Birth Of A Raceplane — Jeff Lo's Miss Gianna

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Jeff Lo has been a fixture in the Biplane racing division for many years. His sleek Pitts racer, named after his late wife "Miss Diane" has become one of our favorite airplanes raced at Reno.

I think it was on the ramp on a very sultry last day at Oshkosh a few years ago when Jeff first told me of his plans for a new Biplane racer. On that still Wisconsin morning, high temperature and even higher humidity conspired with way too many beers the night before to sap my attention span and the details of the conversation unfortunately escaped somewhere into the place where details that I'd like to commit to memory, but never can, wind up.

In the years following this first word of Jeff's new plane, we've kept in touch and kept pace with the progress on his new airplane.Named after his daughter, Jeff's dream biplane took shape in the skilled hands of fellow air racer Chris Ferguson. What Jeff told me of the airplane over this period of time definitely riveted my attention. Never having seen a visual of the airplane, Jeff's descriptions had my imagination creating a vision of an elongated Pitts on steroids. Talking with Chris at the Tunica (Mississippi) Air Races in June fortified the vision. Indeed, Chris enthusiastically described an airplane beyond my dreamed of "Super Pitts"! But I'd have to wait to see her described sleekness.

On seeing the first pictures of the airplane that Jeff sent me prior to paint, the airplane looked pretty darn good even in the unfinished state that it was in. Now completed and flying, Jeff has sent us a batch of photos taken during the construction process. We get a rare look at the birth of a raceplane and Jeff and Chris's vision come to life! To the lovers of things that fly with two wings, this new airplane is surely a thing of great beauty!

For those of you who think that racing at Reno (or elsewhere) is done only by airplanes with a single wing, you are missing out on one of the most competitive and innovative racing divisions in the great sport of Air Racing! We present you with "one to watch" for 2005, Jeff Lo's "Miss Gianna!

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For more information about Jeff Lo and his race team, visit http://flyin-lo.com