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RV-12: Record Ground Speed

Geico266

Geico266

Well Known Member
A huge weather front passed though my area the Wednesday before OSH. The same front that dropped up to 8" of rain on Wisconsin. Thusday morning winds on the surface were 15MPH right down the runway so I didn't think twice about launching. I had not checked the winds aloft and I thought I would use my XM Weather to get a handle on that in route. After climb out to 5,500 and the usual in flight preparations, I leveled off to enjoy the view and ponder the upcoming week at Oshkosh. I was going to OSH in my newly completed homebuilt! I was having a moment.

I scanned the panel like a good pilot. Airspeed; Check, Oil Temp; Check, EGTs & CHT's; Check, GPS Ground; 181 MPH! :eek: For a second I thought I was in my -10! ;) I looked at the Dynon and sure enough I had a 60 MPH tail wind! Before I knew it I was over Omaha / Offutt AFB and moving along like my RV brothern! (Of course they would have been going 250 MPH :cool: ) I double checked on my XM and I was in a sweet spot for tail winds! Higher and I was in the clouds so this level would have to do.

I had not "flown back wards in the -12 before so it was time. I turned 180 and slowed down to find I was going back wards about 20 MPH! Sweet! :D

I then pointed the nose to Rockford, IL to make a overnight stop to visit my mom and the tail winds stuck with me most of the way. Travel time was 2.3 hours average ground speed was around 170 MPH! The weather was getting pretty bad at KRFD so I asked for and received permission to go "Special VFR". "Remain VFR & clear of clouds"; the controller said, and I was able to comply. It was nice to get on the ground.

It was a good day, a great way to start OSH, and one more item to check off on my bucket list of things to do in the -12. 181 MPH straight & level ground speed at 75% cruise & flying back wards is always a good story to tell at fly in breakfasts. ;)
 
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I think N412RV, the red factory prototype hit 166 Kts ground speed heading East (great tail wind) to OSH this year.
 
I'd say the record is probably much higher than that. The RV-12 that the South African team is building probably flew on a UPS jet in some manner, so it was closer to 500-600 knots at one point, albiet disassembled.
 
MartySantic said:
What is a MPH? Does not compute! :)
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Knots are for boats, and boats don't fly... unless you have a flying boat, then you can use knots. ;)

Now, if I can only get the FAA to start using MPH instead of knots, and Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, and local time instead of ZULU. Then again, there are some still using ADF, VOR, NDB's, thinking GPS is a fad. :rolleyes:
 
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re: mph/kph

I prefer using mph. I can look out he window and see the mile lines. Never been able to pick out or find the knots.;)

Marshall Alexander
 
RV10Man said:
I prefer using mph. I can look out he window and see the mile lines. Never been able to pick out or find the knots.;)

Marshall Alexander
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Younger, good looking, and cool pilots use MPH. Old guys like Marty, Pete, John still use knots. It's a generational thing. ;)
 
LARRY

Since you only qualify for one of the three things you listed - it seems tradition is what you are missing LOL

John Bender
 
Speed record

I know those slik looking rivets you have got you an extra five mph or three knots.
 
Geico266 said:
Younger, good looking, and cool pilots use MPH. Old guys like Marty, Pete, John still use knots. It's a generational thing. ;)
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Its called the "Sixties Generation"...the last of America's original thinkers ...followed by many generations of imitation. (and of course we're flattered!)

by the way...what's a "mile line"? is that something new? Or is it one of those things I forgot.
 
Speed

I got 154 kts briefly going to Oshkosh. That whole day was a pretty big push. i don't know for sure about "mile line" but I think it refers to land layout in the midwest. A section of farm land is usually 1 mile by 1 mile. So, as you fly over one of those big green squares on the ground, it is a mile. At least this is according to a friend that grew up in South Dakota. Being from California I would not have a clue.

Rich
 
RGaines said:
I got 154 kts briefly going to Oshkosh. That whole day was a pretty big push. i don't know for sure about "mile line" but I think it refers to land layout in the midwest. A section of farm land is usually 1 mile by 1 mile. So, as you fly over one of those big green squares on the ground, it is a mile. At least this is according to a friend that grew up in South Dakota. Being from California I would not have a clue.

Rich
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You got it. A section of land is a square mile (1 X 1 X 1 X1) so the perimeter of a section would be a total of 4 miles if you drove around it. As you fly across the country and leave the left coast, or the other left coast, you will find yourself in the part of the country where these sections are laid out in orderly fashion.

Now around here, we don't call them "mile lines". They are called "Section Lines" and the lines divide the country into "Sections". You suppose these section lines may be why we call our charts "Sectionals"?
 
RGaines said:
I got 154 kts briefly going to Oshkosh. That whole day was a pretty big push. i don't know for sure about "mile line" but I think it refers to land layout in the midwest. A section of farm land is usually 1 mile by 1 mile. So, as you fly over one of those big green squares on the ground, it is a mile. At least this is according to a friend that grew up in South Dakota. Being from California I would not have a clue.

Rich
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In the ocean they have "knot lines" showing where the knot sections are. ;)
 
RVbySDI said:
You got it. A section of land is a square mile (1 X 1 X 1 X1) so the perimeter of a section would be a total of 4 miles if you drove around it. As you fly across the country and leave the left coast, or the other left coast, you will find yourself in the part of the country where these sections are laid out in orderly fashion.

Now around here, we don't call them "mile lines". They are called "Section Lines" and the lines divide the country into "Sections". You suppose these section lines may be why we call our charts "Sectionals"?
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Sorry Steve. Section lines it is...........but they're still a mile apart.:)
If you notice, Van himself uses mph. When asked why, IIRC, this is the reason he gives.
 
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I will certainly agree with Larry G about the celsius / fahrenheit thing. I think only 100 degrees between freezing and boiling is not sensitive enough for every day living (or flying). I can get away with changing a house thermostat a degree F downward but my wife would pick up right away if I reduced it by 1 degree C!

And while speaking of metrics, thank God, at least for now our airframes use good old American standard fasteners!

Larry H
 
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