AMSOIL Racer

The AMSOIL Racer, also known as the AMSOIL/Rutan Racer and the Rutan Model 68 Racer, was a race tandem wing plane which was designed by Burt Rutan's Rutan Aircraft Factory, and built and flown by Dan Mortensen. It set several speed records, but crashed at the 1983 Reno Air Races.

Conception and construction

The concept which led to the AMSOIL Racer began in 1979 when race pilot Dan Mortensen approached Burt Rutan about designing an aircraft that would beat the "Beck-Mahoney Sorceress", owned by Don Beck and which was dominating the competition at the time. After some research and calculations, Rutan produced three preliminary designs, and the least radical of these was chosen. Like the Model 54 Quickie tandem wing that previously designed, the Model 68 (as Rutan designated it) was configured with a canard wing, a main wing and, unlike the Quickie, had additional horizontal flight surface in the form of a T-tail. Rutan sold rights and plans to build two aircraft of the design to Mortensen for $6,000.

The construction began in January, 1981 in Sacramento, California, first in a garage and then in a hangar. During the construction phase, Amsoil signed on as a sponsor, in order to promote its new synthetic aviation motor oils. The plane was built from fiberglass, kevlar and graphite composites. First flight took place that summer, but the aircraft was damaged by heat from the engine's exhaust. After it was rebuilt, it was entered into the 1981 Reno Air Races.

Racing and records

At the 1981 Reno Air Races, the AMSOIL Racer, with Mortensen as pilot, finished third, after being assessed a penalty for cutting home pylon (due to the need to avoid a collision with the racer "Sundancer"). Due to roll control problems, Mortensen took the plane to Rutan's home base at the Mojave Airport for further design analysis and flight testing by Rutan Aircraft Factory pilots Mike Melvill and Dick Rutan. The aileron control system design was subsequently modified.

At the 1982 Reno Air Races, Mortesen and the AMSOIL Racer took second place, with an average race speed of convert|209.21|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on, just 0.3 seconds behind the winner, again "Sundancer".

Mortesen then set out to break speed records. The first was the Class C.1.b (1,000-2,000 pound take off weight) 3 km closed course, which the AMSOIL Racer beat with a speed of convert|232|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on. The second record achieved was over a convert|75|mi|km|sing=on closed course, which was accomplished with a speed of convert|235|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on.

At the 1983 Reno Air Races, during one of the early heat races, Mortensen had to maneuver in order to avoid a mid-air collision with "Sorceress", ending up entering that plane's wake turbulence only convert|35|ft|m off the ground. With so little altitude to recover, the AMSOIL Racer hit the ground at over convert|200|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on, tumbling. The plane was completely destroyed, but since Rutan had designed the cockpit to withstand a 22G impact, Mortensen survived with only minor injuries.

The aircraft was rebuilt for static display, and currently hangs in a bar at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. The second aircraft that was licensed by Rutan was never built.

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=Plane
jet or prop?=Prop

crew=1
capacity=1
length main=22 ft
span main=22 ft
area main=unk
empty weight main=unk
max takeoff weight main=1126 lb
max takeoff weight alt=511 kg
engine (prop)=Lycoming O-320
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main=160 hp

max speed main=235 mph

References

* [http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/archive/index.php?t-2638.html Discussion of the aircraft and crash]
* [http://aerofiles.com/_rutan.html Aerofiles info]