Phantom

[wingman]

There can be beauty in an Air Racer -- witness Strega, Endeavor, September Fate...

They say if it looks good, it'll fly well.

So what about Tom Aberley's "Phantom"??

It's not at all pretty -- in fact looks downright awkward. It is pure utilitarian gofast engineering...

Tom is one of the little recognized gofast geniuses in Air Racing -- right up there with Cote, Macy, Shelton, Sharp, and several others I admire. He builds his racers himself, on low budgets, and comes to Reno to kick butt or break. "Phantom" has been shattering records since it arrived...

[supercub]

Re: Phantom

Nice pic........looks like the rear portion of the fuselage and the tail is bent over to the left......hopefully it's an illusion.

[Race5]

Re: Phantom

Nice pic........looks like the rear portion of the fuselage and the tail is bent over to the left......hopefully it's an illusion.

Illusion. The fuselage has a very radical taper behind the the cockpit that makes it look that way from certain angles.

[FlyKidChris]

Re: Phantom

Will there ever be any competition for this beast (Phantom)?

[Race5]

Re: Phantom

Potentially. There are a couple of projects going right now. One an update of an airplane that has been there before, and one new radical build.

[wingman]

Re: Phantom

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Phantom

And he dosen't wear a helmet!!!!!!!

[Victor Archer]

Re: Phantom

Neal, your work has always left a great impression on me!
I have to thank you for making me push my photography to the limits I do.
Excellent photography my friend!

[wingman]

Re: Phantom

Thank you...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Phantom

I'm surprised we've not seen any attempt by anyone to emulate that wicked prop he uses... Personally, I can't remember ever seeing anything like it and, obviously, it seems to do its job very well...

[Race5]

Re: Phantom

I'm surprised we've not seen any attempt by anyone to emulate that wicked prop he uses... Personally, I can't remember ever seeing anything like it and, obviously, it seems to do its job very well...

Jeff Lo used a similar Lipps prop on Miss Gianna for a couple of years. They are trying to get one developed in two blade form for one of the IF1 racers as well.

[Apteryx]

Re: Phantom

Jeff Lo used a similar Lipps prop on Miss Gianna for a couple of years. They are trying to get one developed in two blade form for one of the IF1 racers as well.

Charlie Greer ran one for a while on Miss B Haven, (old Shadow), with mixed results, and there was another that escapes me right now....
bitch to prop...

[Reever]

Re: Phantom

Fantastic work Neal!

No one ever seems to like aircraft that have the name Phantom attached. That is a radical looking bipe and I think it looks great. I also thought the F-4 Phantom was a good looking aircraft.
Steve

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Phantom

Jeff Lo used a similar Lipps prop on Miss Gianna for a couple of years. They are trying to get one developed in two blade form for one of the IF1 racers as well.

And Miss G is a fasst airplane...It would be interesting to see a blade for blade comparison between the Phantom style and what's most commonly used now...

[wingman]

Re: Phantom

I think the Lipps is both expensive and needs lots of power to work well. As I remember Charlie felt that it had good top end speed, but accelerated relatively poorly on takeoff compared to the Steve Hill props. With Phantom initial acceleration might be less important with its 40-50 mph top speed advantage as compared to maybe a 5-10 mph difference at most among the top IF1 contenders in Charlie's F-1 time. A really big top speed advantage can make up for a lot of deficiency at takeoff, as Jon Sharp proved many times with Nemesis.

I have not seen a Bipe race from the stands or pits for a long time -- has anybody here noticed where in the pack Aberley usually is after the takeoff and start?

This really is a fascinating and radically innovative Racer...

Neal