National Championship Air Races 2015

Several teams using DynaVibe to get peak performance

Qualifying for the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada began this week, and DynaVibe is part of the strategy to win for teams in three of the six classes.

Vito Wypraechtiger flying the Scarlet Screamer is currently the second-fastest qualifier in the Formula One class.  In the Biplane class, Tom Aberle flying the Phantom set a new world record of 284.454 mph, breaking the previous record of 274.091 mph set in 2014.  Steve Hinton flying Voodoo, a modified P-51D Mustang and the 2014 Unlimited gold champion at Reno, is currently the top qualifier in the Unlimited class.  “The DynaVibe helped us win the national championship air race in Reno,” said Bob Button, owner of Voodoo Air Racing speaking about the 2014 win.

Each of these racing teams is using DynaVibe to help their aircraft achieve peak performance.  By dynamically balancing the propeller assembly, owners can recapture RPMs lost due to vibration.   Testimonials from DynaVibe users speak to gaining RPMs on the top end after dynamically balancing their props.

Vibration uses horsepower, so when a vibration is eliminated, that horsepower can work to move the airplane faster instead of shaking it.  Consider this scenario: a vibration that was costing 2 percent of the engine's horsepower to shake the airplane is recaptured through the balancing process.  To put this into perspective, it is roughly the equivalent of hooking up a lawn mower engine to the crankshaft to do nothing more than shake the airplane!  A prop imbalance can direct a significant amount of energy into the crankshaft bearings and the rest of the airplane.  After balancing, that horsepower is no longer "lost" due to vibration, but available to help win races.  In the air racing world, 2 percent can be the margin between winning and losing.

The benefits of a dynamically balanced prop assembly are not limited to racing aircraft.  Any airplane can experience smoother, safer flying with less wear on the airframe, engine and instruments by balancing the propeller.  To keep up with the action in Reno, visit the race reports website.  To learn about using DynaVibe to dynamically balance propellers and analyze other vibration sources, enter your email address below, visit the RPX Technologies website, or call:  405.896.0026.