What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

How to "Keep Up" with a Piper Tomahawk

AlexPeterson

Well Known Member
A friend visited us this past weekend, flying up in his club's Tomahawk. When he left, I decided to escort him on his way in the RV6A. I gave him a couple minute's head start, and took off, keeping him in sight. OAT was around 90F, so I knew I wouldn't be able to stay behind him at only 70 knots long before engine temps climbed. After a minute or two, while he was climbing at 70KIAS, I sped up to 120 or so and zig-zagged behind him, all the while climbing above him. I reported to him that he was looking at a headwind of 30 knots at 3.5'k. I climbed to 5.5'k and reported to him that the headwind diminished to about 10 knots there. I then descended back to his altitude, flew on his wing at 70 knots again for a minute, then buggered out back to base.

Here's the ground track:

L5vw5jd0B9BBeNgq6xTo94W89JOhihzy797W_U21qrDlLuurYX_d7avy-opyGnhZwkeJwO9T-afmpcJ2gyJRzCIn3UO3_9J18Cx-0L2RBu20vvPZ6CBTuS1IzztzBaKIbt2-U5m2jWK9ED14OlPxyDNXU-rOaXoMLJ8vU0zxF1PTLMwIX4N9D2fUpITKBuCpPm2wdo3Pv2Lxwy7Oc42tgAeCP9bNJzTenkAcJb4pIrxwGG2PYq4cuq-iV-uJqpwaETLf7nBYcw6xav1C95R5xmBKi_nTmCSP-uD-4XC39azNMDWlKpWL60OMILh4Pi-lKBa_CtrOSE3oCqA1xLNhxA_qd4fD1uByrTRZWRDVXWiHrgSNOKvPQjO5DZeTJHvR-lBWBZayNBP7SduWXxfnWfOIe8xAht-a48QjbPsRPyZlUua1V2_lMP2jdpafM_ClC1edP6WkuU1r_bfBShEMHsCwKidPs5TWfhWNtgeO0g26S1nhm4LWPy8x0S5cylwq2g1oeo20HYmRXND93Ao_sW4D9XOLO2xO1PyGJpVTYcTmKIEmIlN-zdeei43cgbkK9g9czzBaZVLMgCpTSFldvVInELaPBIeDHllG_bFHtbQuDWJIzbLHlnMpcabhzg2irmAM2rNIMgVmpgtzTvFBmrMsDCJSGLpFBw=w600-no


One does tend to forget just how much more capable these RV's are as compared to most spam cans. And, this was all likely at a fair bit less fuel burn.
 
Back
Top