Bulent Aliev wrote:
Sport Class RenoAirRace update Thursday evening 9/16/04:
Bad news. Nemesis NXT is out of the race this year. The damage didn't look all that bad. Yesterday after the left gear leg collapsed the lower wing tip was ground down very similar to what our noses
look like after gear mishap. Just as Nemesis was about to come to halt the right gear gave out under the side loads and fell flat as a pancake sending the prop flying in a gazillion pieces. I spoke
to a couple members of the crew this afternoon and they told me they just didn't trust the gear. Besides, they need a new prop, engine looked at after the prop strike even though it was a composite
prop plus the glass/carbon fiber work on the wings and belly. Next year was their mantra and I agree that's the best decision.
With Nemesis and a couple others out Klaus and VariEze 111 is back in the race running in the Silver heat. That means he will get some prize money so long as he finishes which I have no doubt he
will. He now has his highly modified and extremely beefed up O200 we all call "O-2-BAD" fuel injected. His face is turning purple trying to hand prop that baby now and especially when the engine is
cold or real warm. Could an electric starter be in Klaus's future?........................nah! Klaus was making the laps today right at the 250 mph area which is a little improvement over last year.
Also today Darryl Greenamyer in the high powered, twin turbo'd Lancair Legacy declared a Mayday on the fifth lap and dead sticked it back on the runway. I overheard him saying his oil pressure was
skyrocketing so he shut the engine down before it blew. I'm sure they will be burning the midnight oil tonight in preparation for tomorrow's first race for the gold.
Who's looking really good on the race course you might ask? We'll, it's John Parker flying his Thunder Mustang (now on the list of extinct bird species). That bad boy was turning the course laps at
359 mph and literally smoking everyone else. If the Falconair engine holds up and Greenamyer can get his problem fixed it should be quite a race for the gold.
On the Unlimited side Rare Bear was looking good all week. Yesterday they pulled the oil filter and found metal. They broke the engine down last night and discovered the main bearings were nearly
shot. The team seemed confident they can have her back in the air tomorrow for the first race albeit holding back a bit so they can take her to the gold. We saw this same thing happen last year and
she stood down rather than risk blowing a VERY expensive engine.
Weathers great, crowds beginning to build a ndeveryoneishavingagoodtime.
Tim LoDolce
VEZE Truckee Tahoe
Darn, I was going up there tomorrow just to see Nemesis NXT race.
Bad news for my hangar neighbor who I think designed the Nemesis NXT gear.
Klause is also my hangar neighbor and he has a prejudice against microcomputers
in EFI systems. I think Paul Lipps actually designed Klauses system. I know
he designed the electronic ignition.
I have not seen inside Klause's EFI system or was privy to the schematic.
I suspect it is some sort of analog system. In theory a 50 cent 555 analog integrated
circuit can control an electronic injector. I have seen the electronic
injectors however in Klause's intake manifold.
One of the neat things about EFI with microcomputers is they are always
easy to start. When is the last time your car did not start on the first
revolution?
Rebuilding an R3350 over night is quite a feat.
Paul Lamar
John wrote:
Below is a quote from a news article about Nemesis NXT. It doesn't sound like the prop shattered, "sending the prop flying in a gazillion pieces"? Photos don't look like the prop shattered either?
"Sharp said the 72-inch prop feathered down to about 40 inches. "It curled the propeller like a rolled-up piece of paper-like someone took a screwdriver around the tip blade and wound it up," he said."
John Lewis
I am intensely interested in why the gear collapsed. Can anybody shed some light on
that?
Paul Lamar
John wrote:
Paul,
Here is the complete article from Aero-News. It tells more about the gear collapse than anything else I've seen so far.
Cheers,
John Lewis
Son Of Nemesis Loses Its Legs
Gear Collapse Puts Nemesis NXT Out Of Running At Reno
An unfortunate incident earlier this week prior to the start of the 41st National Championship Air Races and Air Show at Stead Airport in Reno, Nevada, thwarted the highly anticipated appearance of the Nemesis NXT. Owners Jon and Patricia Sharp had planned to debut their new homebuilt airplane in the Sport Class. The original Nemesis, which dominated Formula 1 racing for many years winning 47 of 51 starts, now hangs in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. That plane made its final flight at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2000.
The Nemesis NXT is the kit version of that airplane, powered by a Lycoming TI0-540-NXT, rumored to be capable of speeds exceeding the Unlimiteds.
So what happened?
"We had a purchased part that failed in the landing gear system," Jon Sharp told e-hotline on Thursday. "I won't go into what (part) it was or where it came from, but the part was subjected to a condition that it was not supposed to be in; we are analyzing that right now."
Sharp, who didn't receive a scratch in the incident, explained what happened shortly after touching down at Stead.
"Not too long after I touched down, I was just raising the tail and heard a very loud bang from the left side. Then the left wing just started heading toward the ground, but I was able to pick up the wing and carry it for a little while until it wouldn't hold anymore. The left wing went down and the airplane started heading off the runway. Then the right wheel failed in the same manner the left wheel did and I went skidding off the pavement sideways about 150 feet into the dirt."
Sharp estimated he was traveling about 80-85 mph when the bang sounded.
Damage consisted of a pretty badly scraped left wingtip, a scraped belly right at the firewall, and a flat spot on the tail wheel where it skidded from going sideways.
Sharp said the 72-inch prop feathered down to about 40 inches. "It curled the propeller like a rolled-up piece of paper-like someone took a screwdriver around the tip blade and wound it up," he said. Lycoming, a major Team Nemesis sponsor, has already swapped out the engine for the test engine, and crewmembers are focused on making the airplane run and fly again. The race engine is already on its way back to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to be taken apart and looked at. "We'll probably have it back in a month," Sharp said.
"All things considered we're in pretty darn good shape and very thankful," Sharp emphasized. "It's a very stout airplane. After people saw what it went through, and then came down and looked at it in the hangar, they're just amazed at how it went through all that and is still flyable home.
"We're proud of the program and the project," he continued. "We didn't have any design flaw issue or anything; it was just the malfunction of a procured part."
Sharp was especially grateful to the EAA members who offered their assistance. "There's a bunch of EAA people down here from the local Chapter wanting to help and do anything they can," he said. "It really exhibits the spirit of EAA; everyone jumps in to do the job. We're so thankful to be members of EAA. EAA's just awesome. We love it!"
FMI: www.airrace.org
This is a picture I took at Reno. The part that failed was the gas spring holding
the down lock in place. Klause's theory was the altitude caused a high pressure differential
across the gas spring seal causing the gas to leak out and reduce the spring force.
Also the down lock over center position looks marginal.
Here too is a picture I took of the damaged prop.
Paul Lamar
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