Fueled by an unleaded, high-octane biofuel developed by Swift Enterprises, Richard “Smokey” Young set a preliminary 100-kilometer closed course speed record Sept. 11 in a piston-engine aircraft between 660 and 1,320 pounds.
Powered by a Continental O-200 engine, Young flew his #3 Western Air Racing Special, burning SwiftFuel. He maintained an average speed of 242.7 mph, reaching peak speeds of 260 mph, over a 100-kilometer (62 miles) course over the Salton Sea near Thermal, Calif. Young broke the existing record of 233 mph, established in 2004 by astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson. Saturday’s event was sponsored by Tradition Aviation. Information about the flight has been sent to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Switzerland for official certification.
Young was interested in SwiftFuel initially because of the higher energy content than the traditional aviation gasoline.
“I had been thinking about setting this record for some time,” Young said.
Using SwiftFuel was an additional incentive. “Green is the new performance word,” he said.
Swift has developed a fuel that can use a wide variety of feedstocks, including conventional and biological sources. The company hopes to have the fuel certified by both ASTM International and the FAA within the next two years. SwiftFuel does not contain lead.
Young is a 13-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, president of International Formula 1 Air Racing and runs the Aviation Pilot Training Program at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif. He began his racing career in 2003 and was named “Rookie of the Year” at the U.S National Air Racing Championships.
According to a technical report issued by the FAA, SwiftFuel demonstrated more energy per gallon than 100 low-lead (100LL). Young confirmed this finding. “Not only did I break the record, but I used 20 percent less fuel to do it.”
For more information: SwiftEnterprises.com.
Great job Smokey! This adds to the already proven fact regarding the higher energy content the FAA said SwiftFuel demonstrated per gallon, over 100LL.
As far as the weight difference is concerned, it is well known throughout the industry (to those whom are following the Swift avgas issues) load less Swift fuel , thus no change in weight & balance, without giving up range due to Swift’s higher energy content… pretty simple concept.
I would suggest STC mogas users start recognizing that Swift Fuel could be the answer to the ethanol issue. Get rid of ethanol and replace it with Swift Fuel (it can be derived with the same ethanol infrastructure now being used). Now you have a (modified?) mogas STC, that can be used everywhere and possibly at lower cost to boot, due to the increased production and demand of Swift fuel (100’s of millions of gal/mo), along with Swift 100SF for the 100octane users. Without the ethanol issue in mogas, more FBOs might recognize more profits and be enticed to put in mogas pumps, with Swift Fuel as the blend stock. It would be a win-win for everyone.
BTW, Swift Fuel can be derived from either biomass or petroleum; it doesn’t have to be just “greenâ€. Then you can continue to “drill baby drillâ€. It may be time to change the method of getting the desired results. Otherwise, at some point, all the time, energy and money spent on fighting to remove some ethanol from mogas (for a very small special interest), might have been better spent in supporting Swift Fuel as a blend stock in place of ethanol.
Nice stunt and congratulations on the new record. How did the pilot confirm that he used 20% less fuel? Did he fly the exact same course under the same conditions and use 20% more when fueled by 100LL? How did the fuel’s 16% higher weight per gallon compared to 100LL affect the weight and balance of the airplane? “Green”? really? Come on, our nation is past all that hype.