Hey Will............Gotta ask.............

[BKB]

Will-

Jason has provided us noephytes with some great video from Voodoo
I really enjoy the shot back from the dash looking back at you doing the job at hand. I just have to ask and I'm hoping you'll come up and awnser.

Are you having fun?

Aside from the maydays and such I mean.

Is the actual flying fun?

Are you pretty worked when you get back down? What kinds of physical stress are you feeling after? Does it feel like you ran a marathon,or does it feel like you did a short 20 mile bike ride?

Just wondering.Thanks in advance,

Brian(B2)

[Whiteside]

Re: Hey Will............Gotta ask.............

Brian, it can get kinda hot in there and the flame resistant suit doesn't breath well so overall I find that I can get pretty sweaty after a race. Some turbulence and wake on the course seem to make me tighten my grip on the stick so I may have to tell myself to relax my grip occasionally to reduce forearm fatigue. If I had to compare it to another sport, I'd say it's equivalent to a 5 mike mountain bike ride if you are not relaxed in the cockpit. If everything is going your way, it's like 1 mile mountain bike ride with a bunch of downhills!
You'd be surprised at how much fun it is trying to get the most out of a power setting. I ALWAYS ask Kerch for the highest power setting I can "nag" out of him so that I can turn 500 MPH laps. Don't get me wrong, I love any lap on that course but once you've gone 500+, nothing compares and there is no doubt to you in the cockpit if the speed is up. So like any racer would, I try to "EEK" out the speed and float the airplane around the course. This gets interrupted with the dynamics of air racing like lappers and wake but still I try and get back to flying "MY" line ASAP. Thankfully, I have accumulated some experience in other aircraft and have lots of racing experience from a previous life. These little things make this job flow easier. I wish I had the experience of C.J., Skip or Bob Love. These guys could write this article while making laps in traffic, and it would be written A LOT BETTER!
I owe so much to so many for being in the position I am in now and wouldn't change it for the world. I had the time of my life up there this year with my best friends AND we got to race a little bit. We were pretty disappointed that our strategy caused us to get 8th on Sunday but in reality we knew we would have won! The airplane came alive as it never had on Sunday morning and we knew what we had after 3 years of tuning.
Realize that if you just get your airplane to the races, you are a winner but...thats a story for another time!
Thanks to everyone that makes this motorsport go. It's a one of a kind here on earth and we should protect it carefully.

Will Whiteside
GO VOODOO!
GO STEADFAST!

[John]

Re: Hey Will............Gotta ask.............

Will, thanks for taking us onboard. Full flaps and got it down quickly, is that precaution against other problems like fire etc? -or mainly because the engine can't produce power even though it still sounded like it could. It is very painful to hear the engine having problems after all the hard work; but it looks like the team was ready this year.

Voodoo is very fast these days. The turns bleed away some of the speed @500.

Maybe Ghost will need some more wing!

[Race 29]

Re: Hey Will............Gotta ask.............

WOW! That's one of the best posts I've read in a long time! I was really pulling for the Voodoo team this year. It was your year! Everyone knows Voodoo stepped it up this year so they're going to have to raise the bar!

Race 29

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Hey Will............Gotta ask.............

Great job Will to you & the crew. I have enjoyed watching you come up thru the ranks & your day is coming. You remind me of the race pilot,Jimmy Desanto, who as a kid I did the washing & waxing on his planes during the post war air races in Cleveland. I'll bring his story next year to the races.

[BKB]

Re: Hey Will............Gotta ask.............

Hey Will-

Thanks for the insight. Appreciate the information.
I was on the ramp once when Skip was fast lapping Dago.
The man has icewater in his veins!The conversation was like he was sitting at his dining room table having a cup of coffee!
I know what you mean about them being able to write,chew gum,text,check e-mail all while running the pylons.
I wouldn't worry too much Will.It will come to you in due time to my friend.
It's called seat/lap time.You look pretty good at it to me.And it does look like a hell of good time.

Thanks again,

Brian(B2)