G-forces focus of NTSB air race safety suggestions

[ffuries]

Talk of high G-force exposure training and of the possiblity of wearing of G-suits in the aircraft.

http://home.knology.net/news/read.php?i ... =0&lang=en

[Dave Lindauer]

I presume other Unlimiteds have had g-meters aboard while racing. What kind of g-loads does a hot Unlimited typically pull in controlled flight?

[Dudley Henriques]

I presume other Unlimiteds have had g-meters aboard while racing. What kind of g-loads does a hot Unlimited typically pull in controlled flight?

Normally as little as possible. G equals drag and airspeed loss. The objective of every race pilot is to fly the race line with a clean a g line as possible.
Where g becomes a factor at Reno is when something like losing a trim tab comes into the aerodynamic equation. A Mustang for example at 500mph requires a LOT of forward stick. You trim that force out with elevator trim, then throw the tabs or a tab as happened last year and the released force in pitch can be horrendous with HUGE accompanying g forces.

I'm not sure what the FAA and Harry Reid might know about these things that the Reno folks don't know a lot more about but any and all input I hope will be constructive.
Dudley Henriques

[RobC]

With all the effort spent optimizing these racers for high speed, I am surprised no one has adjusted the angle of incidence of the horizontal stab so that it is optimized for a 500 mph speed. You could take all the force off the trim tab and improve speed through a significant reduction in drag. Granted, you would have nose up trim on during cruise and even more so at landing speed, but since these are racers, not cruisers, seems like it would take care of the problem?

[51fixer]

With all the effort spent optimizing these racers for high speed, I am surprised no one has adjusted the angle of incidence of the horizontal stab so that it is optimized for a 500 mph speed. You could take all the force off the trim tab and improve speed through a significant reduction in drag. Granted, you would have nose up trim on during cruise and even more so at landing speed, but since these are racers, not cruisers, seems like it would take care of the problem?

How do you know that hasn't been done?
I think most have optimized them. You watch Strega go and it is very smooth and stable.
NAA reduced the angle in later P-51Ds and T-Os introduced changes to modify early ones from 2 degrees to 1/2 a degree.

[Wilson]

It seems that this preliminary announcement is nothing more than an official statement by the NTSB that they won't be opposing the resumption of the races. It allows the various business interests to plan accordingly.

I would think the final report would focus more on trim tabs on racers that exceed 400 mph.