Paul flew his airplane down to SZP so I had an
   opportunity to take some pictures.
   Paul's unusual prop design is wining at Reno in
   the biplane category so far. I suspect it has
   something to do with a reduction in cooling drag
   as Paul's air intake scoops are rather small
   for a 115 HP engine. He uses four small individual
   exhaust ejectors one for each cylinder hidden in the
   cowl to increase cooling air flow. Typical of Paul
   as he does not reveal all his secrets :) I occasionally
   have to make some outrages statement and watch his facial
   expressions :)

   Paul is also the designer of Klaus ignition system
   and electronic 555 based fuel injection system.
   We had a long talk about a lot of things and he is
   helping a friend install a rotary.
   He prefers the CMOS version of the 555 because it
   does not spike the power supply like the traditional
   TTL version does.

   BTW for all you electronic types out there I would like
   to buy a CMOS 555 PWM controlled electric fuel pump controller.
   Paul is using a circuit like this to control the fuel
   pump pressure on Klaus'e EFI system.  It would
   eliminate those $130 fuel pressure regulators and the
   return fuel flow plumbing along with all its warts
   and problems. It would also control the fuel pressure more
   accurately. You could use a Free Scale 100 psi differential
   pressure sensor to control the pulse width out of the CMOS 555
   in reference to the intake manifold pressure.

   More on this later if anybody is interested.

   Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.





The story about the prop at Reno is that the airplanes that have
switched to the Lipps prop are able to go 20mph faster without changing
anything else significant about the airplane..  I do agree that Paul's
cooling inlets are pretty small.

Quote from avweb about the 2004 biplane race:

"Biplanes are historically he slowest class at Reno, but that changed
this year, as Tom Aberle, who didn't race his Phantom last year after
qualifying fastest (due to a propeller problem), again qualified fastest
in 2004, running over 241 mph. Noting that the fastest T-6 (Alfred Goss
in Warlock) went just over 238, Aberle, a former biplane champ, said,
"Well, now the T-6s are the slowest class at Reno. We're even faster
than all but four of the Formula Ones. We're 20 mph faster than last year."

Lining up for Saturday's race, David Rose (Rose won last year, and was
second-fastest qualifier this year) commented on the cold temps and high
winds. "It's a bit chilly." A fan nearby said, "That should be good for
four more horsepower." Rose, heading for his airplane, responded, "I'll
need a lot more than that."

Tom attributes that speed increase to two main changes: he sawed off the
exhaust pipes ("We had ten-inch stacks last year. They weren't tuned
anyway, so why have them out in the air?"), and he has a new,
three-blade prop. "Paul Lipps offered me two props to try, provided we'd
give back good performance parameters. Then he'd build one, optimized
for the machine. I fed him the data, and in a week and a half, he had a
design." Paul, who cruises over 200mph in his stock-engine Lancair 235,
has some unusual prop design ideas, but they seem to work for him, and
for Aberle. "Last year," Tom said, "we were turning 3550 rpm, and went
twenty mph slower. Now, we're turning just 3300. Once the wheels are off
the ground, it's like a slingshot."


I guess it's worth considering that Alberle was previosly running the
WRONG prop.


Regards,

Matt-


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