EAA Chapter 130 is a local chapter of the
Experimental Aircraft Association, which
has chapters all over the world and more
than 100,000 members. Our local chapter has
approximately 50 members and is dedicated
to the advancement of sport aviation through
the education of our members and the general
public. EAA chapters and their members are
involved in the design, building, and restoration
of aircraft, improving the skills and pilotage
of pilots, and in the advancement and promotion
of all aspects of sport and general aviation.
Over the years, the AirVenture Cup race has changed in many ways but the common theme has always been the weather. The race is run in VFR conditions and it is difficult to run a two-day, 1000-mile cross-country race without the weather becoming a major factor and delaying the race.
With safety in mind, the EAA decided that starting in 2004, the race would be a one-day event on Monday from Wright Brothers airport (KMGY) in Dayton to Oshkosh. At the FAA's urging, pylon turns would be made at Whiteside (KSQI) and Rockford (KRFD), IL, to keep the racers well clear of Chicago, bringing the distance to 420 NM (483SM). Finishing the race at OSH proved to be impractical so the finish line was moved to a private strip eight miles South of Fond du Lac. The racers would then land at FLD to stage for a mass arrival at OSH.
I made arrangements with another competitor, Scott Gesele, from Long Island to fly out to Dayton together on Sunday morning. As the weekend approached the weather for Saturday and Sunday was looking questionable, a stationary from had stalled over the coast and no one seemed to know when it would move. Early Saturday afternoon, the front pushed off shore bringing blue skies to the NY area. Some forecast it to stay that way for the weekend, others said it would back up over night and bring low clouds in the morning. Scott has an autopilot in his RV-6 and is willing to fly IFR, I on the other hand do not have an autopilot and am very reluctant to fly in the clouds in an unstable RV. The workload is just too high and I don't get enough practice. A vacuum failure resulting in needle, ball and airspeed flying would be extremely difficult. As I pondered the various forecasts, Sue said "The sky is blue, why are you still here?" I finished packing. A call to Scott to let him know I was abandoning him and one to the race organizers to tell them when to expect me, and I was off.
Climbing to 8500', I settled in for the 487NM (560 sm) trip. I enjoyed smooth, clear, blue skies; headwinds of no more than 5 knots and for much of the flight had a 5 knot tailwind. Three hours and three minutes after brake release, I was shutting down, having burned only 27.8 gallons of avgas. Compare that to the 700+ miles, 14 hours and 23 gallons my Honda would burn to make the same trip! These little planes we build in our garages have some real utility if you are flexible in your schedule! The evening was spent renewing acquaintances from previous races and meeting new competitors.
Sunday was registration day and much of the morning was spent preparing the plane for the race. Scott Gesele arrived around 1300, declaring that I had made the right decision by departing Saturday. He was in the clouds for more than half the trip. Jim Norman arrived in his sleek, award winning RV-6A. Jim beat me in the second leg of the race last year and I was concerned that without the long first leg I was destined to finish behind him. The RV-8 carries more fuel than the 6 and allows me to fly faster with the same reserves over the old, longer route. John Huff showed up in a super sleek RV-8. John built his plane to race. A cooling plenum, and some of the best fitting fairings I've seen cut drag. There are no external hinges or latches to be seen. Even the external canopy latch was relocated inside the baggage area to cut down on drag! A scimitar prop and 210+ HP add to his top speed. Talking with Jim, I said I thought our best chance was for the "new guy" to make a rookie mistake. I then saw that John, though new to the AirVenture Cup, had raced many times before. I feared I was destined to third place. Jim said "Don't worry, I'll make the rookie mistake!"
There is an old saying in racing, "Speed cost money. How fast do you want to go?" These planes don't fly as fast without sponsor stickers and I was disappointed to learn we were down to just three sponsors (including the Pepsi sponsorship I had arranged) and a very tight budget this year. But, we all do this for bragging rights and wouldn't let something like this stop us! More on this later.
Last year, EZ pilot Frank Pullano produced a documentary film on his race experience. This year Frank decided to expand the scope of his film and include as many racers as possible. Cameras were positioned by the runway and in the cockpits of a few planes. More cameras were positioned at the turn points and finish line. I was asked to participate in a formation flight for the film and couldn't accept fast enough. Overcast skies resulted in flat lighting but Frank and his crew produced some fine results. For a sneak peak, turn your speakers up and check out http://www.glassovercast.com/video/avcup04-trailer1.mpg I can't wait to see the full length version!
Green flag was scheduled for 0900 Monday and the racers were ready to go. Mist covered Dayton but clear skies were only 30 miles away. The official weather was 2100 overcast and 5 miles visibility. We decided to launch a couple of the slower aircraft and they would report back the actual conditions. The Kit Fox lifted off and we had a race!
Forty-three planes in seven categories were registered with 12 planes in the RV class, which was not divided into two classes as it was last year. John Huff was the first RV off and I followed closely with Jim a few minutes behind in "Razzmatazz". Accelerating the length of the runway in ground effect, I received the official time hack as I crossed the departure end, climbed to 1000' AGL and turned on course. There were a few light rain showers in the area and ceilings were lower than the advertised 2200' with visibility not much more than three miles. I saw John up ahead deviating around a light shower. I could see through the rain and decided to fly through it, risking losing my sponsor stickers but gaining a mile or so on John. The Pepsi stickers I had were paper backed and past events proved that they would absorb rainwater and eventually peel off. I saw a flash out the corner of my eye, did I nearly hit a bird? No, it was the Pepsi sticker on the left wing departing. At least it came off clean, a partial peel back would add drag that I couldn't afford. I had taped the major seams much as glider pilots do to cut drag. I doubt it had a measurable effect but it certainly adds to the gamesmanship of the event though I'm not sure who it psyched out more, the competition or me! The tape over the cowling ripped loose and settled itself across the windscreen. I had visions of all the tape coming loose and trailing behind the airplane, adding drag and possibly costing me the race.
I was slowly inching past John, a few hundred feet above me and to my right. He was either throttled back, conserving fuel or had a headwind. I hoped I could slip past without his noticing. I knew if I stayed in front of John, or at least very close behind, I would have him beat! Victory would be mine! The weather clears as we were told it would. I push on towards the first turn point, Whiteside (SQI), confident of victory. Thirty minutes later, John slips quietly past, high and to the right. After pulling ahead about ½ mile, he holds position. He is playing with me. If I can stay within visual sight it should be close enough to make the standing interesting. Minutes later he starts slipping ahead. Maybe he found better winds, I climb 500' and gain about one knot. Continuing up another 500' to Johns' altitude, I lose the gain and more. Back down 500' and settle in. John very slowly is pulling away. He is only a speck on the horizon and we are only approaching the halfway point. In racing they say that second place is just the first loser but I guess it will be better than the third place I feared.
There was the usual chatter on the race frequency, reports of other traffic on the route, towers to be aware of and of course, lots of gamesmanship in position reporting. The headset crackles and I hear "Scott, look to your right, See Ya later!" It was Jim Norman. I looked to my right but couldn't see him. Was he really passing me or just playing with me. If he hasn't passed me he may well be right on my tail, out of sight, ready to pounce. He wouldn't even need to actually pass me to beat me, just close the two minute or so gap we had at the start. I don't know for sure but he should have been about 2 minutes, 6 NM behind.
The frequency is busy with position reports and the high fliers were discussing the best place to descend through the broken layer that had formed below. It seemed everyone was approaching Whiteside at the same time. I passed a couple Vari-eze's from the Sprint class that had taken off in front of the RV's. A couple Glassair's in the Formula FX class cruised past me. John Huff makes his five-mile call, I'm showing 10 miles out. This is closer than I thought, am I close enough to beet him? With the airport in sight, I aim just south of runway 36, planning my turn-in for the low pass down the runway. Descending out of 500', full power in a three G turn at redline, a Jack Watson in his yellow Glassair II RG passes me on the outside of the turn. I rollout on a ¼ mile final. As I pull up from the pass at the end of the runway and turn toward Rockford, I hear Jim call five miles out. He is further behind than I thought. If his position report is accurate, he has gained little on me since takeoff. The finish is going to be close.
The leg to Rockford is a short one. We were instructed to call approach control as soon as possible after departing Whiteside but altitude prevented anyone from contacting them until just 10 miles out. With so many aircraft nose to tail, approach control gave up and repeatedly broadcast "All racers are cleared for low approach. MONITOR tower frequency, call five miles!" The lineup for the pass down runway 7 takes only a small jog. I dove down below the trees that line either side of the runway clearway. I am quickly overtaking an EZ and radio for him to hold altitude and course. He acknowledged the request. I stay below and to his left, completing the pass as we fly abeam the race officials at the side of the runway. Hope they got that on tape! The EZ calls me clear and I pull up to altitude and turn on course for the finish line. I hear Jim call five miles.
The finish line this year was a private strip about 10 miles South of Fon Du Lac. No FAA identifier, no co-ordinates. I had previously measured the coordinates and entered them in my GPS. Accuracy of the fix could make a big difference in the finishing order. We had been shown a few aerial photos approaching the field. Landmarks include a warehouse on the Northwest end of the field and a tall tower a mile or so to the Northeast. As I approach the field I am able to find the tower but my low altitude prevents me from seeing the field or even the warehouse. The field of race planes has spread out since Whiteside, I see no one in front of me to follow to the finish. I find the warehouse but the field is still hidden by trees. I aim about a mile South, planning to pick up the highway and follow it to the field. This will cost me a little time but a lot less than the potential of having to circle back to make the pass across the finish line at mid-field. A hard left turn at the highway and I see the grass runway for the first time, about one mile ahead. The low pass at full power and my race was over. I hadn't heard Johns call at the finish line and as I pull up I hear Jim call 10 miles. Ten?! Is he messing with me or did he somehow loose five miles on the last leg?
I turn towards Fon Du Lac where we will regroup for a mass arrival to AirVenture. As I enter the pattern John is turning final and Jim is asking for priority due to low fuel. The tower is a bit confused but I see Jim approaching on a left base, I tell him I will give way. We have a couple hours on the ground waiting for the slow flyers to finish the course and spend the time relaxing, comparing notes, grabbing some lunch and trying to determine the finishing order. John is convinced that he and I will be real close but I'm not too sure. I'm concerned about losing third to Jim. It turns out that he lost about 10 miles due to an error in entering the finish line in his GPS but his appearance at Fon Du Lac so soon after mine has me convinced that he was never far behind. We all have a good laugh about his radio call announcing his "pass". Jim, knowing I was straining my neck looking for him, laughed himself to tears for the next half hour, until I learned the truth passing Whiteside. Jim certainly had the fastest RV but, living in Colorado, was not used to running high power at low altitude and conserved fuel while Jim and I were running full throttle. The truth was in the fuel bill. Jim and I burned about the same (the RV-6 holds a few gallons less than the 8) but John burned a full two gallons less! Those drag reduction efforts really pay off.
In the past, after crossing the finish line over Lake Winnebago, we simply turned onto a left base for 36 and landed, the adrenaline still pumping. The parade arrival into OSH took away some of the excitement of the finish of the race but the cooling off period in Fon Du Lac probably added a level of safety to the OSH arrival. Now it was all over except the results and celebrating. Rumors were circulating that the RV's were seconds apart but nothing more specific than that. Late Monday afternoon, the results were posted. John Huff completed the 407 NM in 2:15:25. for a speed of 180.32 knots. My time was 2:15:49, only 24 seconds behind! Jim Norman came in at 2:18:23, confirming that his navigation error cost him about 10 miles.
My hat goes off to John Huff for his efforts. Not only did he beat me in time, he did it on less fuel. This shows that he did not beat me on horsepower, he did it the hard way, through drag reduction. John spent almost as much time making these modifications as I did on the construction of my whole plane, but as he points out, it pays off at the pump after every flight, not just in a race.
Congratulations to the all AirVenture Cup racers and a big Thank You to Eric Whyte and his team of volunteers in organizing and running a great event that is all about friendly competition. Now, back to the hangar, I've got to go get rid of some drag, perhaps a cooling plenum is the first step towards a victory next year.
|
||