Bill Hughes holding Dave Rigotti’s 21 Sport Speed plane in the takeoff dolly. The dolly drops away when the plane gets enough speed to fly.
By John Moll
The weather started out with a very foggy field. However, we were able to start flying at our normal time (9:00am). Thank you Mr. Sun for burning off the fog!
We had a total of 17 planes entered in Perky Speed alone. So, we knew we were going to be having a lot of flights today. There were also six entries in FAI/F2A Speed and four in 21 Sport Speed.
Perky Speed is an event that got kind of a different start back in the year 2000. An older speed flyer thought it would be fun to have what is called a “postal” contest. Anyone from around the world was invited to make a certain plane called a Perky, which was a kit way back in 1947. You could use any .15 ci or 2.5 cc motor to power it. Or, you could use up to a .19 ci ignition engine.
Everyone started building the Perky plane from either plans or a kit. You would get a speed for your flight, which was a standing start timed event for 16 laps. You calculated the speed and mailed the results in. One person would take all the speeds, average them out, and declare a winner based on whoever got the closest to the average speed. It is kind of a bragging rights honor.
A lot of local speed contests started to include Perky Speed with their events. For the last few years, the Nats has also included Perky Speed. Now, it is one of the most entered events. We hand out awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, but the really sought out prize is Best Average Speed. Patrick Hemple won this year, coming within one mile per hour of the average. Just a note: Patrick beat me by 0.3 mph! Wait until next year.
We also flew 21 Sport Speed, which is a speed class that uses a .21 ci motor. It’s flown at full speed and timed for 7 laps. Bill Hughes won this event by 0.2 mph over Glen Van Sant. That’s close! There were a total of four entries in 21 Sport Speed.
Our other event was FAI, or F2A Speed. There were six pilots entered. This was our fastest event so for at the Nats. Bill Hughes, won 1st place with a speed of 293.3 kph, or 182.25 mph. The plane is really different. It only has one inner wing, an outside stabilizer, a .15 ci or 2.5 cc motor, a tuned pipe, and a one-bladed propellor. Yes, you read that correctly…a one-bladed prop!
They found thru the years that by using a single blade it gets a clean bite of air with each rotation of the motor/prop. When the motor gets onto the pipe, it really starts to go upwards in revolutions…over 39,000 rpm plus! When the plane gets up to speed it’s really hard to follow around the circle, but it sounds cool running FAST!
Tomorrow, we fly 21 Profile Proto Speed, Formula 40, and Fox 35 Stunt Speed. Come by Site 2 and watch some speed!
Tuesday results:
Perky Speed
Glen Van Sant 1st place - 114.22 mph
Henry Nelson 2nd place - 110.46 mph
Bill Hughes 3rd place - 107.23 mph
Patrick Hemple kneeling Best Average Speed
21 Sport Speed
Bill Hughes - 1st place - 143.98 mph
Glen Van Sant - 2nd place - 143.78 mph
Carl Dodge - 3rd place - 125.64 mph
FAI/F2A
Bill Hughes - 1st place - 293.3 kph/ 182.25 mph
James Van Sant - 2nd place - 287.2 kph/178.46 mph
Glen Van Sant - 3rd place - 275.3 kph/171.07 mph
Jeff Gitchel preparing his F2A/FAI plane for a flight. He achieved a personal best flight speed of 266.8 kph (165.85 mph). Way to go Jeff! Keep up the great effort.
Bill Hughes fueling his 21 Sport Speed plane. Dave Rigotti looks on ready to help with the starting duties.
Perky Speed winners Bill Hughes (L), Henry Nelson (C), Glen Van Sant (R), and Patrick Hemple (kneeling)
21 Sport Speed winners Glen Van Sant (L), Bill Hughes (C), and Carl Dodge ( R ).
FAI/F2A speed winners James Van Sant (L), Bill Hughes (C), Glen Van Sant (R).