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| One second in the life of a Reno air racer! http://www.warthogterritory.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10180 |
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| Author: | TheBigThug [ 25 Jan 2006, 23:19 ] |
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A friend of mine had a P-51 and I was always amazed at what a small one seater airplane could do. This puts it in a greater perspective. Thought you might enjoy thisThe Unlimiteds go flashing through the racecourse,engines howling, air shearing, heat waves streaming.480mph is 8 miles a minute, and the elite racers takeabout 70 seconds to cover the 9.1 mile Reno course.If you could take a souped P-51 racer flying thecircuit at Reno, slow time down, and examine just onesecond, what would you find?In that one second, the V-12 Rolls-Royce Merlin enginewould have gone through 60 revolutions, with each ofthe 48 valves slamming open and closed 30 times.The twenty four spark plugs have fired 720 times.Each piston has traveled a total of 60 feet in lineardistance at an average speed of 41mph, with thedirection of movement reversing 180 degrees afterevery 6 inches.360 power pulses have been transmitted to thecrankshaft making 360 sonic booms as the exhaust gasis expelled from the cylinder with a velocityexceeding the speed of sound.The water pump impeller has spun 90 revolutions,sending 4 gallons of coolant surging through theengine and radiators.The oil pumps have forced 47 fluid ounces, roughlyone-third gallon, of oil through the engine, oilcooler, and oil tank, scavenging heat and lubricatingthe flailing machinery.The supercharger rotor has completed 348 revolutions,it's rim spinning at Mach 1, forcing 4.2 pounds or 55ft # of ambient air into the combustion chambers under3 atmospheres of boost pressure.Around 9 fluid ounces of high octane aviation fuel,7843 BTU's worth of energy, has been injected into thecarburetor along with 5.3 fluid ounces ofmethanol/water anti-detonant injection fluid.Perhaps 1/8 fluid ounce of engine oil has been eithercombusted or blown overboard via the crankcasebreather tube.Over 1.65 million foot pounds of work have been done,the equivalent of lifting a station wagon to the topof the Statue of Liberty.In that one second, the hard-running Merlin has turnedthe propeller through 25 complete revolutions, witheach of the blade tips having arced through a distanceof 884 feet at a rotational velocity of 0.8 Mach.15 fluid ounces of spray bar water has been atomizedand spread across the face of the radiator toaccelerate the transferof waste heat from the cooling system to theatmosphere.In that one second, the aircraft itself has traveled704 feet, close to 1/8 mile, or roughly 1.5% of asingle lap.The pilot's heart has taken 1.5 beats, pumping 5.4fluid ounces of blood through his body at a peakpressure of 4.7 inches of mercury over ambientpressure.Our pilot happened to inspire during our measuredsecond, inhaling approximately 30 cubic inches (0.5liter) of oxygen from the on-board system, and 2.4million (yes, million!) new red blood cells have beenformed in the pilot's bone marrow.In just one second, an amazing sequence of events havetaken place beneath those polished cowlings andvisored helmets.It's the world's fastest motor sport. "The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see their near and dear bathed in tears, to ride their horses and sleep on the white bellies of their wives and daughters." -Genghis Khan |
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| Author: | fenderstrat72 [ 26 Jan 2006, 04:33 ] |
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Incredible, I love the sound of those Rolls engines. Fender Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. George Bernard Shaw |
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| Author: | 30mike-mike [ 26 Jan 2006, 05:35 ] |
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wow. The Second Amendment: America's original homeland security. |
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| Author: | Old Chief [ 26 Jan 2006, 09:03 ] |
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I run hot and cold on Reno. Years back I was fortuante enough to attend a race and I was awestruck at the sound, the sight and even the feeling in my chest from those huge V-12's. That all changed when I watched a P-51 barely make it back, trailing blue/black smoke. From that point on, all I could think about was irreplaceable engines being pounded to pieces in the name of sport. OC |
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| Author: | fenderstrat72 [ 26 Jan 2006, 09:59 ] |
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Speaking of those old engines being pounded, have you ever been to a tractor pull where the guys are using old Allison engines on their tractors? I guess you have to fab your own parts for those things? Fender "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." George Bernard Shaw |
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| Author: | Old Chief [ 26 Jan 2006, 15:28 ] |
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<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> Speaking of those old engines being pounded, have you ever been to a tractor pull where the guys are using old Allison engines on their tractors?<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote> LOL..Fender, I've NEVER been to a tractor pull, period. OC |
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| Author: | JMF [ 28 Jan 2006, 02:19 ] |
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Most of the Racers that run in Reno are in the unlimited class. There is probably about 1% percent of those enginge that is stock from WW2. Those are P-51's by shape only. They have to sup-up the powerplant used these days to run against the heavier Jets in unlimited pylon racing. |
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