The following article was published by Sonex Aircraft and this excerpt is reprinted with permission from Mark Schaible. The article highlights Lou Toth (Beta Alpha/UCLA 1978).
Congratulations to Sonex builder Lou Toth who set a National Aeronautics Association (NAA) Speed Over a Recognized Course record in his AeroVee powered, tricycle gear Sonex, “Dreamcicle.” The record was set in Class R for Microlights per European standards. Lou set the record along with Ben Poffenberger on March 31, 2023,, flying from Pensacola, FL, to Pascagoula, MS.
The record was set at an average speed of 110.58 mph between Pensacola and Pascagoula, and an average speed of 107.13 mph on the return trip. “Of course these are average speeds,” writes Lou, “We did fly the final descent into Pensacola at 147 kts (about 169 mph) so the controllers could squeeze us in-between the airliners and other traffic, great fun.”
“I know our record is only a National Record, and not a FAI recognized record,” continues Lou, “but it is interesting to note that the NAA website for Speed Over a Recognized Course starts in 1935 with Gaston Gentin & Andre Robert flying from Paris to Antananarivo at a speed of 94.39 mph, In a Caudron C.635; the first continental US flight in a B-52 in 1962 by Clyde Evely and crew from Seattle to Fort Worth at 552.5 mph; and the first US Microlight record in 1993 by Joseph Clinard from Centerville, TN, to Little Rock, AR, in a Quicksilver MX at 38.58 mph.”
“The records by Ben and I may be the first dual-crew U.S. National Records, only the second U.S. record in almost 30 years, and if Mr. Clinard did not build his Quicksilver, the first crewbuilt Microlight to set a U.S record. I know the Europeans and other countries have many more records in the Microlight & Paramotor classes, but our hope is that our ‘Hundred Dollar Hamburger’ record inspires others in this class to stand out with the more than 4600 [available] Speed Over a Recognized Course records!”
Lou accepted his record certificates during the opening ceremony at the 117th FAI General Conference held October 25-28, 2023, in Dayton, OH.