Ronald Metcalf wrote: > I have been reading back through the archives trying to get some handle on > the KR performance. I found amazing quantities of brilliant information > (and plenty of the other), but I do not see any information to substantiate > the 200 mph claim - anywhere.
Drag reduction is the key. Roy Marsh had a thinner wing and a Revmaster 2100 Turbo engine that put out over 80 hp. Knowing him, his wastegate was probably welded shut for even more power. His son is an aeronautical engineer, and he paid close attention to drag reduction during design and construction. He won a race at an average of 195 mph (sorry, I forget the details). But he also had a high landing speed due to his choice of airfoil. Take a look at Troy Petteway's KR2 (see http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/ktroyp.html ). It is stock width and length, with larger horizontal stab and smaller elevator, and has a massaged 0-200 under the cowling. He has fairings on everything possible. He's constantly striving to reduce drag. His plane will do more than 220 mph. He also says his plane is the easiest flying taildragger he's ever flown or landed, and I assure you, he's not only flown, but owned just about all of the standard types. Steve Alderman has a similar plane and even more radical 0-200 engine (the yellow one at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/redoak2003/), and it too will push 220 mph. Speed takes power and more importantly, low drag. If you get enough power under the cowling, and pay particular attention to drag reduction, you too can go fast. I think what separates the "squirrely" KRs from the ones that go fast, are a blast to fly, and easy to land is attention to details in stuff like CG location, rigging the wings, control surfaces, and landing gear. If you just slap your gear on, without checking all the details, you're probably going to visit the weeds, and then chalk it up to insufficient training, or a bad design. I'm not saying there's no place for quickly built, lightweight, slow flying, gas sipping KRs built by the plans. But if you want to go fast, it's not a secret how to get there... Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama N56ML "at" hiwaay.net see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
