Vlado Lenoch

Before we start I’d first like to personally thank Mr. Lenoch for giving me the courtesy and the time to present this in-depth article from the racers perspective. Much of what is contained below will also appear in the North American Trainer Association newsletter in an article written by Vlado. With his permission, we have incorporated it into this article in an effort to bring valuable insight of the Reno experience to the readership.With that said, it’s time to get on with the post-race interview.

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For myself, the first impression I have at Reno each year is the moment that I'm driving along the interstate and get a look at the course from a distance - I then start to imagine all that is to come during the week and how great it will be. The anticipated sights, sounds and aura of Reno act like an aphrodisiac, welcoming me home. I can imagine for the competitors, their " first impression" is somewhat different....... Or is it? (M.K.)

"As I come over the hill on the interstate, each day from the hotel, my impression is the same as the very first one each day. I just want to make all the systems work well and fly a bit better than the day before. I don't have any grand plans or heroic speeches, just a recognition of the problems that can arise and to make sure they are handled properly. Recognizing this, I do realize that sometimes, a problem may force a complete stand down, when whatever is wrong is beyond our capabilities to fly for that day."

Can you please refresh our memories as to the modifications that were made to Moonbeam prior to this years race?

" The months prior to Reno did take some preparation in getting Moonbeam all configured to go racing. Added to the Mustang were water injection, spray bars for the radiators with a new coolant scoop, a modified dorsal fin, increased horizontal tail incidence, clipped wing tips, longer coolant door, smaller canopy and re-tuned engine. These changes would subsequently ensure that Moonbeam would be competitive in the fastest race field ever to enter at Reno."

As we know, the qualifications and pilot certifications take place Monday through Wednesday prior to the races. What does this involve and being that this was your "first time", what type of training/instruction did you receive?

" On arrival at Reno, one week prior to the final gold races, the multitude of briefings began as well as the last minute engine and airframe preparations. The pilot briefings were held for all pilots to review and to reinforce race and emergency procedures. For the race pilots, this review was to prove vital and especially so for the rookie pilots. In the "heat & passion" of flying on the race course at high power settings, a race pilot must have in mind already preplanned emergency procedures. For example, if the engine quits: what do I do, where will I go, how will I fly the airplane? All these questions have been experienced by other race pilots at many prior Reno race events. By sharing these past incidents with each other in the briefings, all pilots would have an idea of what is best to do and what others on the race course should expect from the Mayday aircraft, ---Mayday, did I say Mayday? Yes, this is one airport where Mayday is a daily event, somewhat regular but absolutely serious.

After the briefings, the rookie and out-of-currency pilots were paired with race check pilots - Art Vance and Dennis Sanders - for flight checks, The entire check flight, from start engines to chock-in, was done in a race scenario. As well, our radio calls used our race number, "Race 51", rather than our N-number. My group of three rookies taxied out in race order with Art, took Off in trail, as in a race launch, and formed up immediately on Art's Mustang. We each spread out for a moment and demonstrated a roll and momentary inverted flight to our check pilot. Then it was down from altitude, onto the race course. (The race pilots talk about "the course" somewhat reverently. No one is allowed on the course without approval by the race committee organization - even after the races are over. The course is 9.187 miles in a irregular oval). On the course, Art would take us around the course several laps for a good look around. Then we would practice a pass of our check pilot, whereupon we would each individually, on his call, pull up and off the course and simulate an engine failure to deadstick landing. After this flight, if acceptable, we were cleared to go later onto the race course solo to fly ten practice laps. Once these laps were completed, we would be considered qualified race pilots. Qualified, but inexperienced!!

The check flights on Monday would take the complete day to accomplish. The subsequent days were to consist of simply going out onto the course to get practice, to do power cheeks and get speed qualified. The course would be open only 90 minutes twice a day for the unlimited racers that entered to practice. For other times during the day, the biplanes, formula ones and T-6s had similar access to the course for similar purposes."

So, who regulates this training/instruction? I know the FAA is present (and their regulation of flying speaks for itself ;-) but do they play a role in the actual race pilot certification?

" Each morning the pilots must attend briefings. The FAA has almost no involvement in these, as the pilot group tends to self regulate and manage themselves, to promote and improve safety in this unique sport. Obviously, no FAA employee has the experience to regulate or dictate operational issues in this race situation. Thus, though they were present, the FAA did very little in any of the briefings. Each pilot is judged (and regulated) by his/her peer group in all the race classes."

How about telling us a bit about your first solo runs on the course & getting Moonbeam prepared and primed for the races to follow.

" My first solo runs on the course were flown to check the engine power available. With water for the spray bars on board and 145 octane fuel - it was time to see how it would go. After a few warm-up laps, I pushed the power up to the firewall. To my dismay, I only got 60 inches of manifold pressure. This was not going to be enough to race in this years very fast entry field. On landing, it was realized that I did not have the broomstick installed into the carburetor to bypass the boost limit. Once my engine man Mike Nixon got that installed, it was time to go out for another try. This time it worked; I got up to 77 inches!

To get to this power took not only throttle movement, but a bit of courage. I had never gone above 55 inches before and now I was going to push my darling little Merlin up past that. Technically , I had confidence that it would work. All my "consultants" had told me that the Merlin could easily go up to 80 inches, as it was a strong mechanical engine design. But to do that required some preparation. First, the engine needed higher octane fuel than 100LL. At Reno, 145 octane fuel, as well as five grades higher with additives, is available for racing. This fuel gets you through the 55 inch "normal" up to the 75 inch "racing" manifold pressure range. The higher octane fuel prevents detonation problems associated with low octane grades of fuel. As power in the Merlin goes up into the 70-80 inch area, another problem arises, that of high induction manifold temperatures. These high temperatures can also cause detonation. An easy way to solve this is by the use of a water injection system, where a 50-50 mix of water and alcohol is sprayed into the intake manifold to reduce the induction temperatures. At much higher power settings the aftercooler in a stock engine becomes ineffective (At the "Strega" power setting of 120 to 140 inches, the aftercooler is removed from the engine altogether!). One can run without water injection if induction temperatures are monitored and kept below 80 degrees centigrade. This 80 degree limit results in a power setting around 75 to 80 inches of manifold pressure. At Reno, noted Lockheed Skunk Works scientist, Pete Law, was available to check and fine tune many race engine water injection systems. At Lockheed, Pete primarily works in the field of thermodynamics, where he developed the exotic fuels for the SR-71 and F-117.

The first time I got the engine up to 77 inches, I ran a few laps to get the "feel" of the power setting!! It took some personal conviction to decide to run at this fabulous manifold pressure. To accept this power, the governor was reset to 3200 rpm, At this power setting the engine did howl and the wind noise was more intense outside the canopy (or was it my breathing?!!). But the Merlin did run remarkably smooth. The smoothness was very comforting, in spite of the maelstrom outside the canopy."

" Out on the course, a race pilot is required to make a radio call to request to be put "on the clock" in order to obtain a race course qualifying time. This qualifying time sorts out the top 24 fastest that will be permitted to race In the final four days of the races. Usually, the pilots do this without too many aircraft on the course, i.e. traffic. With very little traffic, the qualifying times are usually the fastest the aircraft will ever fly and obviously faster than in the race finals, where the other guy and his wake turbulence will slow you down. For example at last years' Reno, Rare Bear qualified at 492 mph, but raced at 'only' 450 mph. "

Did you encounter any problems during qualifying?

" My third qualifying lap at 77 inches produced a surprise. While rounding the far pylon on the course - Mayday! My engine began to sputter! Immediately, I thought my darling motor was detonating. Low out on the course, I decided not to play engine mechanic an try to diagnose what was wrong. So, I immediately called Mayday and pulled up and toward the centers of the race course. This action was almost automatic, as this was repeatedly discussed at the pilot briefings. Turning into the center of the course and pulling up, would almost assure ones capability to reach any of the three runways at Reno Stead airport. The engine sputtered at pylon 4, which is heading away from the airport and thus I could not see any of the runways. But as I pulled up and toward the enter, I could start to pick out the airport from the distant desert glare and sage brush. With 363 MPH on the airspeed indicator when the engine coughed, I easily gained altitude to the center of the course. I went up so high, up to 3500 feet AGL, that the real problem was how to come down to the intended point of touchdown. As I went up, I did pull the windmilling prop back to reduce drag. Next, as airspeed dropped, I put the gear down as I did have the airport assured. But now to fine tune the approach, I needed to use a combination of flaps and the prop as a speed brake to keep it on the right glide path to touchdown on runway 8. That combination, again as discussed in the pilot briefing, did work out beautifully with touchdown on the end and rollout to the center taxiway. Oh yes, the problem....too much water being injected into the motor, making the induction temperature too cool for the power setting - the flame in the cylinder was simply being dowsed ), Pete Law stepped in to readjust the water injection nozzles, gratefully!"

Strolling through the pit area, one cannot help but notice that the aircraft are constantly in a state of inspections and maintenance. So much so, that it may seem unusual to the average fan. Most know that these aircraft are (or will be) put through some rigorous paces throughout the week - but few know what's going on after the aircraft gets back to their pit stall. So I guess the question is, "What's going on there buddy?"

" While the pilots are briefing, the aircraft crews are cleaning, inspecting, and servicing all the aircraft. This takes a lot of intense effort. The aircraft must be fully gone over like this twice a day for the 2 daily time slots available to fly the course during qualifying. The correct fuel load, engine oil, water for the spray bars and injection unit were some of the items that needed tending. Every day the aircraft engine bays are opened up and normal inspections are performed. Spark plugs are checked, magnetos are checked, the valves are inspected, the oil is changed every other day, all the fluids are serviced - fuel, water and ADI. The entire airframe is inspected for loose screws on the fairings. The tape for the gaps is replaced or inspected daily. This is stuff that might normally be done every 50 hours, but with the high power settings of Reno is done daily. Thus the engine areas are almost always open for inspection. If it were not for the pit crews, the aircraft absolutely could not fly."

It was apparent that the "Blue Nosers" were a team at this years event. I counted more times that I can remember that I strolled by your pits only to see you discussing one thing or the other, doing maintenance on the `other fellows' aircraft and generally just helping the other guy out. For you, to what extent did this help, or rather how valuable was the shared knowledge and experience?

" Sharing of info, strategy, and just jokes was common ramp life. Once each of us got our own aircraft settled for the day's activities, we then turned to the other guy to see what he might need. We three 'Blue Nosers' always stayed active in the ramp. Though unspoken, we didn't want to see anyone of us downed for any reason, thus there was a constant activity level between us.

It was the sheer "camaraderie'' of going out with a group that made this event and long cross country flight enjoyable. As a group, we shared not only expenses, but logistical support, technical support (thanks Sam & Shaw) and work to configure the Mustangs to be race ready. Since we all three did fly on the final race day, the effort was a success."

As is common with most forms of competition, there usually stands one person (or group of people) that does one hell of allot of work and receives little recognition for their efforts, but without whom - there would be no competition at all. Please share with us your "unsung hero(s)" of the event.

" We each had our main crew chief that we designated as the main guy responsible for making sure the complete aircraft was fully serviced and staged on the ramp ready to go. Part of this work was described about in the 'Pit' section. For Moonbeam it was Steve Kovalsky, for Queen B it was Dick James and for Mary Bear it was Rich who also works at Kenosha Jet Center. Sharing work amongst the three airplanes was Matt Olafsen and also Jason and Larry from Planes of Fame- East. Queen and Moonbeam used the crew from Vintage V-12 for engine inspections - Mike & Kim Nixon and Jose, Steve & Tony from their shop. While Mary Bear had Rick Schoenholtzer looking after his motor."

Now watching a race is one thing but preparing for it from a competitors perspective - that has to be difficult. We already touched upon the mechanical aspects of this. What about the mental preparation that you must do in order to get ready?

" I personally needed a few minutes before the race to quiet down in the motorhome before climbing on board. This may have been more physical than mental, as I did need a bit of rest from doing all the ramp roving prior to each heat event. We each did have to switch gears in order to think about flying rather than what part needs fixing while in the pits."

I know form personal experience, that performing in front of a crowd can get a bit dicey at times (nervousness, butterflies and the like). I know that the professional in us tells us that there is no reason for this, but the kid in us says "Ohhh, scarrrry" <g>. I realize this may be a bit too personal, but did you get nervous or even scared at any time during the races?

" This was really not a factor at all. We each flew the course only to the satisfaction of the FAA (keeping away from their restricted areas) and to maximize race performance. Since warbird pilots often attend airshows, we become quite familiar with the crowd being there and thus are quite comfortable with them. There is no stage fright aspect at all."

What amazes me the most about this sport, is that pilots such as yourselves fly the course like you have been doing it all your life. I was amazed just how close and low to the pylons the pilots get. It can't be that easy - can it? Along the same lines, it looked like (from my vantage point at the pylons) the pilots were really concentrating on the tasks at hand. As spectators, most have little knowledge on just what is happening in the cockpit during the races - what you guys are thinking about, what various engine performance parameters your monitoring, the G forces your encountering, etc. Could you try to put "us" in the cockpit for a lap or two and describe what's going on up there?

When the pace plane called the stirring words "Gentlemen - you have a Race" , each race pilot shifted their focus from the line abreast formation to the race course that lay ahead. All motors powered up to accelerate to race speeds. The heavier Sea Furies tended to nose over on entry, to gain a speed boost through their sheer weight. The Mustangs and other aircraft throttled up to enter the course directly near pylon 3. All racers already had their race systems, spray bars and water injection, turned on prior to being cut loose by the pace plane.

Driving on the course involves the same subtle techniques as a race car driver. The flight path chosen must minimize G loading to reduce induced drag and its resultant speed loss. This requires a flight path around the pylons with smooth entries and exits. Once the power is up and the engine is running well, all one needs to do is fly this perfect flight path around the course. But a few aviation gremlins jump in to mess up this perfect equation. There is ground turbulence, heat thermals and, oh yes, wake turbulence from the fellow competitors. All this can reduce speed and also force one to fly a wider course because of traffic. There isn't much one can do about the atmospheric but as far as traffic goes, one can simply add more power to get ahead of everyone (easy to say!).

At the Reno race course the pylons are flown with 2.5 to 3.5 G's on the meter. The turns are flown at high races speeds and thus are sustained for a long duration. With upwards of ten laps flown, the race becomes physically grueling, even though the race lasts ten minutes at the most."

In other forms of motorsports, the teams and drivers generally have a well developed race plan. These generally contain basic do's and don'ts, self imposed goals, disciplines to hone and hurdles to overcome. Did you develop and implement such a plan, or basically - just what was your race strategy for this event?

" First strategy was to get all systems working. Once that was done, then I could concentrate on flying the best course to minimize G loads and improve my position in the race. If all systems were looking good in the cockpit, then I could focus my attention to the outside."

One might think that it would be easy to get "caught up in the moment" during a race and tend to push the aircraft's speed a bit beyond what you may had planned prior to the race. Did this occur?

" During the qualifying days prior to the final four days, all the systems were pushed to their maximum to see where they would be. Thus the most performance was to be had during the last four days. And on those last four days, only sustained performance at these maximum levels were to be expected. So when the final races came, there wasn't any "pushing things" to be done."

Were you satisfied with your aircraft's performance on the course this year? Anything perhaps you would have done differently, or rather - lessons learned?

" I was satisfied with this years aircraft performance. Nothing broke and every system basically worked as planned. Technically, the shortened wings did work in increasing speeds by about 20 mph though the short tips did increase the turn radius at each pylon. As long as high power was maintained one could remain competitive. Also, the radiator spray bars were essential in keeping oil and coolant temperatures in the green, as well as keeping the coolant doors in their low drag position. The water injection systems did work in preventing any detonation problems. Though the engines were operating at the threshold temperature where water injection was needed, it was assuring to know the system was in place. But, not all systems worked to their best, thus there will be many adjustments made to improve power and reduce drag even further. If this had been last year, Moonbeam would have finished in the top of the Silver category; but this years field of entries was the fastest ever to enter Reno. That resulted in a Bronze finish for Moonbeam. "

Now that the races have been concluded and there only remains the memory of Reno 97, what stands out as the most memorable to you, the competitor.

Just as exciting as the final race on Sunday, was the cross-wind during landing. With the limited aileron authority from the shortened wig tips, it was a bit of work to keep Moonbeam's wing down during flare and rollout.

Also, in my memory was the sheer intensity of the wake turbulence behind the other aircraft, how sharply it would snap my Mustang to one side. Also, I'll truly be amazed at how smoothly the Merlin ran at high power settings; once I got past the apprehension it became very comfortable to be running at 77 inches manifold and 3200 rpm."

Anything else that you would like to add to wrap this up? Also, do you have plans on coming back next year?

" After Sunday final races, all the pilots got to go home. Art Vance, the check pilot and also chase pilot, would always say that this outcome would make the races successful. In my opinion, it was. Several aircraft would be bent and scratched at the end of the races, but with today's technology all can and are being rebuilt.

The races were an amazing assortment of men and machinery. The camaraderie on the ramp was just amazing to this (and the other) newcomers. Any time anyone had a problem or lacked some parts, every other competitor and their Crew were always willing to lend a hand or lone a part. Strega’s crew fixed a part for Moonbeam one morning, (thanks to Bill Kerchenfaut.) The 1997 Reno Air races are now history. The results for the Gold Race are documented in many aviation magazines throughout the US. These published results don't even begin to fully express the sweat, excitement and satisfaction that goes into participating in the air race.

Yes, I'll be back......in fact we all three will return to renew and enjoy these racing thrills. We each have our own tune ups to do to get more speed, but we are basically prepared to return in the same configuration as this year."

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Thanks again to Vlado, the North American Trainer Association and to all who made this years Reno event come true.

Cya in the pits (next year),

Mark......

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