Another one for the books

Team Ely and the Elyminator, Race 55 have completed yet another race. This one was the Indy Air Race 2015 held in support of Down Syndrome Indiana on August 1st. Posting as speed on the cross-country course of 157.23 mph and winning the Factory 5 FX class boosts our points total to 520 for the 2015 season. This puts us well on our way to a 4th consecutive Production Class Gold Points Championship. 

The Elyminator at Hendricks County-Gordon Graham Field  in Indianapolis 

The Great Northwest Air Race and Vacation – Part 2 RACE DAY

Once we had landed and taxied past the hundreds of gliders on the northeast side of the airport, we made our way down the line to find and open spot on the tie-downs next to the other racers. One airplane in particular caught our eyes, Don Otis’s Grumman AA-1A. His little airplane had a lot of similar STCs installed on it and while not as streamlined looking as the Elyminator, it was a lot lighter. So we wondered whether there was actually someone who could beat us. Don is a local from the Seattle area so he hadn’t raced much. Linda and I contemplated that perhaps ours would be the edge we needed to win.

As we scrubbed down the airplane, folks began to gather after having been to the eateries in town. Linda’s Sister Dianne and Bo Willey from Bellingham met us and helped us prepare the airplane for the next day’s festivities. One particular person took notice of our airplane, wandered about asking questions. A pleasant but reserved man whom I thought I had seen someplace before. He eventually departed in his pickup truck and we packed our stuff into Willey’s car and off to the hotel we went.

Race Day

The next morning early, we met Don Otis, one heck of a nice guy, and other racers at the airport. The race brief completed, we climbed into our trusty steeds and headed off along the 150 mile or so race course which spanned much of northeastern Washington’s arid area east of the Cascades. As we sped around the course, we noted the competitor’s call-outs and time differences over each turn and detected that Don was actually gaining on us. He had departed 30 seconds behind us and was working hard to close the gap. Since it’s a cross-country race we normally depart fastest airplane first with 30 second intervals to avoid passing and reduce the risk factor in that area. This isn’t Reno.

Approach a ridge between the second to last and final turn, Don was in our 4 O’Clock position maybe a half a mile behind. The final turn was to the left and he was close to our wingtip then. We had each other insight and were in constant contact. We made the turn much tighter than Don but he was still hanging in there. We crossed the finish line and broke the SARL record for our factory class that we had set two weeks before. That lasted about 15 seconds…

Don crossed the finish line right behind and when he did it, broke our record speed by a mere 7/100ths of a mile-per-hour. Ooooooooh!!!  For someone who has never raced before, he did very well. And a more gracious winner there never was. We had been tickling up against the 160 mph mark for some time. We didn’t quite do it. We clocked in at 159.78 mph. Don’t speed 159.85 mph. (That record would be broken again a month later during the AirVenture Cup 2012 when Linda flew the 495 mile race at an average speed of 172.71 mph (150.08 knots) with Yasmina Platt, AOPA’s Central Southwest Regional Manager. More on that race in a later blog entry)

After the race came the eating and the awards ceremony. With nearly 10 entries in the FAC5 class, our coming in second still earned us some good points, but not as much as if we had been first. Still, we have held the points lead for the league so far. Weather was moving in from over the mountains and we needed to get a move on as we had to cross the Cascades to get to Bellingham to spend the rest of the weekend with Linda’s Sister.

As we were preparing to leave John Smutney asked what Van’s had talked to us about the night before. Huh? Who? “Richard VanGrunsven! That was who you were speaking with at your airplane last night. Didn’t you know?” Well John, no we didn’t. But since his picture was on the cover of Sport Aviation magazine the previous month, that’s probably why I thought the face was familiar.    

A Record is Broken

June 9, 2012 N26958 participated in the "Big Muddy Air Race" held at Carbondale's Southern Illinois University Airport (KMDH). There on the 159 nautical mile course it performed well winning not only the Factory 5 Class first place finish but breaking the previous Sport Air Racing League's FAC 5 Class speed record.

The previous record stood at 158.54 mph (137.86 kts) and N26958 completed the closed cross country course with a speed of 158.69 mph (137.99 kts) breaking the record by a narrow margin of just 0.15 mph.

We felt with our ground speed exceeding as much as 149 knots on the last two legs that our strategy might have paid off with a record breaking flight and we were extremely elated when it proved to be true.

Next weekend is the Great Northwestern Race in Ephrata, Washington (KEPH) and we hope to improve on or class record speed there.

Cincinnati Blue Ash

A recent trip to Cincinnati saw N26958 landing at Blue Ash Airport (KISZ). It is unfortunate that such a lovely little airport will soon be closed.

Blue Ash has a single runway 6/24 that is 3,499 feet long. It is surrounded by expensive homes now that were advised at the time of sale of an avigation easement and somehow managed to convince the city not to invest any more money in it. Cincinnati sold part of the airport to the city of Blue Ash and they intend to make their portion a park. I wonder if the park will be named after the mayor's wife like the absolute moron the former Mayor Daley of Chicago did with Meigs Field? Using the word "class" in the same sentence with that man would be butchering the English language.

While I hate to see the loss of this airport I am thankful for being able to land there before its closure.

N26958 and Friends Gather at Bennetts

Friends Gather at Bennetts

Following the Memorial 150 Air Race at Terrell, TX a few of the competitors retired from the afternoon sun at Bennetts private airstrip in preparation for another even. Field elevation is 445 feet, density altitude on this 88°F day is 2375'. Runway length is 2,000, grass. 

Stuck In Traffic?

Check out Jo Hunter's photos of N26958 at the Sport Air Racing League (SARL) Hill Country 150 Air Race held at Llano TX on April 21, 2012. "Stuck In Traffic" by The Real Jo Hunter @ Futurshox.net

The wording for the sign that stretches from wing-to-wing under our airplane can be credited to Jeff Garms of Flying Tiger Flight School based at Ellington (KEFD). Jeff is the school's mechanic and has an off the wall sense of humor. Since we fly extensively between the east and west side of Houston through the corridor over I-10 we thought we'd send a little message to the folks below. Jeff's suggestion stuck.

N26958 is ALMOST ready for race season...

One Hot! Lookin' Cheetah!

Its transformation is nearing completion from a moth to a beautiful butterfly. A butterfly that goes REAL fast....



N26958 is being painted by Airborne Kustomz of Gidding, TX