ANOTHER STEP
FORWARD FOR "MISS
AMERICA"
 Her life
began no doubt, in the hands of
"Rosie the Riveter"
—at the North American
Aviation plant in Inglewood,
California, in 1944.
She
is a modified North American
P-51-D-30NA Mustang, USAAF serial
number 44-74536. Her wingspan is
clipped to thirty-two feet, a
mere two inches less than her
length. She is thirteen feet
eight inches high. Empty, she
weighs 7000 pounds, but at normal
gross takeoff weight, she weighs
in at 9,600.
She
is currently powered by a
Packard-built Rolls Royce Merlin
V-1650-7, a finely-tuned
"stock" engine formerly
capable of 1490 hp, except when
tweaked for racing, where it
develops 3000 hp — twice the
power it was initially designed
to produce some fifty years
earlier.
She
consumes fuel at the rate of 50
gallons per hour in normal
cruise; 150 gallons per hour
during takeoff. Her standard
cruise speed is between 240-250
knots. Her racing speed is 420 +
mph. Her range is 750 nautical
miles.
In
1969, when she was purchased by
Howie Keefe, she was valued at
$25,000 US dollars. Today, she's
a worth a cool million.
She
has competed in the Unlimited
Class since 1969 —a period
of thirty-one years—
thirty-five years if you include
her prior racing history in the
hands of other owners.
She
is the 1994 Unlimited Class
National Air Racing Champion.
She
holds the World's Speed Record
between Los Angeles, California,
and Washington, D.C., a distance
of 2,289 miles that she covered
in six hours twenty-one minutes,
at an average speed of 412 mph.
They
call her "Miss
America," because indeed,
she is breathtakingly
beautiful...
...more
so, than any, long-legged
contestant, who has strutted her
shapely torso down the runways of
that famed pageant for which this
marvelous aircraft is named.
And
according to Dr. Brent Hisey, her
current owner and pilot,
everything I have just told you
about her —statistically
speaking— is about to
change:
**************************************
 AAFO:
Brent, you race one of the most
recognizable airplanes in the
sport. Miss A has a very long and
colorful history; when did you
acquire the airplane and how did
you first become interested in
Air Racing?
Brent
Hisey: "When I
first acquired MissA in 1993, I
really did not intend to race
her. I watched Alan Preston,
David Price and Bruce Lockwood
race her in Reno in 1993 and
1994. I obviously caught the bug
and we had to come up with a
plan. MissA came with a stock
dash7 Merlin, the MOF [Santa
Monica Museum Of Flying] used
their race engines for
Reno1993/1994, so I did not have
a race engine. I and my team at
the time, which consisted of
Larry Butler, decided that
Phoenix would be our first race
– in 1995."
AAFO:
Your first race was at Phoenix;
how did it go for you?
Brent
Hisey: "We had to
work within two constraints:
limited budget – if we break
our engine, we have no spare and
no way to get home; [and] we had
no experience at racing. Well,
things went well and I and the
engine survived."
AAFO:
The engine, the airplane and
pilot survived the first race and
you are now probably really
bitten with the racing bug…
Where did you go from there?
Brent
Hisey: "Next was
Reno 1995, again with our stock
dash 7and I believe we took
second in the bronze. 1996 was
stock dash7 and fortunately we
won. Rick Schanholzer and Larry
Butler each year decided what
M.P. [manifold pressure] and
R.P.M. we could hopefully run
without breaking – which is
a rule I haven't violated to
date. Each year we gained
experience and fortunately did
not break, in that we still had
only one engine!"
AAFO:
Are you still racing with that
same engine?
 Brent
Hisey: "We finally
"upgraded" and put 620
transport heads on our dash 7
lower end and that has been our
engine since 1997, so MissA has
essentially flown with one engine
since 1995."
AAFO:
You did really well last year
[Reno 2000] with this setup, that
was a great battle with
"Rhino" in "Risky
Business." Brent, we got a
chance to watch your team at work
during some of the action in your
pit, even with the hardship of
not being able to start on Friday
due to the plug problem, the team
always seem to be in good
spirits. How important is a good
team to an Air Racing effort?
Brent
Hisey: "I cannot
tell you the love, work and care
that has been put into MissA by
Larry and Greg Butler and their
Warbirds Inc. crew and Rick
Schanholzer, without them there
would be no Miss America air
racing. I feel this team has done
more with less resources than any
other race team. Each year we
have increased the M.P./R.P.M.
parameters that we felt we could
safely run, as if 110 inches is
safe, <laughs> and we have
felt that we have been
successful."
AAFO:
It seems this year there are more
stories coming from the race
teams early on than any year in
recent memory… You have
gotten a considerable amount of
ribbing from time-to-time for
running what some people consider
a "conservative" race
strategy; are you making any
changes…. what’s on tap
for the Miss America Race Team
for Reno 2001?
Brent
Hisey:"What some
people have called
"sandbagging" was
really our efforts to protect our
only engine. This year will be
our first with what we think is a
true ‘race engine’. We
bought Mick Rupp's race engine
and Rick [Schanholzer] is going
through it as we speak. It will
be 620 heads and banks/ dash 9
lower end and blower, Allison
rods and lots of other fun parts.
We want to be in the Gold this
year!!!!! "
AAFO:
So we’re going to see a
"new" competitive face
on the airplane this year.. She
sure looked good with the new
paint job last year!
Brent
Hisey: "We have
done in the 420's with our old
engine so I am very excited to
"let the dogs out".
MissA is still the prettiest girl
at the dance with our new paint
job from Downtown Airpark/TK
Aero. <laughing> You can
paint a sea fury all you want,
but she's still a fat chick!!
<continued laughing>
AAFO:
I can’t wait to see and hear
the new setup! One more quick
question before we let you go
Brent: There is a flight
simulation coming out modeled
after the Reno races,
"Xtreme Air Racing"
Miss America is in it, she looks
and flies absolutely fantastic in
the simulation… have you
gotten a chance to try your hand
at it yet?
Brent
Hisey: "I Haven't
flown the racing sim and I’m
looking forward to giving it a
try."
AAFO:
Thanks for taking the time to
talk with us Brent, we’re
looking forward to seeing you at
Reno 2001 "The Race
Odyssey" as well as hoping
we can actually fly with you in
the "virtual Reno"
soon!
**************************************
As we move ahead to
Reno 2001 "The Race
Odyssey" — the
"plot" indeed — thickens!
Reno 2001 —
BE THERE!
Interview
by: Wayne Sagar
introduction by: Mark S. Daniels
click
here for event and ticketing
information
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