The Air Racing Thread

yasotay

yasotay

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I debated where to put this thread as much of the adventuresome air racing happened before WW2. I hope it will bring more folks in with exciting information on the smaller Formula 1 racers and the designs which brought about this thread.

As a young man I was infatuated with all planes WW2. The P-51 Mustang being a natural favorite. I remember the first time I saw (then) Air Racer #5 "Roto-Finish" in it's silver livery. It remains to this day my favorite single aircraft.
Roto-Finish.jpg

Then they painted it red and called it "Red Baron"
AirRacerNo5.jpg

To my horror, they Frankenstein'd it with a Griffon engine and a new tail and ... blarg! I assume this was done to try and overcome "Rare Bear," the evil nemesis of all racing planes.
Red Baron ugly.jpg

Looking forward to more racing plane history.



Mods if redundant, please attach to existing thread.
 
While working for Butler and Para-Phernalia, I packed pilot emergency parachutes for many Reno competitors: Strega (P-51 Mustang), Red Baron (Harvard), a purple Cassutt Special out of Vancouver, Pond Racer, biplanes, etc. The parachute loft was always a mad rush the week before the Reno Air Races .... the week before the Oshkosh Fly In ... the week before the Ephrata glider meet ... etc.

Pond Racer is the only black mark on my record as a parachute rigger. Pilot Rick Brikkert suffered a right engine failure during 14 September 1993. He lowered the landing gear and attempted a forced landing on a dry lake bed. He set down too fast and overran the dry lake bed, dying when the Pond Racer rolled into rough terrain at high speed. Brickert never climbed high enough to use his parachute, making him the only person to die while wearing a parachute that I had packed.
One version of the story says that Brickkert was incapacitated by fumes before landing.
I have packed probably a thousand pilot emergency parachutes plus more than 3,000 reserve parachutes for skydivers.
 
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My first job after getting my A&P was at Tramco/BFGoodrich Aerospace, a Repair Station for commercial aircraft. I spent my time working on Northwest Airlines 727s.

But one of the odd projects that Tramco had worked on shortly before I arrived in 1998 was the Learstang, a P-51D race plane with the wing from a Lear 35 bolted on and a Griffon 58 engine with counter-rotating prop for power. N57LR, Race 38. First flew in 1997, raced in the 1997, 1998, and 1999 Reno races. Sadly, she crashed in 1999, after the empenage separated in a race.

Photo.php

Just doesn't quite look right, does it?
 
yasotay said:
...
To my horror, they Frankenstein'd it with a Griffon engine and a new tail and ... blarg! I assume this was done to try and overcome "Rare Bear," the evil nemesis of all racing planes.
View attachment 700268

...
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Rare Bear has been seen in a number of colour schemes. I seem to prefer some of the more conservative ones.

Bearcat_Grumman_F8F-2_Rare_Bear.jpg
 
I remember when Lyle Shelton (?) first showed up with his all white Bearcat and broke the record. I was rather put out, as a.young man, that a "Navy" airplane could beat an Air Force airplane.
I guess they did the same thing as my beloved "#5" and put a even bigger engine, tail, etc., on the old girl.
 
Who knows what was the final fate of the Cornell-Jackson "American Spirit"?
 

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From Air Classics 2022/11.
 

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There has been a project to build a new purpose built Unlimited racer called 'Shockwave'. Darryl Greenamyer started it in 1990s but a new group was continuing it more recently. Now that the Reno races will be no more....

R-4360 engine, Sea Fury wing with smaller center section, F-86 tail surfaces, T-2 Buckeye main landing gear, and a new fuselage.

Shockwave-GA-1995.jpg

shockwave-real2.jpg

shockwave-real.jpg

Shockwave_impression.jpg
 
Let us hope that they can find another venue for the races. Unfortunately unless they end up in the Dakota's or Kansas, the insurance and local population is likely to frustrate any endeavor.
@perttime - great find!
 
I've done aero work on the Unlimited Class racers Rare Bear, Dago Red, Strega, Critical Mass, Pond Racer, American Spirit and Shockwave. I've also done aero work on the Formula One racers Madder Maxx, Shadow, Endeavor and Fraed Naught, plus I crewed on Nemesis. It will be sad to see the Reno edition of the races end, but all things must pass...
 
Aeroweanie said:
I've done aero work on the Unlimited Class racers Rare Bear, Dago Red, Strega, Critical Mass, Pond Racer, American Spirit and Shockwave. I've also done aero work on the Formula One racers Madder Maxx, Shadow, Endeavor and Fraed Naught, plus I crewed on Nemesis. It will be sad to see the Reno edition of the races end, but all things must pass...
Click to expand...
I truely hope you will share some of your experiences with us. Air(craft) racing has such a wonderful history.
Soon we will be left with quad-copters racing through abandoned shopping malls as the glories of men and women battling gravity fade.
 
GTX said:
It would have been interesting to see if Pond Racer and/or Tsunami could have played a greater role:

www.smithsonianmag.com

Born to Race

Just how close a pair of custom-built racers came to unseating the kings of Reno.
www.smithsonianmag.com www.smithsonianmag.com
Click to expand...
As a side note, Skip Holm always felt that Tsunami had the potential to be the fastest racer on the course. And that is saying something since Skip had time in Rare Bear, Strega, and of course Dago Red.
 
The Tsunami certainly had potential, being the smallest airframe they could build around a Merlin. It seems that scratchbuilt racers have tended to have one issue or another that led to a disastrous ending.

... of course, many that were "just" highly modified, and pushing the limits, have had disastrous endings.
 
Perhaps out of subject, but I am looking for information concerning air races held in USSR between the two world wars.
Up to now I am found the following information (source unkown), but I am looking for more, especially on Osoaviakhim contest(s).
Thanks in advance,
 

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perttime said:
There has been a project to build a new purpose built Unlimited racer called 'Shockwave'. Darryl Greenamyer started it in 1990s but a new group was continuing it more recently. Now that the Reno races will be no more....

R-4360 engine, Sea Fury wing with smaller center section, F-86 tail surfaces, T-2 Buckeye main landing gear, and a new fuselage.

View attachment 700465

View attachment 700464

View attachment 700466

View attachment 700467
Click to expand...
Rumor has it that another Unlimited Project used more T-2 components including the wings and tricycle landing gear. Skteches also showed a large radial engine.
 
@Aeroweanie - Given the demise of Reno and the in increased cost of insuring. Do you think the unlimited class will continue in the coming years?

please say "yes"
 
Mugs914 said:
Greetings gents!

This is my first post, though I've been a member here for many years. I finally had something useful to add to the wonderful dialog on this forum! Thank you for having me!

The racer Riggerrob mentioned was known as the Cornell-Jackson American Spirit and not only were sketches posted and parts collected, they got fairly far along with construction!

The vagaries of the unlimited racing scene, and especially the funding thereof, conspired to end the project before completion, though it is believed that the airplane still exists in a hangar somewhere and might even be available for sale to anyone who would like to have a go at finishing it.

Not enough change down the back of my couch, I'm afraid!

Here it is...
View attachment 663125
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View attachment 663128

The last update that I've seen was from 2003...

Mike
Click to expand...

Re-posting this from the T-2 Buckeye thread...

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm a huge air racing nerd!

Mike
 
yasotay said:
@Aeroweanie - Given the demise of Reno and the in increased cost of insuring. Do you think the unlimited class will continue in the coming years?

please say "yes"
Click to expand...
Racers are gonna race.

Last I heard was one of the cities in Wyoming was talking about hosting. They host a major rodeo there, so have the hotel space for people.
 

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