Thanks for the reminder, Bobber. That's good input.
We have Mike working on getting a consistent routine down. Once we could get an occasional restart or two, we added a countdown timer. One of the deals in the practice sessions has been to emulate the pit warm-up, the 2:00 minute race warmup, and then 100 laps worth. All that heat management stuff. We'll let you know if we ever get any good at it. Might have to start ordering ether in 55 gal drums to make that happen.
Next on the program is for the pitman to leave a bit of brainspace for situational awareness to know what lap we are on. Pilot can't help him out during a race....
The Profi seems to be less sensitive to heat loss from the glide lap than I recall for the AAC Nelson I have in my plane. Been a couple years since I've been able to fly that one, so maybe we'll see at the get-together how they compare side by side. Been running O-rings on the AAC Nelson because it definitely helped. Have some rings for the Profi, but from what I can see so far, they won't be as useful.
We're still working on the fine tuning of a raceable setting. We've discussed the difference, but getting it just right for traffic....we have a ways to go. Pitman is still working on the "ear" to know when it's going to hold, or go over.
Of course, all of our recent practice has been in the San Fernando Valley in the summer. Always at least 80F and up to 115F on the pavement. I expect to have to change the routine a bit as the temps drop....
The best Nelson I've seen for F2CN was the old steel liner engine. That version would take a setting and hold it with no problem at all--seemingly no thermal management issue whatsoever. It has a whole different character. Maybe not as fast when both were on, but reliable enough to win more often than not. Not sure if that is what Les has or not, but we have pretty good luck with his plane in the past.
My plane, underneath all the dust, used to fly really well. As I recall the speed was ok, but it never had good laps. I think I put the smallest venturi that Henry had in it. Anyone remember the numbers? I always needed an extra pit to finish which ain't no good a'tall.
Mike switched out the gear leg on his plane for last weekend's practice. Got the wheel back another 1/8" using a ti strut I had. Landings improved--now we just have to find him a competent pilot to fix any remaining bounces, wobbles, and erratic arrivals. The plane is a tad heavy, but flies very nicely. A bit harder to slow down, and not quite the stormin' terror coming out of the pit. (Which is ok with this test pilot.)
Anyway, we're still mixin' up fuel and running the tank empty. Looking forward to seeing how the other equipment does....
Divot McSlow