REFLECTOR: In pursuit of speed

Darrell & Nora Kufalk kufalk at wi.rr.com
Sat May 11 09:16:12 CDT 2013


The idea of cutting off your winglets always reminds me of this shocking
picture.  Chris Esselstyn was in pursuit of speed too.  He thought blended
winglets would get him 10 - 15 knots on his Cozy.  In the end, he said it
got him exactly zero increase.

 

 

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Scott Baker
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2013 7:52 AM
To: geoff.gerhardt at gmail.com; Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: In pursuit of speed

 

Hi Geoff,
Unfortunately your ideas about exchanging wings are not going to work.
While the V173 long wing shares the same dimensions as the XL wing, the V173
spar is not built as strong as the XL spar.  It would not be advisable for
an XL builder to install V173 main wings.
As to installing a set of Velocity standard wings on your aircraft, the
height of the standard spar is shorter than the center section spar on your
aircraft - so the spar heights are not going to match up.
If you have time and are into the idea of heavy "experimenting" to reduce
wing drag, you might look into clipping the V173 wings, making them several
feet shorter.  This would involve removing and then re-attaching the
winglets, which is obviously a big job and not very cost effective.
If you are in the quest for more significantly more speed, my opinion (for
what it is worth) is to abandon the idea of straight exhaust (yes, it may
add some speed gain, but probably not as much as you seek) - and consider a
turbo normalized system for your engine.  Turbo charging will easily give
you +20 ktas at higher cruising altitudes (around 12,000'msl).  Also plan on
purchasing a cs or variable pitch propeller if you go to turbocharging.
Second hand turbo charged systems can be found off of several Mooney and
Commander aircraft.
Good Luck!
Scott B.


On 5/11/2013 8:19 AM, Geoff Gerhardt wrote:

Guys, 

 

I contacted Clinton at Custom Aircraft Parts.  Turns out he was just going
through his warehouse a week ago and came across a set of tack welded pipes
for a IO-360 Velocity.  He sent me pics, and it looks like they will work.
So, I may have a set pretty quick.

 

Does anyone have any experience swapping wings b/w Velocities?  If I could
find a set of normal SE wings and swap out my 173 wings?  Does anyone have a
set of SE wings kicking around?  173 wings are essentially XL wings, right?
If so, perhaps there's someone out there building an XL who would like a set
of fully completed wings and I could just buy a set of fast build wings from
the factory.  If I got 15kts out of swapping wings, I'd do it.

 

Geoff

 






_______________________________________________
To change your email address, visit
http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
 
Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
Check old archives: http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/private/reflector/attachments/20130511/a2e2a460/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Chris Esselstyn and his Sawzall.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 206466 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/private/reflector/attachments/20130511/a2e2a460/attachment-0001.jpg>


More information about the Reflector mailing list