The Sharp DR 90 Nemesis is a

Formula One racing A Formula One Grand Prix is a sporting event which takes place over three days (usually Friday to Sunday), with a series of practice and qualifying sessions prior to the race on Sunday. Current regulations provide for two free practice sessions ...

aircraft designed by Jon Sharp and built at the

Mojave Airport The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a spa ...

by the Nemesis Air Racing Team. The aircraft is powered by a modified

Continental O-200 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

piston engine. The Nemesis originated as an attempt by Jon Sharp to build a ''Shoestring'' racer, with composite skins over a steel frame. Along the way, Dan Bond convinced him to use an airfoil with extensive laminar flow and finally, Steve Ericson helped Jon design a sleeker, all composite airframe. All that remains of the original “plastic Shoestring” is the horizontal tail. The steel space frame was sold to Dan Gilbert, who built on it his Shadow Formula One air racer. Although Shadow looks much like Nemesis it is fabricated differently and has a completely different wing. The success of the Nemesis aircraft led Jon Sharp to design a follow-on type, the

Nemesis NXT The Sharp Nemesis NXT (which stands for "Neoteric experimental Technology") is a sport-class kit-built aircraft, designed for air racing. It was designed by Nemesis Air Racing's president Jon Sharp, as a follow-on to their Sharp Nemesis. It is a ...

Racing career

Between 1991 and 1999, the plane won 45 of the 48 race events in which it was entered, including nine consecutive Reno Gold National Championships. During each of the race seasons from 1994 through 1999, Nemesis finished as the International Formula One points champion. Nemesis was awarded the George Owl Trophy for its design in 1991, three Louis Blèriot Medals from the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

(1993, 1996 and 1998), and four Pulitzer Trophies (1993, 1994, 1995 and 1999). The aircraft set 16 world speed records, and in one of those records, Nemesis flew at over 290 mph (467 km/h). Because of its successes, the National Air and Space Museum has described the plane as "the most successful aircraft in air racing history". To put the Nemesis performance in perspective, most production O-200 equipped aircraft are more commonly found flying at 100mph, and few can reach even half its maximum speed.

Display

After the end of the 1999 racing season, Jon Sharp donated the aircraft to the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

, and it was put on display at the NASM's

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous e ...

in Chantilly, Virginia. Since 2022 it has been on display at the National Air and Space Museum in central Washington, DC.

Specifications

* Fuel capacity: 5 US gal (18.9 liters) * Stall speed: 90 Kias (167 km/h) * G-Loading limits: +6, -4 * Cabin height: 35 in (89 cm)

References

External links

{{commons category, Sharp Nemesis
Nemesis Air Racing Official Web Site
Homebuilt aircraft Racing aircraft Mojave Air and Space Port 1990s United States sport aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1991