RCATS is pleased to announce that it has supplied a custom built 30 channel experimental aircraft telemetry system that helped enable Mike Brown’s Sea Fury “September Fury” take home its first Unlimited Gold title at Reno 2006 with a speed of 481.619 mph. “I’ve been running telemetry in racing since 1987 and this is the best system that I’ve ever used”, said Bill Kerchenfaut, Crew Chief of race 232 September Fury.
For the second year in a row, Darryl Greenamyer’s Lancair Legacy set new record speeds while utilizing a RCATS telemetry unit. To date, RCATS has supplied twelve air race teams with real-time telemetry units for use at the Reno Air Races, a feat done by no other company in the world.
With numerous units operating at any given time, each team was fed their aircraft’s real-time data through a dedicated wireless link capable of greater than 20 miles range and displayed on a virtual instrument panel on the ground. The real-time telemetry units enable the pilot to concentrate on flying the course and for crews to monitor the vital aircraft parameters (i.e., engine pressures & temperatures) from the ground, with a high probability of spotting problems before they happen.
For the first time in history, RCATS enabled racers to look at the course being flown in real time with the help of Google EarthTM, displaying current aircraft position on a three dimensional geo-referenced image during flight. After flight, one can thoroughly analyze the course flown and make flight pattern changes based on speed and G forces.
We are proud to have been given the opportunity to help these racers “Measure the Unknown”. Our telemetry units are operating in very harsh and challenging environments, standing up to the demands of air racing, no matter what the size of the airplane. RCATS represented aircraft in four of the six different racing classes at Reno.
2006 telemetry equipped aircraft:
Mike Brown, September Fury - 1st place Unlimited Gold
Bill Destefani, Strega - 8th place Unlimited Gold
Rod Von Grote, Greenamyer Lancair Legacy - 2nd place Sport Gold
Scott Germain, Lancair 360 - 6th place Sport Bronze
Gary Hubler - 1st place Formula 1 Gold
Scott Crandelmire, Outrageous - 4th place Formula 1 Gold
Ray Debs, Carbon Slipper - 5th place Formula 1 Gold
Jeff Lo, Miss Gianna - 2nd Place Biplane Gold
Will Whiteside, Steadfast - 7th place Unlimited Silver
Dan Martin, Dago Red
Bob Button, Voodoo
Jimmy Leeward, Cloud Dancer/Galloping Ghost
More on the RCATS Experimental Telemetry Units: www.rcatsystems.com
RCATS Telemetry 
