Records Fall Again at Mojave Experimental Fly-In

April 30, 2015 – Several records fell last week at the annual Mojave Experimental Fly-In held at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in Mojave, California. The seven new records included three made by Klaus Savier in two Lightspeed Engineering airplanes and four made by Lynn Farnsworth in his Race 44 Lancair Legacy prepped by Aerochia’s Andy Chiavetta.

Savier’s records include: Class C-1a - 500 km speed - the Lightspeed Engineering Delaminator VariEze’s 240.6 mph beat the old mark of 214 mph set in 1983; Class C-1b – 2,000 km - the Lightspeed Engineering Determinator LongEZ flew a speed of 254 mph, eclipsing the record set by Dick Rutan in 1994 (249 mph) in the Rutan Catbird; and Class C-1a - 100 km speed - the Delaminator VariEze broke the record by less than the 1 percent required.

Farnsworth’s records include: C-1c - Time to climb – 3,000 meters - New record (unofficial): 2:02.6, beating the 29-year-old record of 3:09; C-1c 3km Closed Course - new unofficial record - 390 mph, beating John Parker’s old record of 373 mph set in 2006; C-1b Time to climb – 3,000 meters – 1:59.9, breaks last year’s record set by Lee Behel of 2:08.6; and C-1b 3 km Closed Course – 387 mph, beating Behel’s 376 mph record set in 2014.

Saturday morning drew an awesome variety of experimental aircraft, challenging the judges in their award selections. Saturday evening featured the award banquet with Mike Melvill speaking about his history in flight testing. Justin Gillen announced the winners of the Experimenter awards:

• Best Design - Fred Roscher of 51 Aero for his homebuilt telemetry built for the Blue Thunder Sport Class Racing Team.
• Best Build and Best Test were awarded to Andre Prager, the driving force behind the Beluga Belly Mod done to Andrew Findlay’s One Moment Lancair Legacy.
• Experimenter of the Year - Andy Chiavetta for his extensive work on the engine package for Farnsworth’s record-setting Race 44.

Visit the Fly-In website for more information.