''Tsunami'' was an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

purpose-built racing

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

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.

Design and development

After 6 long years of building, the aircraft was first flown 17 August 1986 by

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

Steve Hinton Steve Hinton is an American aviator who held a world speed record from 1979 to 1989 and won six Unlimited-class air races, including two national championships. He won four consecutive Unlimited races in one year, and remains the only pilot ever t ...

. It was designed specifically to break the 3 km world speed record for propeller driven aircraft by a private pilot and to compete in the Unlimited class at the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. A ...

. The aircraft was designed by Bruce Boland, an aerospace engineer employed by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

, John R. Sandberg, owner of JRS Enterprises Inc (rebuilders of Allison and Rolls-Royce aircraft engines), Lockheed engineer Pete Law and builder Ray Poe. ''Tsunami'', powered by a

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...

engine, designed and built by John R. Sandberg and the JRS Enterprise Inc. team, exceeded . Originally, it was designed as a light-weight racer with a single-staged supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin. However, as speed increased in the Unlimited Racing Class, a higher powered two-stage supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin was installed. An attempt was made in August 1989 to break the world speed record at Wendover Utah with a private pilot at the controls. Due to a landing gear collapse the aircraft was unable to beat the existing record.

Operational history

Despite being very fast, in its racing career from 1986 to 1991 it only won one Unlimited Gold Race, in

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and it is part of the Texoma region o ...

in 1990.

Fatality

The program ended in 1991 when the owner John Sandberg was killed while ferrying the aircraft to his home airport. The

US National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

report stated that the

airspeed indicator The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometers per hour (km/h), knots (kn), miles per hour (MPH) and/or meters per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km/h, ...

was off on ''Tsunami'''s last flight and a mechanical failure in the flap system, caused the aircraft to roll on

final approach In aeronautics, the final approach (also called the final leg and final approach leg) is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing, when the aircraft is lined up with the runway and descending for landing.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of ...

into

Pierre Regional Airport Pierre Regional Airport is a public airport three miles east of Pierre, in Hughes County, South Dakota. Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 15,983 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 13,692 in 2009 ...

, South Dakota on 25 September 1991.

Specifications (''Tsunami'')

References

External links