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Mooney's make a good showing at the air race in South Carolina

Tony Armour

By Tony Armour
in General Mooney Talk

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Tony Armour Proficient

Tony Armour

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Four Mooney's in four different classes. Jeff took the overall production win in his Ovation3 at 219+ mph average on a 168 mile course, Smoking fast !! There was a 231, a C model and my Bravo. Three of us had attended the Mooney Summit too.

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jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

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If I could get Lacee and his Rocket out there it'd smash the record so far into the future That no one would ever attempt it again.  He can probably do 240 MPH. Same thing with an acclaim, possibly. You stick the right turbo mooney on one of those races and that'll be the end of it

Edited by jetdriven
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jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

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10 minutes ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

So 10 percent faster in the O3 on 50 percent more fuel.  Those last few knots sure don't come cheap. The J is where I belong but I sure do enjoy dreaming about those beautiful long bodies!

Jim

Last few knots on mine didn't  too cheap either but I think I started with a particularly slow airplane to begin with.

You  can get a heck of a lot for your money just by rigging it good, make sure that your doors close right nothing sticking out in the breeze get rid of all the crappy old school antennas start with that kind of stuff.

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Tony Armour Proficient

Tony Armour

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1 hour ago, jetdriven said:

If I could get Lacee and his Rocket out there it'd smash the record so far into the future That no one would ever attempt it again.  He can probably do 240 MPH. Same thing with an acclaim, possibly. You stick the right turbo mooney on one of those races and that'll be the end of it

I wouldn't  be so sure about that. Jeff's make 310hp and compare the front of the Ovation to the front of an Acclaim or even the Rocket. Down low I'm not sure I would bet against the Ovation. So yea, no way those will do a 240 average.

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Tony Armour Proficient

Tony Armour

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Oh yea, kinda embarrassing but I did 202mph. Missed one turn meaning really really wide and ended up climbing to 5,000' which was a mistake. My turbo will haul, but it shines at altitude and that's not so great on this type of race. Even with my mistakes I figure it didn't cost but 3 or 4 mph at most ?

Hector Veteran

Hector

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Wow! Stopped at Greenwood County Airport today on my way back from Tennessee. Saw a sign at the FBO that said Race Registration. I was wondering what that was all about. Now I know.

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mike_elliott Grand Master

mike_elliott

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15 hours ago, Tony Armour said:

Oh yea, kinda embarrassing but I did 202mph. Missed one turn meaning really really wide and ended up climbing to 5,000' which was a mistake. My turbo will haul, but it shines at altitude and that's not so great on this type of race. Even with my mistakes I figure it didn't cost but 3 or 4 mph at most ?

What FF, MP and TIT were you running, Tony?

CONGRATS JEFF!!

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Guest

Guest

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All this talk is piquing my interest.  Today I was out running down a new Malibu Mirage at 220 indicated.  I've pushed it to 240 at 2500' in the past, but it cost a bit of fuel.

One of my neighbours races a Harmon Rocket, I'll have to go chat with him.

Clarence

Tony Armour Proficient

Tony Armour

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7 hours ago, mike_elliott said:

What FF, MP and TIT were you running, Tony?

CONGRATS JEFF!!

33", 2510rpm, around 26.5gph, almost full rich. TiT I forget exactly but down in the 1,400's

Mine will only make 35" (those that don't know, I think redline is 37") I didn't even like running it that hard.,these engines cost too much !

mike_elliott Grand Master

mike_elliott

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33", 2510rpm, around 26.5gph, almost full rich. TiT I forget exactly but down in the 1,400's
Mine will only make 35" (those that don't know, I think redline is 37") I didn't even like running it that hard.,these engines cost too much !

I have mine set to 37, but reduce to 34 once out of the "kill" zone (
Jeff_S Grand Master

Jeff_S

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Thanks everyone. I had meant to post something earlier but have been busy the last couple of days. Tony didn't get a picture of his own plane...too bad because it is sweet looking as well...but hey, it's a Mooney!

Its definitely true that Saturday's race was about staying low for power and speed, especially since there wasn't supposed to be any meaningful wind. It turned out there actually was a tail wind for a few legs of the course, which helped a touch. Mostly it was about turn technique especially around the hairpin. I feel Tony's pain, because last year I overshot that turn horribly and it cost me some time. I learned and practiced!

I raced at 2550 RPM, WOT which that day was 28.1", and FF about 25-26 GPH to keep my top CHT about 370. So I've still got a bit of juice left if I wanted to kick it up a notch. Don't even get me started about race tape!

I looked through the results for the year and there was a Rocket which went a bit faster in one race, and a Meyers 200 went faster in another. (One might argue that a Rocket isn't REALLY a "Production" class airplane, but I won't fight that point!) And every race day brings its own conditions so it's hard to compare a single time against others. But still, I'm pretty happy with a 219 MPH average.

I really enjoy this race...we need to get more of them in the Southeast area!

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Marcopolo Rising Star

Marcopolo

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Hello,

 

  I'm the 231 driver from this race, neat experience and a good time.  I ran a very consevative 29" mp and 2450 RPM at almost full rich.  As this was my first foray into this sort of event and I'm still an extrememly low time pilot and even lower time mooney driver, I was in it more for the navigational experience and the good conversations before and after the race.  I talked with Tony and Jeff after the race and got some tips and tricks for next time.  I missed the "low country boil dinner" the night before, wish I could have made that but work got in the way.  The weather was great and the people even better, will be back next year for sure.

 

Ron  

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Tony Armour Proficient

Tony Armour

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I missed the first turn point to the west by 1,000' now I know why we couldn't see the field, we were over it. It has trees north and south so you can't see it until overhead ..... To the left or right. The bad thing is we flew over this the evening before on the way in.  Then after finally finding it, flew toward it from race direction and said ok, there are the ponds and there's the field...."got it" Haha

I hope everyone forgives me since I still flew for a mile before turning ! :ph34r:

Ron, don't listen to any tips I give ! :)

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Jeff_S Grand Master

Jeff_S

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Don't worry, Tony. That first turn point was a bitch. Flying alone and having to manage everything else in the cockpit, I never saw it. Just had to trust that I had the GPS coordinate entered right. I guess I did or the spotter would have called me on it!

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