Sharp Nemesis NXT | |
---|---|
Role | Racing aircraft |
Manufacturer | Air-C-Race |
Designer | Jon Sharp |
First flight | 10 July 2004 |
Developed from | Sharp Nemesis |
Developed into | Rolls-Royce ACCEL |
The Sharp Nemesis NXT with "NXT" standing for "Neoteric experimental Technology," [1] is a kit-built sport-class aircraft designed specifically for air racing. It serves as a successor to the previous model, the Sharp Nemesis, and was created by Jon Sharp, the president of Nemesis Air Racing. The Nemesis NXT is a single-engine, low-wing aircraft with retractable gear and seating for two individuals. The original design of the aircraft incorporates a Lycoming TIO-540-NXT Thunderbolt six-cylinder engine for propulsion. [2] [3]
In 2011, the German company Air-C-Race assumed the role of the official builder for remote control (RC) models of the Nemesis NXT, expanding its presence beyond the full-scale version of the aircraft. [4] [5]
The prototype Nemesis NXT, bearing the race number 3X (N333XT) and piloted by Jon Sharp, achieved a significant victory by winning the 2008 Reno Air Races Sport Class championship. During this competition, the aircraft established a new record speed for the race, reaching an impressive 392 mph (631 km/h). Throughout the ten-day event, Sharp set a heat record of 393 mph (632 km/h) and, during the qualification stage, achieved a record-breaking speed of 409.297 mph (658.700 km/h). This marked the first time a racer in this particular class had surpassed the 400 mph (640 km/h) speed barrier, a feat typically associated with Unlimited Class racing aircraft. [2] Additionally, a second Nemesis NXT, designated as race number 42 and fielded by Relentless Racing, secured a respectable fifth-place finish, achieving an average speed of 336.526 mph (541.586 km/h) during the gold race. [6]
Jon Sharp, having accumulated the highest number of wins in the history of racing, announced his retirement from Pylon Racing in August 2011. In 2015, he received an invitation to donate his prototype Nemesis NXT to the National Air and Space Museum. The aircraft was subsequently delivered in 2018 by Crew Chief Steve Hill and race pilot Justin Phillipson. Initially, museum directors intended to exhibit the aircraft in the Nation of Speed gallery at the museum's central location. However, due to its size, it was determined that the aircraft could not fit through the access door of that particular building. Consequently, the Nemesis NXT was relocated to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Fairfax County, Virginia. It is currently on permanent display (as of 2022) in the Boeing Aviation Hangar, where it stands alongside its older counterpart, the Nemesis. [7] [8]
On 30 July 2008, Sharp set an FAI class C1b world record for speed over a straight 3 km (1.9 mi) course at 573.46 km/h (356.33 mph). [9]
On 20 September 2009, Sharp won the Super Sport Gold race at Reno with a speed of 407.061 mph (655.101 km/h). [10]
On 16 September 2009, Sharp qualified first with a speed of 412.554 mph (663.941 km/h) for the top spot in the Super Sport class at Reno. [10]
On 17 September 2009, Sharp set a Super Sport race record of 383.292 mph (616.849 km/h).
On 18 September 2009, Sharp beat the previous day's record with a speed of 399.336 mph (642.669 km/h).
On 19 September 2009, the aircraft reached 406.051 mph (653.476 km/h), the first homebuilt aircraft to exceed 400 mph (640 km/h) average race speed on the Reno course.
On 20 September 2009, Sharp won the Super Sport Gold race at a record speed of 407.061 mph (655.101 km/h). He earned his 15th National Championship (another record) completing the "Record a Day and Two on Sunday" Reno campaign of 2009.
In September–October 2015 Sharp set five FAI records for piston aircraft at Moriarty, New Mexico; all are current in 2022:
Data from Nemesis NXT [16]
General characteristics
Performance
The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American single-engine, low-wing, all-metal monoplane of semimonocoque construction with tricycle retractable landing gear and four or six seats. The Comanche was designed and built by Piper Aircraft and first flew on May 24, 1956. Together with the PA-30 and PA-39 Twin Comanches, it made up the core of Piper's lineup until 1972, when the production lines for both aircraft were destroyed in the 1972 Lock Haven flood.
The Zivko Edge 540 manufactured by Zivko Aeronautics is a highly aerobatic aircraft. Capable of a 420 degree per second roll rate and a 3,700 foot per minute climb rate, it has been flown to victory on the international Unlimited aerobatics circuit several times since the mid-1990s. A tandem-seat version is sold as the Edge 540T.
The Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster was a special-purpose racing aircraft made by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts at the now-abandoned Springfield Airport. Gee Bee stands for Granville Brothers.
The Velocity Model 173 SE (Standard Elite) is an entry level canard pusher aircraft from Velocity Aircraft. The four seat, rear engine aircraft may be powered by a 160 hp (120 kW) Lycoming IO-320 or a 200 hp (150 kW) Lycoming IO-360 engine.
The Victa Airtourer is an all-metal light low-wing monoplane touring aircraft that was developed in Australia, and was manufactured in both Australia and New Zealand.
The AMSOIL Racer, also known as the Rutan Biplane Racer and the Rutan Model 68 Racer, was a race tandem wing plane which was designed by Burt Rutan's Rutan Aircraft Factory, and built and flown by Dan Mortensen. It set several speed records, but crashed at the 1983 Reno Air Races.
The Beck-Mahoney Sorceress is a racing staggerwing biplane originally designed by the father and son team of Lee and Seldon Mahoney with later improvements accomplished by pilot Don Beck.
The MBB 223 Flamingo was a light aircraft developed in West Germany in the 1960s in response to a competition for a standard trainer for the country's aeroclubs. Designed by SIAT, it was a conventional low-wing monoplane with fixed tricycle undercarriage. The cockpit was enclosed by a large bubble canopy. SIAT had not undertaken much production of the type before the firm was acquired by MBB in 1970. Eventually, the new owners transferred production to CASA in Spain.
The Sonerai is a small, VW-powered homebuilt aircraft, designed by John Monnett. The Sonerai began to compete as a single-seat, mid-wing, tailwheel Formula-V racer class formed in 1972. The Sonerai soon evolved into a two-seat model called the Sonerai II.
The Sharp DR 90 Nemesis is a Formula One racing aircraft designed by Jon Sharp and built at the Mojave Airport by the Nemesis Air Racing Team. The aircraft is powered by a modified Continental O-200 piston engine.
The Questair Venture is a homebuilt aircraft manufactured by Questair at John Bell Williams Airport in Bolton, Mississippi, United States. The aircraft first flew on 1 July 1987.
The Lesher Teal is a home built experimental aircraft that at one point held seven Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) class is C-l.a records for speed and distance.
The Monnett Monex is a single seat, all-aluminium, Volkswagen powered, homebuilt racer.
Tsunami was an experimental purpose-built racing aircraft designed and built in the United States during the 1980s. After a short undistinguished career Tsunami crashed, killing its designer, John Sandberg, on 25 September 1991.
The Polen Special, is a homebuilt racing aircraft built to become the fastest four cylinder aircraft in the world.
The Bohannon B-1 is a purpose-built aircraft to set new world records in its class for time-to-climb. It is a development of the Van's RV-4.
The W-4 Hot Canary is a custom biplane designed for air racing.
The Miller-Bohannon JM-2 Special, named Pushy Galore, is a one-of-a-kind American homebuilt Formula One racing and record-setting aircraft. It was based upon Jim W Miller's Miller JM-2 design, highly modified by Bruce Bohannon.
The Williams-Cangie WC-1 Sundancer is an American homebuilt biplane racing aircraft that was designed by Art Williams and Carl Cangie and built by Ralph Thenhaus in 1974. Plans were at one time available from Williams' company, the Williams Aircraft Design Company of Northridge, California. Only one was built.
The Caudron C.362 and the almost identical C.366 were single-seat racing aircraft built in 1933 by Caudron to compete in the Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe competition.