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CAFE Triaviathon challenge with an 0-200 powered plane?

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gschuld

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2007
Messages
438
Location
Toms River, New Jersey
Purely for the mental challenge.

Could the CAFE Triaviathon record be sucessfully challenged with an custom designed and highly optimized 0-200 powered, two place side by side, tractor style plane? If so, what would it be like?

For those who are not familiar with the Triaviathon:

members.eaa.org

TRIAVIATHON HISTORY

The CAFE Triaviathon rewards the best combination of top speed, stall speed and rate of climb. These three flight regimes represent an aircraft's 'athleticism' and mutually conflict from an aircraft design point of view. For example,designing for low stall speed typically limits an aircraft's top speed, and top speed often demands shorter wing spans which reduce climb performance.
The perpetual CAFE Triaviathon Trophy, created by the CAFE Board in 1993, symbolizes this conflict in aircraft design. On display in the EAA Air Adventure Museum, it honors the aircraft designer and the pilot who set records in this event. These records are also certified by the National Aeronautics Association.

The Triaviathon scoring formula is:

28110625 x [Vmax x ROC]2Score = [4100625 + Vso4] x 109where Vso is stall speed, ROC is rate of climb and Vmax is the top speed at 6000' pressure altitude.

The formula is complex because it was designed to proportionately reward stall speeds between 35 and 70 mph. Stalls above 70 mph receive a progressively increasing scoring penalty. Stalls below 35 mph do little to improve the score.
The measured rate of climb is converted to equal that for the altitude window of 2500'-3500' in standard day atmosphere.

TRIAVIATHON RECORDS

The original Triaviathon record was set by John Harmon in the Lycoming IO-540 powered Harmon Rocket II on May 8, 1993. His achievements were:

Top Speed 244.79 mph.
Rate of Climb 3330.21 fpm.
Stall Speed 56.36 mph.
Score: 1316.45.

Dave Anders' RV-4, on September 27, 1997, achieved the following:

Top Speed 250.71 mph.
Rate of Climb 3308.39 fpm.
Stall Speed 44.78 mph.
Score: 2381.24.

This bettered John Harmon's previous record by over 1,000 points and 'raised the bar' so high that future Triaviathon contestants may have to use aircraft that are 'purpose-built' for the event. As one considers what kind of aircraft that would be, many very challenging design questions arise. Would it have more span? a thinner wing? retractable gear? full span Fowler flaps?


George
 
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