Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

[dvddude]

For the pilots - how much of your crosscheck scan is devoted to scanning the engine instruments/systems during the race, as opposed to keeping your head outside the cockpit looking at the ground and finding the pylons? With the advent of telemetry, I'm assuming that this has made racing much safer, since more of your crosscheck and attention can be outside the cockpit instead of inside. Compare the crosscheck scans of a telemetry aircraft vs. a non-telemetry aircraft. For example, how often would you go "heads down" to monitor your systems in each case? For the non-telemetry aircraft, I'm assuming you go "heads down" during the few seconds of when you are not turning, is this correct? Just curious, how much time is spent inside the cockpit vs. outside, and what role technology and telemetry has done to change that.

Thanks for anyone that answers!

[MRussell]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Great question.

[bruce lockwood]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Dvddube,

I'm not sure exactly how many of the Unlimiteds have telemetry. When I raced, last century Ha! ha! Dago and Strega were the only Gold planes with a fully functioning telemetry system that I was aware of.

With a "cut down" canopy, its pretty difficult to glance in the cockpit, allow a split second for your eyes to adjust (panel/instruments are dim with the dark helmet visor, change in focal length) then look through a oil splattered, distorted wind screen and pick out the next pylon. If there is any moisture in the air, as soon as the spray-bar comes ON the canopy will fog like a bath room mirror during a hot shower. This tends to occur at the most unopportune of times, down the chute and during the first lap.

Remember you are eating up ground at close to 1000' per sec. If you have ever sat in a race Mustang, helmet on, visor down and canopy closed you will get a true sense of claustrophobia. Better yet, get out your old scuba mask, breath in it so that it is fogged up, spray WD 40 on the front glass, now put it on and get in your car......here comes the fun part. Drive, around the neighborhood at 100MPH with out hitting any kids or stray pet. If you go into someones yard, that's a "Deadline Cut" and your done for the day. Oh and guess what, you have your next door neighbor with his mask on, in his car racing with you. Get the picture now??

In Dago, as soon as I heard the words "Gentleman you have a race" I put the throttle to a predetermed MP setting then looked out and picked up the guide pylon then looked back in at the Induction Temp, Spray Bar pressure, then glanced at the Oil Pressure and finally double checked MP pressure/RPM. Your head is all over the place. From that point on, I never really looked in the cockpit again unless I saw oil/coolant on wind screen, felt a new vibration or change of sound from the engine, or maybe smelled something. Each time I started a new lap Kirch would tell me if the telemetry was good, then what lap I was starting and finally my position/time. The engine team monitored the screen and keep track of trends and alerted Kirch. He inturn would see wheter it was important enough to tell me or just let it go. We knew for example that oil temps could start at 80c, but climb as high as 110c, but oil pressure would hold steady at 105psi. Or that ADI pressure would be 30 psi then could drop to 21-23psi at full throttle, They looked for odd things like oil pressure droping but the temp not rising at which point they would alert Kirch and he may say "Dago Check oil pressure". so I'd glance down and tell him what I saw on the gauge.

If you are out front 3+ seconds or so you can steal a glance or 2 inorder to check temps and pressures as you get into "The Valley of Speed". If your right with someone and racing you don't have time to look at anything. Your focused 110% on flying the course, flying uncooperative formation (your competitor doesn't want you there), trying to pass, tyring not cut deadlines/pylons, mentaly keeping track of wake turbulence areas for him and you (you want to give him a little room in case he hits turbulence and rolls towards you) and finally avoiding lapers that your overtaking by 100 MPH.

The small canopy is the culprit for most of this. Miss America always seem to require half the work load of Dago to get around the course. Though it has many of the same systems to monitor/adjust plus and a clone of Dago's engine under the hood. (not the mouse motor, but a -9 with transport heads/banks, .42 nose case gears, ADI, VP race fueled and all the other associated goodies. But it was really fun to fly.... you could see what was going on around you. The larger canopy made it much easier to look down see/focus on the instruments, then look up and pick up the pylons/other airplanes.

Our telemetry monitored the following. It was always, how shall I say,...... a work in progress. It seem to take all week just to get it calibrated. The telemetry screen had sticky note with handled scribbled conversion number, and math formulas pasted all over its face. By Sunday it looked like a bunch of NASA type mad scientist working at the "business end" on top of the race trailer just to monitor all the stuff.

When all systems were working we could monitor the following:

Air Speed, Manifold Pressure, Engine RPM, Induction Temp, ADI Pressure Coolant Temp, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Coolant door position, Spray Bar Pressure, Position (ON/OFF or LOW/HIGH depending on the function of the switch) these switches Fuel Boost, ADI, Low/high Pressure spray bars (We had separate pumps) ADI cross flow/backup.

During testing we put pressure probes in the induction trunk, and checked differential pressure in the cooling scoop both in front of and behind the radiator inorder to measure pressure recovery in the scoop/efficiency.

Hope that answers you questions,

Bruce

[dvddude]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Yes, Bruce that answers my question! I always appreciate your detailed and articulate insight into Racing!

So, it sounds like for a telemetry equipped aircraft, you pretty much stay "heads up" the entire time, unless there is some other aural, or visual que that your engine is not functioning correctly. What about the non-telemetry aircraft? It sounds like you would have to be "heads down" much more often to check your systems. Would this not be a HUGE competitive advantage to have telemetry then?

Any other inputs - Jackson, Penney, Will, etc.?

Thanks again.

[Mluvara]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

I'm not a race pilot, but I have designed and built the majority of telemetry systems that are currently in use at Reno and did my first unit in 2003. I believe I've built over 15 systems, which have gone in various F1, biplane, sport and unlimiteds. Dago got a new system in 2006 to replace the one that the late Jim Foss built for Strega and Dago. With time and technology improvements over the years, the systems are more accurate and reliable. I feel really fortunate to have been given the opportunity to supply this equipment to many racers.

I think Bruce summed it up very nicely. In the unlimiteds, the systems are used to monitor the aircraft's engine and systems. It certainly keeps the pilot's head out of the cockpit, but the instruments are referenced to back up what the telemetry says. In the harsh racing environment, sensors are known to fail and give bad indications. On more than one account, telemetry has saved engines. In 2008, the telemetry was noted to alert Bob Button of low oil pressure before he went behind peavine.

One other comment is that adding telemetry may or may not go well with the pilot initially. I mean, who doesn't want to think that they can handle everything themselves? There's also a certain amount of trust that has to be earned from the telemetry before some are completely comfortable running it and letting go of staring at instruments.

I have only crewed with Kerch during races, so each team may use the telemetry differently. Typically, we watch the parameters and give him a "telemetry green" each 1/2 lap if all is good. If something is out of line, we tell him and he radios the pilot to check a temperature, or to make a necessary adjustment. After the race, data can be analyzed for any anomalies and for performance measurements. I.E., did a certain change cause us to speed up or slow down, was that too many g's,etc? Some of the parameters really don't mean much in real time as the goal is to finish the race, not worry about why one is a couple mph off, or why the pilot pulled so hard in a turn...

These are the unlimiteds that I have built systems for. Most of the systems are similar, however 232's was the most complex, with over 30 parameters being monitored.

Dago
Strega
Galloping Ghost
Voodoo
September Fury
Ridge Runner
Steadfast

Other aircraft (not all) include: sport aircraft such as Race 33 - Darryl Greenamyer,F1's (Gary Hubler, Carbon Slipper, Sly Dog), and Jeff Lo's biplane.

Jim Foss's system in Strega and Dago was based on 1 set of data coming in per second in ascii format and displayed on a single line display. The systems I have designed have moved towards graphical screens with graphs for history and gauges. Below are example screen shots.

Michael

[dvddude]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Wow, that's pretty cool, Michael! I assume your background is in computers/networking? A few more questions:

One other comment is that adding telemetry may or may not go well with the pilot initially. I mean, who doesn't want to think that they can handle everything themselves? There's also a certain amount of trust that has to be earned from the telemetry before some are completely comfortable running it and letting go of staring at instruments.

1) When you say that a "certain amount of trust has to be earned", is it because of the personality of the pilot being a "I can do it myself" attitude or more of a trust in the technology actually working and being reliable? You said above that sometimes sensors fail. Is this what you mean?

2) It sounds like most of the Unlimited's nowadays have telemetry. Which Unlimited Gold's DON'T have it?

3) With the advent of technology, it seems like there should never be an occasion where the engine would blow up or go dead because of the advanced warning of a parameter being out of limits, but we know that is probably not true. I'm assuming that some of the parameters might go out of limits only seconds or fractions of seconds before the engine "let's loose". Is this true? How much warning will the telemetry give you before an impending engine seizure or "blow up"? Are we talking seconds or micro-seconds here? Do you think the technology will ever get good enough where it can prevent virtually all or most of any engine seizure's or stoppage's?

4) How is the info connected to the ground support crew monitoring it? I assume it is data-linked somehow? Is it through VHF, some kind of broadband cell phone coverage or what? I'm curious in the technical aspects of it. Are there any "dead spots", where the airplane is not in continuous coverage because of lack of connectivity because of either technological or physical impediments? For example, when the planes turn, does this "break lock" between the antenna and receiver?

5) Where is the antenna for the telemetry on the plane?


Thanks, Michael, I appreciate your input. When I said a "question for pilot's", I didn't think to include the ground support crew. I hope you didn't interpret it as an intentional slight or snub. I just wanted to get info from those who know rather than "armchair pilots" or those who thought they heard something from someone they overheard, etc.


Thanks for your input, Michael, it's much appreciated!

[mrcraigarcher]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

In the unlimiteds, the systems are used to monitor the aircraft's engine and systems. It certainly keeps the pilot's head out of the cockpit, but the instruments are referenced to back up what the telemetry says. In the harsh racing environment, sensors are known to fail and give bad indications.

Hey Michael!
I was wondering if there is any data recording from the actual gauges in the airplane that, after the race, is compared to the data from telemetry. Without this, how can you know that the telemetry data is accurate?

Craig

[Mluvara]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Wow, that's pretty cool, Michael! I assume your background is in computers/networking? A few more questions:

Long story short - I have a BS in electrical engineering, been around airplanes much of my life. Wanted a senior project in college that would interest me, so a friend and I built telemetry for my R/C models since I raced large versions of Reno racers. UAVs were getting big, and the next thing you know I have a business...

1) When you say that a "certain amount of trust has to be earned", is it because of the personality of the pilot being a "I can do it myself" attitude or more of a trust in the technology actually working and being reliable? You said above that sometimes sensors fail. Is this what you mean?

Part of this is in so many terms as you say "I can do it myself". The other part is trusting a computer so to speak to tell the crew what is going on and building confidence that the system is accurate and not feeding erroneous information.

I was wondering if there is any data recording from the actual gauges in the airplane that, after the race, is compared to the data from telemetry. Without this, how can you know that the telemetry data is accurate?

Not really. Some may take a video recording to compare, but every time I've been on a crew with Kerch, we always calibrate both sensors side by side. For example, we'll hook up a pressure regulator to the telemetry and instrument and run through a range of pressures, comparing both. Or we'll stick the temperature probes in a known temperature source and record the readings. The majority of the time, the telemetry is more accurate. For example - this year on Voodoo, Will was reporting 32 psi on one instrument gauge in flight. The telemetry was reading 29. When we hooked up a known pressure after the flight, it was found that the instrument in the cockpit was 3psi high. One other thing to consider. The needle on an instrument is a mechanical device. Under g loading, it can do weird things...

2) It sounds like most of the Unlimited's nowadays have telemetry. Which Unlimited Gold's DON'T have it?

The only other unlimited that I know for sure has telemetry is Stewart Dawson's, and Ashley Ezell was kind enough to show it to me at one point. Rare Bear has had it at some point in its life, but I do not know the current status of that.

3) With the advent of technology, it seems like there should never be an occasion where the engine would blow up or go dead because of the advanced warning of a parameter being out of limits, but we know that is probably not true. I'm assuming that some of the parameters might go out of limits only seconds or fractions of seconds before the engine "let's loose". Is this true? How much warning will the telemetry give you before an impending engine seizure or "blow up"? Are we talking seconds or micro-seconds here? Do you think the technology will ever get good enough where it can prevent virtually all or most of any engine seizure's or stoppage's?

There are some parameters (like temperature) that you can watch over time and know that there is a bad trend developing on. Or a pressure is dropping that is critical. However, there are other systems (such as ADI,etc) that if they were to quit, the damage can be instant depending on the engine type,etc. Or if the engine boost pump quits at high power, that can be bad. These are things that no one can really prevent.

4) How is the info connected to the ground support crew monitoring it? I assume it is data-linked somehow? Is it through VHF, some kind of broadband cell phone coverage or what? I'm curious in the technical aspects of it. Are there any "dead spots", where the airplane is not in continuous coverage because of lack of connectivity because of either technological or physical impediments? For example, when the planes turn, does this "break lock" between the antenna and receiver?

The data is sent over the air on a radio data link that is basically a modem. One puts data in, it comes out at the other end. The systems I use are 902-928Mhz, and use a frequency hopping, spread spectrum modem on an open band. 1 Watt of power yields 15-20 miles. On the racers, we can get data line of sight (LOS) everywhere but except for when they go behind peavine mountain before the start of the race.

There are instances where antenna "nulls" occur because of antenna geometry, and because of the fact that this is a moving object. Whenever you have a transmission of a signal you have two signal paths - (1) direct path, (2) reflected path. If a signal bounces off of the ground, it can cause the signal to deteriorate, thus losing link. The modems used actually talk both ways and acknowledge (handshake) data transmission. If a packet does not get through, it will try 2-3 times before giving up and tossing it away (so that a delay does not build up). The telemetry parameters are sent multiple times per second, so losing a couple is not a big deal. The data is also recorded to an SD card on board the aircraft, so we can get 100% of it after landing.


5) Where is the antenna for the telemetry on the plane?

This depends on the type of airplane and the installation. Some are mounted inside the aircraft, possibly in the canopy. Typically, I like to use an aerodynamic blade antenna, which is mounted on the turtledeck aft of the canopy. This particular antenna model is specifically made for applications like this and has an optimized antenna pattern, whereas there is no null at the tip of the antenna. For those not familiar with antenna theory, a one can visualize a simple monopole antenna as a donut. It transmits the majority of its energy outward and has little or no signal up or down. Because an airplane banks and the signal is blocked by parts of the airplane, this poses challenges.

I located a picture of the antenna on 232. See attached. You'll see a similar installation on Strega and Voodoo.

Thanks, Michael, I appreciate your input. When I said a "question for pilot's", I didn't think to include the ground support crew. I hope you didn't interpret it as an intentional slight or snub. I just wanted to get info from those who know rather than "armchair pilots" or those who thought they heard something from someone they overheard, etc.

Thanks for your input, Michael, it's much appreciated!

No problem. My pleasure!

Michael

[Randy Haskin]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

I don't have the actual study data at hand, but I've always been heard in military low flying discussions that anywhere below 100 feet and at speeds above 350 KIAS, you have to be focused outside on the "rocks" 95+% of the time.

The "time to die" at those altitudes is so short, that even a couple of degrees of nose down can lead to ground impact in less than 5 seconds, especially in the types of bank angles seen on a racecourse.

So, given all the factors Mr Lockwood brought up in his post, only very quick glances inside the cockpit can be possible.

I imagine that the skillset required to manage engine temps under those conditions is similar to flying defensive BFM in fighters -- that you need to be able to glance at instruments quickly, take a mental 'snapshot' of what you see, and then process what it was that you saw after you've all ready shifted your gaze back to the bigger threat (in BFM, the guy who is trying to kill you or in low flying, the ground).

I have squadronmates who have flown on exchange assignments with the RAF, who are notorious for their low flying tactics and skills. According to them, when you are that low and fast it's impossible to look in the cockpit to use avionics or operate weapons.

[bruce lockwood]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Michael, thanks for your detailed reply, I'm sure that your system worked much better than our original system.

In your mentioning of the late Jim Foss, there may be many on this board who are unaware of his contributions and his pioneering of Air Racing Telemetry. His systems seemed shucked full of quirks and nuances, but always functioned when needed. He would remove the system at the conclusion of racing, of course this was after he finally got it to work perfectly, then tear it all down make some and make a tiny mod. By the time we got it back, arriving in an ACME Truck delivered by the Road Runner of course, 350 days had passed and we were already back at Reno. Invariably the next 6 days would spent recalibrating everything till the darn thing was ready for Sunday's Gold.

To digress a second, Air Racing is much more than the 8 minutes that we as pilots spend on the race course. Its really, in my mind at least, about the struggle, and dedication of the entire crew, working in harmony...... striving for that little piece of perfection. My best memories are not of the races themselves, but of the cast of characters that always made up our crew. Team meetings with Kirch detailing team strategy while Jim 'The Twiggg" Foss is slumped over, sound asleep in his chair or the late night pizza during an all night engine change. Its guys like Jim that made the whole effort truly worth while, those are the things that always brought a smile to my face, racing was just the frosting on the cake. We miss you Jim.

I never felt that I needed telemetry in the a "bronze" or "silver" racers. The visibility is excellent looking out and the instrument panel is very easy to see. It is well lit from the ample sun light. Also the front (flat, stock) windscreen on most all the fighter afford an excellent view of the pylons. Also, you tended to be a little easier on the engine.

Cheers, Bruce

[WASP-kid]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Wow! More fantastic input from quality folks. Bruce & Mike, thanks for the education. You guys rock!

[Paynts]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

facinating thread ! another question for Michael have you ever looked into monitoring other aspects of the engine performance for instance using knock sensors and lambda sensors could give you an early warning of mixture problems causing burned pistons backfires etc

thanks for your comments!

[Mluvara]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

facinating thread ! another question for Michael have you ever looked into monitoring other aspects of the engine performance for instance using knock sensors and lambda sensors could give you an early warning of mixture problems causing burned pistons backfires etc

thanks for your comments!

There are ways of measuring this, but I have not done knock sensors in any of the systems. One customer used a lambda sensor.

Because we measure parameters really slow (a couple of Hz), the knock sensor would need its own processor/smarts to measure rapidly and give a warning flag signal or be set for some certain frequency range. Of course, one would need to go figure out exactly what constitutes a "knock" or detonation first.

Typically, we can monitor most of the stuff that will cause problems. The issue is that there are some things that happen so fast, you can't do anything until it is too late.

Michael

[TOMW]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Bruce,

Thanks for the scuba mask analogy. After painting that mental picture I fell out of my chair laughing.

[mgbf4u]

Re: Question for Unlimited race pilots on telemetry & crosscheck scans

Telemetry is the racer's edge.
Or in Randy Haskin's business, the difference between in winning and surviving. Called HUD.
Thanks for the input. It's more interesting than say a football game.
Or any other game I can think of.