Well now, after 6 years of veiled accusations regarding my performance In Clown Race at the 2008 Nat's, someone finally starts to ask some questions.
Alright then, let's break this down.
I used my well worn Moki 15 that had seen many miles by that time. Normal lap count for that MOTOR was between 55-58 laps, depending on how well I filled the tank, and how lean the needle was. I say MOTOR and not airplane, as that Motor also ran 55-58 laps in one of Todd Ryan's airplanes two years earlier in Oregon. Todd could not get as many laps from his Moki 15's as I could from my one motor.
There you have it, two different models, two different fuel tanks, so it's obviously not the airplanes and fuel tanks, or is it?
The answer is to optimize every part of your airplane and Motor. Both airplanes had the fuel tanks positioned correctly for maximum lappage. Both Fuel tanks were near the maximum capacity of 31cc. Both airplanes ran on mininum length lines (ie. 51'6") And Lastly, and this item is more of an individual one, but very important in my case. I ran that Moki as absolutely lean as I possibly could without cutting out on takeoff. So lean in fact that if the engine was started from dead cold, it would take much priming and starts before it was warm enough to run on it's own.
Mr. Ferraro OTOH, used an O.S. 18TZ in his entry, and stated he getting 44 laps per tank.
I used an O.S. 18tz for the first time at the 2013 Nat's. I had one venturi at the time, quite large, and I struggled to get 43 laps per tank with that motor, but it ran low 17's. I have generally had better success with the O.S. mainly due to better re-starts and superior airspeed, and after making a couple smaller venturis I can now get around 50 laps per tank. However, my best final lap count with the O.S. tz was 344. This was only 4 laps better than what I turned with my Moki in one of Todd Ryan's Airplanes in 2006.
The spectacular performances come from people maximizing their equipment and identifying and solving problems. Anyone can do this if they want to put in the effort, and that's the key word EFFORT.
I will gladly allow my fuel tank to tested at any contest I attend.
Les