He Broke the Record for the Speed of Light

On a cloudless day recently, with the wind barely a whisper, David Green strapped himself into a homemade experimental aircraft and taxied down the runway at Camarillo Airport. He was wedged in the cockpit, a four-gallon gas tank resting between his legs. The 25-horsepower Italian engine, much smaller than the motor on the average Harley hog, vibrated noisily as Green pulled back on the joy stick and lifted off toward the wild blue yonder.

In minutes, Green maneuvered the plane into position for the first of seven runs at a world speed record for single-engine aircraft weighing less than 300 kilograms (661 pounds). Above him, three spotter aircraft were watching for incoming traffic and making sure he stayed below the required 1,600 feet. On the ground, six official timekeepers were ready to clock him over the two-mile course.

Green was trying to break the light-aircraft record of 78 m.p.h. that had been set the year before by D. G. Cook of Great Britain. In test runs, Green knew the little plane could really move and believed it could exceed Cook’s record.

But nobody expected what happened next.

On Green’s first official run, the aluminum plane streaked through the sky, a silver blur 330 feet off the ground and flashed across two miles in a minute. The timers checked their electronic equipment, then did a double take.

Green didn’t merely beat Cook. He blew the Englishman out of the record books. His first run was nearly 40 m.p.h . faster than Cook’s best time.

But one run does not a record make. To qualify for a world record in the eyes of the Federation Aerotique Internationale, a pilot must average his four fastest consecutive runs. When Green was finished flying the friendly skies, he chose runs four through seven, which included a dash of 120.5 m.p.h., and came out with a pending world-record average of 117.5 m.p.h.

But becoming an official world-record holder is almost as complicated as building your own plane. The federation, sworn to uphold the sanctity of aviation, is a bit stuffy. Since 1905, it has been the last word on anything that flies. It has strict regulations to be followed to the letter, detailed forms to fill out, requirements that must be met. In other words, a lot of red tape.

But even before the federation reviews Green’s record in Paris, it has to be certified by the National Aeronautic Assn. in Washington. The federation’s U.S. affiliate certifies records and sanctions record attempts in this country.

Green hopes to hear from Washington in about a month and fully expects to become certified as a national-record holder. Alexander J. Rankin, director of operations for the NAA, said that Green’s paper work “was very complete and very well done.” Assuming that Green doesn’t run into unexpected trouble, the NAA will send his dossier to the federation, which will take about six months to rule on his record.

When Green, 39, got into flying, he certainly wasn’t in the fast lane. Driving down a country road in New York state in 1972, he looked up and saw a glider soaring gracefully in the sky. Enchanted, he followed it until it landed, then asked for a ride. The first time he caught a thermal and sailed silently for miles over treetops, he knew he was hooked.

In 1978, Green moved to Los Angeles, which is surrounded by some of the world’s best areas for gliding, and became involved with the Experimental Aircraft Assn. at Camarillo Airport. The Camarillo chapter, with 220 members and 125 planes, is one of the country’s largest. By 1982, Green was looking for his own craft but said he “couldn’t find a production plane that fit the bill.”

What Green wanted was a small, fast, fuel-efficient, all-aluminum plane with removable wings that could be stored in a trailer. He finally decided on a model designed by John Monnett of Oshkosh, Wis. According to Green, Oshkosh is the “mecca of home-built aircraft.” The fuselage of the Monnett Moni is 17 feet long, with a wingspan of 27 feet and a V-shaped tail. The plane weighs only 360 pounds with fuel, another 160 with Green crammed inside.

The Moni arrived at Green’s leased 1,500-square-foot hangar in a few dozen crates, the largest of which was 15 feet long and 4 feet high. Green also received 60 pages of drawings and blueprints that looked a lot more involved than a kid’s swing set. Working primarily by himself, he began putting the pieces together in February, 1983. The plane was finished last March, with construction of a trailer adding four months to the project.

“The technology of experimental aircraft is so far ahead of production aircraft,” said Green, a real estate developer who runs the Lang Ranch construction company in Westlake Village and lives in Malibu. “It’s the forefront of the transportation end of aviation. Experimental aircraft uses the latest NASA airfoils and advanced materials like Fiberglas components and carbon fiber. The planes are much more efficient. A lot of the new ones can go 200 m.p.h. with a 100-horsepower engine.”

Last spring, just when the Moni was finished, Green came across a copy of the U.S. and World Aviation Record Book, which is published annually by the federation. He thumbed through the 300 pages, came across the Moni’s class and realized the record was attainable. He first applied to the NAA for a sanction that gave him the exclusive right to try for the record during the next 90 days. Then he had to decide where to fly.

“I could have done it over a river bed somewhere,” Green said, “but I wanted to try it at the Camarillo Airport. The airport staff was real helpful and got behind it. They got permission from the airport advisory committee, which recommended it to the airport authority, which recommended it to the Ventura County board of supervisors. The whole thing took two months to get approved.”

While waiting, Green was preparing the Moni for the record run. To make it aerodynamically cleaner than the original design, he filled in the rivets with plastic filler, smoothed the aluminum skin and sealed everything, including the canopy. In addition, he raised its tiny wing wheels to eliminate drag.

The night before the record attempt, Green checked and rechecked the plane. The next morning, he arrived at Camarillo at 6:30. The weather was cooperating. Green set up the course markers as other members of the Experimental Aircraft Assn. began arriving to help out. Organizing the record attempt, Green said, “was very complicated logistically.” By 7:45, the timers and the spotter aircraft were in position. At 8:30, D. G. Cook was old news.

Green realizes his record probably won’t last very long. Technology marches on. Before he tried to erase Cook from the record book, he learned there was a pending world record of 93 m.p.h. in his class. The would-be record holder was probably still celebrating when he heard the news that Green had sent him back to oblivion.

It’s possible Green will suffer the same fate. Regardless, he’s going onward and upward. By the time Green’s record becomes official, the Monnett Moni probably will be packed away in its trailer and Green will be riveting sheets of aluminum onto a new toy. He plans to buy a faster experimental aircraft, one capable of flying 200 m.p.h.--and propelling him to new heights.