Paul, the following statement was posted on the Tailwind discussion
group. Do you think it is true and how would you explain such
performance? Jerry
Just found this: lsecorp.com, then click on news on left side. Klaus
Savier flew the Vari-eze nonstop from Santa Paula, CA to Panama City,
FL, 1985 statute miles in 8 hrs 58 min on 25.8 gallons. Slightly under
80 miles per gallon.
Its true. Klaus had a strong tail wind. As I recall he also had oxygen :)
He leans his engine severely and advances the ignition. He also uses
a high energy multi-spark capacitor discharge ignition system to
fire the lean mixture. Another factor is the aircraft is highly
refined aerodynamically. Yet another factor is he uses solid state fuel
injection but it is not computer controlled. Cheap analog circuits (cost
$1 each)
called 555's or something similar are used to change the pulse width
on the electric injectors. Each cylinder gets the same amount of fuel. He
may be
able to adjust the fuel on each cylinder individually according to the
EGT. You have
plenty of time up there to diddle around.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Paul,
How do the chips know how much fuel to deliver does it work on RPM or
throttle position or something like that?
George ( down under)
I am not exactly sure about all the details but with a fixed pitch prop
you could probably
get away with RPM alone. You only really have two RPM points where you
need precise
mixtures, climb and cruise. You could manually adjust for those two
conditions.
Paul Lipps probably designed the system. The attached schematic diagram
for a rotary
uses a throttle pot. I have attached another 3D showing a way to make a
throttle pot device.
Freescale manifold pressure sensors could also be used.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Paul--regarding Klaus' trip, the first factor you mention in your response
is often the most significant in such trips due to the intensity of
prevailing westerly winds. If you catch just the right day, and nibble up
into the jetstream, 100 to 200 mph tailwinds can produce otherworldly trip
times and low fuel burns heading to the east. Many years ago a class record
time/fuel for coast-to-coast was held by a guy who took off on a trip from
nearby in Troutdale or Hillsboro, Oregon in a bone-stock Cessna single with
a factory turbocharged engine that allowed him to get to healthy altitude
and he happened to unintentionally catch such a tailwind and the resulting
record stood for years. Klaus has worked for years with his wonderful old
primer-dog Varieze to refine it but rest assured, all such trip numbers are
posted primarily due to jetstream-assist. We did a similar trip in the
rotary powered RV-4 on a trip to Oshkosh in the early 1990's and the trip
home bucking similar headwinds was a study in contrast.
Steve Beckham
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