Fixed Gear, Fixed Pitch Prop, 180 HP = Blazing Transcontinental Speed Record

Glasair Pilot Bruce Hammer, of Lafayette, LA, decided he needed a challenge; something he could accomplish in his nearly ten year old Glasair I TD which he built and completed in 1997. Hammer, who has 16,000 hours helo time and 2,000 hours in fixed wing, has flown his Glasair in five Sun 100 Air Races and six AirVenture Races, consistently placing at the top. His 'speedier-than-most' Glasair is equipped with a fixed pitch prop and a normally aspirated 180-hp Lycoming.

The speed-minded Hammer started thinking about speed records and decided to make a run at the Transcontinental Eastbound Record in Class C-1.b (1,102 – 2,205 lbs gross T.O. weight).

To qualify for a Transcontinental record, a pilot has to have a starting point within 30 miles of the West Coast and a finish line 30 miles from the East Coast. Thus, he chose San Diego’s Lindbergh Field and Jacksonville, Florida as his log in/log out sites. He set up his record attempt with representatives for NAA and flew over to Ramona, CA on Friday, March 3, 2006. Early the next morning, March 4, after de-icing his aircraft with a garden hose, he took off with 104 gallons of fuel, climbed to 17,000’, activated his flight plan and overflew the tower at San Diego.

With a diminished fuel load, he went up to FL 190 at Imperial, CA, to FL 210 at Wink, TX before leveling off at FL 230 abeam Mobile, AL. 100 miles out of Jacksonville, he asked for a slow letdown and descended to FL 190 before passing over the tower at 296 mph. A Transcontinental Eastbound Record is based on average speed enroute. Hammer covered the distance in 8 hours, 5 minutes and 21 seconds, giving him a ground speed of 258 mph, nearly 57 mph faster than the previous C-1.b attempt. That record, set two years earlier, was in a Glasair I RG that averaged 201 mph.

Hammer logged a total of 9.5 hours on the flight, taking into account the takeoff, climb and descent outside the official course. He burned 76 gallons that day. Besides a panel mount Garmin 155XL GPS he carried two portable Garmins, a 396 and 295, for backup. He spent a total of 2 hours in IMC, picking up a coat of frost which cost him 15 mph. While in the clouds he experienced moderate turbulence. A total of 20 people sponsored his flight and Sky Ox gave him an O2 system that he used in combination with a finger blood oxygen sensor for safety reasons.

Hammer reports that he felt a sense of euphoria and relief that are difficult to describe once he crossed his finish line.

“I seriously doubt that any certified aircraft could even come close to that kind of accomplishment,” said Hammer.

“Most of them are based on technology that’s so old, there’s no way they could be competitive. The only possible contender for that record would have to be another homebuilt aircraft and there aren’t many out there that can be considered for that kind of mission profile. The Glasair was designed for speed and economy and it scores very high on both counts.”

FMI: www.GlasairAviation.com