SEATTLE, Sept. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At a remote location in Central Idaho on a private airport on Saturday 09/02/2017 at 5:30PM Steve Hinton became the fastest pilot on the planet ever in a Piston Engine Propeller Airplane. Four laps over a three-kilometer course at an average speed of 531.53/MPH- the fastest lap was 554/MPH in a highly modified P51 Mustang. Aerodynamic wing modifications by Aviation Partners, Inc. played a key role in achieving the absolute world speed record over the 3-kilometer course. Aviation Partners, known worldwide for its Blended and Split Scimitar Winglets TM, on Business Jets and Commercial Aircraft used highly sophisticated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to redesign the P51's wing surface airfoils and to reduce and eliminate the strong shock waves created at Mach number 0.75 and 0.80. The modification thereby delayed the drag rise Mach number, allowing the P-51 to achieve higher speeds.
Hinton commented, "The airplane accelerated much faster to the high-speed realm." Hinton also said he saw a much faster airplane at 100 inches manifold pressure than he had ever seen before. Joe Clark, CEO of Aviation Partners, Inc. said, "We agreed to sponsor the record attempt because we felt we could add significant value. That appears to be the case." Clark added, "We used the same drag reduction methodology on the Mustang as we used on the Boeing Jetliners and numerous Business Jets to make them more efficient.
"My sincere congratulations to Steve Hinton and his amazing crew, API's dedicated engineers, and Bob Button the owner of Voodoo, the highly modified P51, for this remarkable achievement."
Aviation Partners, Inc.
Seattle, Washington based Aviation Partners, Inc. (API) is the world leader in advanced Winglet technology. API's patented Performance Enhancing Blended Winglets™ have been designed and certified for a number of commercial and business aircraft; applications include Boeing, Falcon, Hawker and Gulfstream airframes. Over 8,000 in-service aircraft have saved an estimated 7.5 plus billion gallons of fuel. In addition to the 5-7% improvement in fuel burn, Blended Winglets have reduced global CO2 emissions by approximately 80 million tons. Additional airframe programs are in-development for existing Blended Winglet technology, and future Winglet designs will lead to greater incremental improvements in performance, fuel savings and emissions reduction.
