In 1973, legend has it that Ken Burnstine and his crew chief were trying to come up with an "appropriate" paint job for his new P-51 Mustang "Miss Susy-Q". Armed with a thick book of WWII squadron markings, the two sat down over a bottle of DeWars scotch one evening and starting taking notes. This looked good. That looked good. So did that big red & white shark mouth. The later into the night they progressed, the lower the level in the scotch bottle became. And by the time they were done, and "Susy-Q" rolled out of the paint shop, she carried one of the wildest, most distinctive paint schemes ever seen on the ramp at Reno. The basic white paint scheme had the combined squadron markings of at least five different squadrons: red and yellow checkerboards, blue stripes, black stripes, shark mouths, etc. It was a visual assault to the eyeballs. Fate was good to that paintjob, however. The following year Burnstine flew race #33 "Miss Susy-Q" to victory in the 1974 Reno National Championship Air Races.

Stand by, race fans. "Susy-Q" is about to be knocked off the throne of the most bizarre paint scheme ever to grace the race course.

Anybody following the Unlimiteds over the last several years knows of Bob Button's "Voodoo" (formerly "Voodoo Chile"), and the trials and tribulations of the purple and white machine. Void of paint in '97, and wearing a simple coat of white for '98, "Voodoo" has seen her share of woes. But that is all about to change.

A full inspection was completed over the winter, and all damage to the airframe and systems repaired. Veteran test pilot and two-time Unlimited Champion Skip Holm has taken "Voodoo" up to wring her out on a couple of test flights, and all parties are extremely pleased at what they are seeing. "We're really close to where we want to be", said Button. [ed note: It has been reported that the wing root extensions aft of the wing were the cause of Voodoo's problems last year. They have since been shortened considerably.]

Article By: Lt. Bradley J. Haskin