Will Nemesis NXT surprise?

[Lowell]

I am just speculating, but my guess is the Nemesis NXT may already be flying and may even be at Oshkosh for marketing reasons and to race Darryl Greenamyer. Maybe not, but I just suspect they may be further ahead of the game than their dusty website and the extreme lack of updates have suggested.
What do AAFO readers and lurkers think or know?

It is always fun, yet more and more a rarity, when a brand new and very fast racer appears on the public sceneat or just before Reno. One would think that the Sport Class has the most potential for this kind of drama. The Formulas also occasionally debut a new hot rod that previosly have had little or no publicity.

I'm expecting a healthy jump in the Gold race speeds and interest in the Sport Class this year. I sincerely hope that they can soon add another well sponsored race or two to their yearly schedule. Does anyone have any ideas of an existing major airshow that could accomodate a 6 to 6.5 mile Sport Class race course?

[paintboy]

NXT at Reno?????

I heard or read somewhere the aircraft would debut at Oshkosh. Since I will be there I will let you know if the racer shows up. Sharp supposedly has kits sold which is the major hurdle needed to get over for the racer to compete. I will have an answer in a few days. Should be interesting.

Dave

[Peashooter]

Having built a Long EZ and Glasair III, I know that the kit buyers/builders know what's "up" with the NXT. Guys? Anybody? If it will be at OSH, then it HAS flown off its test time -- minimum of 25 hours -- before it can leave its home airport and specified test flight radius. Peas.

[AAFO_WSagar]

No "official" Word

We're in fairly frequent contact with Jon and Trish Sharp, what I have, "unofficially" from them as of a week or so ago, they were not yet flying, but were close. They were/are planning on having the airplane at Oshkosh, though, I can not say if they ever said they would "fly" the airplane there.

Last word was that the required amount of kit sales/deliveries had been met and that the airplane would be in competition at Reno 2003...

As a fairly long-time observer of the sport, I would say that expecting the airplane to deliver its full potential in the first competitive outing would be more than what will actually happen.

I know Jon and everyone involved with the program have safety and longevity in mind... With that in mind, I would expect to see a fairly conservative approach to Reno this time out..

With that said, will we see a pretty significant increase in speeds this year in Sport????

That, is a really interesting thought... Wondering how much more can be wrung out of Greenamyer's airplane.. Will the "tune up" that John Parker is in the process of doing to is TM bring him significant speed increase?

It's gonna be an interesting year in this division to be sure!

Wayne

[hattend]

Was Jon Sharp at PRS? Hasn't it been over two years since he last raced?

(I don't remember seeing him race last year...where's my 2002 program [dig, dig...it's in this stack somewhere...dig, dig])

Don

[AAFO_WSagar]

Originally posted by hattend
Was Jon Sharp at PRS? Hasn't it been over two years since he last raced?

(I don't remember seeing him race last year...where's my 2002 program [dig, dig...it's in this stack somewhere...dig, dig])

Don

Don,

Jon did not attend this year but... from the way I understand the rules, he does not have to. He raced in 2000, he should be good for this year. I *think* the way the rules are it's "if a pilot has not raced in three years" since this would be the third year, if he races this year, he's OK..

Wayne

[stuntflyr]

PRS is for pilot qualification, not airplanes.

Jon has flown Dan Wright's SX-300 at least once per race since 1999.
Chris...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Originally posted by Chris McMillin
PRS is for pilot qualification, not airplanes.

Jon has flown Dan Wright's SX-300 at least once per race since 1999.
Chris...

Chris,

understood.. I *think* Don was wondering if Jon himself was still qualified. I do not think he flew last year. Of course, 2001 was a huge bust, though some could have managed to stay "qualified" by running qualification runs on Monday...

The race record database at the RARA website has Jon last racing in 2000, though I just spoke with Jon and he did not mention any problems in that area. (time limit DQ)

Wayne

[stuntflyr]

Wayne,
RARA often can't keep multiple pilot airplane participants straight. Jon was flying Dan's airplane during the race Tommy was lost. He was a principal witness.
Chris...

[stuntflyr]

Wayne and Don and All,
I just read my last two posts and realized that if you don't know me(and maybe if you do), you could think I am an a*****e. I will try to use smiles and stuff to keep this from occuring again

Chris...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Originally posted by Chris McMillin
Wayne and Don and All,
I just read my last two posts and realized that if you don't know me(and maybe if you do), you could think I am an a*****e. I will try to use smiles and stuff to keep this from occuring again

Chris...

No problem Chris, I did not think that at all.. I was mostly out of it at Reno last year (had some particularly gnarly problems to deal with) and actually, did not even remember that I'd talked with Jon and Trish and spent time with them in the Sport Division hangar and knew that Jon had raced Dan's airplane..

I called Jon earlier tonight, talked about *everything but* this particular question that had set me to thinking about checking in with them anyway.



Geez... the older I get....

Anyway, that question is out of the way at least!!!

Wayne

PS: Worked up a little piece from the conversation mentioned above http://www.aafo.com/racing/2003/nemesisNXT-1/

[Unregistered]

From a self proclaimed expert...

NXT is smaller and lighter than the Legacy (any Legacy, not just Greenameyer's), and wetted area and weight equal drag. NXT also can claim equal or better aerodynamics than anything else in the Sport Class. Therefore, (whip out crystal ball here) I predict one of the following possibilities:

1. NXT achieves equal or near equal power to Greenameyer and runs around 360 to 380 mph laps. This is based exclusively on the size difference and does not give any credit for application of all of the F1 drag reduction tricks (mostly cooling) that I expect NXT to have all over any Legacy.

2. NXT achieves slightly less power due to teething problems and we have a real horse race in the 330 to 350 mph range. While this seems like it's only equivalent to high Bronze / low Silver Unlimited speed, I have flown on both courses and there is a definite 10 to 40 mph differential between what you can do on the tighter Sport course and the Unlimited course with its two straightaways.

3. Teething problems are more severe and NXT has to wait a year or two to become competitive, and possibly dominant.

I'm actually hoping for possibility 2, since I love a good race and have no personal involovement with either effort. <LOL>

Eric Ahlstrom