The 200 mph KR has come back on the stage. Here are some thought thereto. In the back of the hangar we have a KR1. It is not and never will be in flying condition. It's ancestry is unknown. I gave Jay $300.00 for it which is what he had given Hank who is gone now and we will never know where he acquired it. It is a second generation KR1 with the four Lord motor mounts in the firewall and the large hinged canopy. It has become mock-up to our main project and an educational project with grandson.
With the canopy off and the cowling over the gas tank removed the whole fuselage is exposed. That is when 200mph conjecturing starts. Suppose we move the firewall back to the main spar and the pilot back so that his/her knees are above the rear spar. The fuselage is extended to keep it wide enough to accommodate the pilot's shoulders and maybe a bit more. This opens a wide possibility for engine. Some where approaching 200 horsepower is required. Lycoming and Continental make engines in that range but if one wants to go all the way there are auto based engines with Chev Corvette based ones most available. At some point we have been here before. The Percival Mew Gull of British air racing during the 1930s comes to mind. It was about the size of our KR based design. It had a 233 hp Gypsy Six and a top speed of well over our benchmark 200mph. Alex Henshaw set the to South Africa and back [6000+ miles] in 1939 in G-AEXF hand flying with a compass. For 200 mph there probably not be muck KR1 left but one must start somewhere. Bill Weir
