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Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:07:41 -0700
Message-ID: <CAMOiWoM8UJFASEcvBRO5eZtwrJDMy6j9jaWdOfwWwkMXyvG9NQ@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Reno, RD-B failure, fix, and sad times
From: Pat Panzera <editor.contactmagazine@gmail.com>
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
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David,

We are incredibly proud to have had you there, representing not only
the rotary engine but auto conversions in general.

We are also very thankful that you and yours were not involved, and
are proud to know that you did all you could for those who you
assisted.

Pat

On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 11:50 AM, David Leonard <wdleonard@gmail.com> wrote=
:
> Hi All,
> I just got back from the Reno Air races last night. =A0I was having quite=
 a
> week until the Tragedy=A0occurred=A0on Friday.
> I qualified for the race on Tuesday at 229.3 mph pulling up to 2.5-g's at
> times around the course. =A0I was pretty happy with that, because I was n=
ot
> last... =A0I beat a glassair 1 with a "250 hp" 4-cyl lyc, and I beat an R=
V-8
> with a 6-cylinder "310 hp." IO-540 engine. =A0The rockets were solidly ah=
ead,
> especially Mark Fredrick and his F1 Rocket with his new wings - that look
> more like the wings on the fast glass.
> At the end of the qualifying heat I found that my prop would barely turn,
> and after some cooling, it would not turn at all. =A0Inspection showed th=
at
> the RD-1B prop shaft had=A0seized=A0and some of the planets had overheate=
d.
> =A0Fortunately, by some fluke of good luck, Larry Childs and "EJ" had a R=
D-1B
> sitting on a work bench a couple hundred miles away that they would lend.
> =A0Long story short, everyone pitched in, including EJ who made 2 round t=
rips
> to Heilsburg airport from Santa Rosa and Steve Senagal (winner of the F1
> class and also pilot of the super-8 that I edged out in quals) flew me in
> his super-8 to Heilsburg and I had a replacement gear box back at the
> airport by dark. =A0I worked into the night to re-install it, and was rea=
dy to
> race the next day.
> The failure may have been partly my fault. =A0The gear box was sharing an=
 AN-4
> oil line with the turbo so it is possible that it may not have been seein=
g
> full engine oil pressure for most of its life (it had 600 hrs). =A0Also, =
it
> turns out that my oil temps have probably always been higher than I thoug=
ht.
> =A0When replacing the gear box I gave it a=A0dedicated=A0oil line from a =
take-off
> closer to the pump with a shorter AN-4 line. =A0That process required me =
to
> move my oil temp sensor=A0from near the gear box into the line that goes =
to
> the turbo.=A0 There is probably more flow going to the turbo as now the o=
il
> temp seems to be much more responsive and climbs higher that it ever had.=
=A0 I
> almost pulled out of my race on Wed because the oil temp climbed to 210.
> That egged me to install a spray bar=A0on the oil cooler=A0before Friday'=
s race
> (which worked very well until I ran out of water on the last lap and
> throttled way back).=A0 On the ride home, I again saw oil temp much highe=
r
> that I had previously noticed under similar conditions (hot, high, and do=
ing
> touch and go's),=A0 I was seeing up to 220 that would quickly cool upon
> descent and reduction in power (consistent with what many others have
> reported) were I used to see a max of 190 in similar conditions cooling t=
hat
> occurred much more slowly on descent or transition to level flight.
>
> Then of course there was the tragedy.=A0 The plane arched right over my h=
ead
> as my step dad and I watched the unlimited race from a 1/4mi away from th=
e
> impact site.=A0 Being a physician, I went to help with the casualties.=A0=
 The
> site was pretty bad.=A0 As bad as anything I saw in Iraq (less the burns =
-
> thank goodness the fuel never caught fire).=A0 Besides the fatalities, th=
ere
> are a number of very severe life-changing injuries.=A0 Very somber and su=
rreal
> atmosphere.
> --
> David Leonard
>
> Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
> http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
> http://RotaryRoster.net
>