CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL: AN INCREASE OF OVER 6 MPH!
January 12, 2005
Sarah Turner and I met in Ionia in 1976. We both flew for Jerry Benz at Benz Aviation instructing, towing gliders and banners. After 28 years and 23,000 hours combined corporate flying, Sarah and I decided to take a chance and fly together in our first "family plane" - a 1966 Twin Comanche. After an extensive annual at Northern Air, we are beginning the process of making improvements as $ will allow to enhance our little project's speed. After years of being use to 450 knots, now 150 knots requires a new mindset.
Before springing for any of the pricier modifications available, Dale Forton at Granitize Aviation, suggested trying the Xzilon cleaning and sealing system.
Sarah and I agreed that having an airplane sit for any long periods is not a good idea, so we now had an excuse to fly a "little mission" each time we'd make an attempt at a MPH enhancement.
Our baseline flight was a triangle from Y70 (Ionia) to AMN (Alma) to 13C (Lakeview) and return to Ionia. On the first flight around our "speed triangle", we used rather a high power setting of 24" and 2500 RPM. The OAT was +2 degrees C., configuration clean, and aircraft was topped off with fuel and 2 pilots. Temperature and wind component will vary on subsequent flights, however the triangle flight should make the wind negligible. On the first flight the aircraft was dirty and had some exhaust/oil residue on the belly. We employed the autopilot to fly the straight and level portion and hand flew the turns to reduce any overshoot or undershoot. We made standard rate turns after the KLN 90 read "0" at the turn-points. The result of our "dirty" baseline flight was 98.9 miles in 36 minutes 30 seconds, for a whopping 162.57 MPH (MPH makes us feel better).
Sarah and I took a weekend to use the Xzilon system and found the products very easy to use. We cleaned the entire airplane, then used the clay bar and then wiped the ship down with alcohol and applied the Xzilon. The appearance and texture of our old paint job was dramatically improved after about 8 hours of work.
Our next flight, using the same parameters, was cooler by 4 degrees (or -2 degrees C.). The resulting speed around the triangle was 168.9 MPH.
We definitely give credit for this increase to the Xzilon system made by Granitize Aviation. Perhaps one could argue that older paint jobs and dirty aircraft would benefit the most from using this system with some good old-fashioned elbow grease. Whichever way you choose to look at it, it looks good and feels good. Onto the next mod, and test flight. Watch out Win-A-Twin.
Jack Steen,
Ionia, Michigan