Sunday we double checked all the systems and were ready for the big race. This was our first time on the pole and everyone was excited to see the shootout of the two Turbonetics twin-turbo boosted planes. It was full of rivalries, Continental vs Lycoming, Glasair vs Lancair, McCauley vs Hartzell, the energy was amazing!
During the pre-race brief, we dedicated the race to our friend, mentor, and legend John Parker.
We hopped in the plane and the engines roared to life. A quick taxi down past the grandstands and it was time to push it up. As the pace plane came past the racers, we all gave the final thumbs up and we are ready to roll!
Jeff had a nose gear retraction issue and had to cycle it a few times before joining the flight behind Pevine. Mark “Magic” Johnson, in the pace plane, called us line abreast into the chute and the course was in sight. Speed is coming up, power is increasing. The L39 is at full power down the chute, 225, 250, 275 kts he calls out as we wait in anticipation. Then the famous words, “Gentleman, you have a race!”
I pushed the power all the way up and the engine surges, the turbos are spooling up, the ADI comes on and the spray bars are on full blast. The engine is not happy and it sounds like the exhaust blew off again, but I held steady to see if it would smooth out. Visible streams of mist are seen behind Jeff and me as we pull for every bit of power out of our engines.
Holding the line to the guide pylon I see the temps are stable and catch the speed out of the corner of my eye, 350 kts across the ground, we are moving fast! We roll into pylon four, past five and start unloading the “G” into the Valley of Speed. Temperatures are climbing with all the power and the speed continues to build, over 375 knots down the valley and we roll into the turn coming by the crowd and home pylon.
Cylinder #6 is getting hot, it was the cylinder that stuck last Sunday, so I richen it with fuel to cool it down. No luck as the CHT passes 420F. I continue to globally richen the engine to help the temps and it reaches 430F. I don’t like the temperature trend (435, 436, 437…) so I reduce the rpm a bit, and get it to stabilize and it starts a downward trend. Now I can focus on flying a smooth line with everything stable. The rest of the CHT’s are below 400F, the intake temp is stable and oil temp is a cool 192F.
The air is smooth out front and I check for the shadows coming past pylon seven, it’s just me. I hear Mike on the radio, “four second lead, eight second lead.” We are gaining! I stay focused and hit my turning points. The crew on the ground is timing laps and we are consistently over 400 mph, with the best time of 1 min and 9.9 seconds. A 407 mph lap!
