also knows a lot more than me about making good racing turns, and generally clocks in about 5 knots faster on the closed course Roy LoPresti Memorial Air Race every year, this year's being next Tuesday out of Oshkosh.
 
Ron Levy said:
I don't know who Team Ely is, but Stu Morse flies a more or less stock AA-5B, N5TU (get it?). He has several mods, including the LoPresti nose and induction system, LyCon ported and flow-matched cylinders, PowerFlow exhaust, Sensenich prop, and a number of drag reduction clean-ups. But the engine itself is a stock (although well-tuned) O-360-A4K. No doubt that eye-popping speed was due to tailwinds, because after side-by-side flying with him, I know his plane is not that much faster than mine. I think that flat-out, his plane will do like 145-148 KTAS at sea level compared to around 142 for mine. He also knows a lot more than me about making good racing turns, and generally clocks in about 5 knots faster on the closed course Roy LoPresti Memorial Air Race every year, this year's being next Tuesday out of Oshkosh.
Click to expand...

Mine is stock right now and I plan and get 130-133 kts (I always check winds aloft - often get in the 140's with help, fastest 178). Checked flightaware when you brought it to Fletchair a few years ago and it looks like you were getting about 125 in mine westbound.
 
danhagan said:
Mine is stock right now and I plan and get 130-133 kts (I always check winds aloft - often get in the 140's with help, fastest 178). Checked flightaware when you brought it to Fletchair a few years ago and it looks like you were getting about 125 in mine westbound.
Click to expand...
That's about right for ground speeds, but there's a big difference between 75% power cruising speeds at typical cruising altitudes and what you see in air races. Top speed occurs at sea level with wide open throttle, and in a Tiger with a fixed pitch prop, you'll hit redline RPM before you get there. If you ask Stu what he's turning in a race, he'll take the Fifth.
 
Flightaware ground speeds are all over the map due to winds. Typical TAS for my Tiger at 75% at altitude is 135 KTAS. However, these days I've been flying closer to 60% to reduce fuel costs, as a few minutes here or there doesn't bother me.
 
FWIW, after 60,000 air miles since my 530 was upgraded to WAAS, my average GS is 116 knots. That average covers everything from reaching 30 knots on takeoff until slowing to 30 knots on landing, and covers over 500 hours of operation.
 
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