Friday
Update Sheet
Note:
All race statistics, as posted in the official
race results,
printed at day's end by the Reno Air Race
Association.
10:00am
Formula One: Heat Race 1B proved
to be a great race between Gary Hubler in
Race 95, Mariah and Ray Cote in Race 4,
Alley Cat. Gary took the lead from Ray in
6th lap and kept it till the end. David
Hoover in Race 3 came in at a close Third
place.
3:00pm
Unlimited Class: In
Heat 2B, Robert 'Hoot' Gibson, piloting
Race 99, Riff Raff, was looking strong in
second position, when he called a Mayday
in the first lap between Pylons 2 and 3.
He brought the aircraft down hard and
fast — pilot and plane are home and
safe. Hoot was blistering the course at
over 400mph (unofficially timed by the
crew) when the airscoop located on the
top of the cowling decided to come
unglued. The end result was debris
through the engine intake, causing major
internal damage. A small chunk of the
scoop also struck the vertical stab and
caused a small hole.
.... "it's nothing that money can't
fix" Riff Raff owner, Mike Keenum
said glibly when we asked the "how
bad?" question. At this point, the
team is unsure if they will bring the
spare engine to Reno and fly the airplane
home, or disassemble Riff Raff for
trucking home. The spare engine is
actually the engine they would have liked
to race with this year but did not have
time to install.
Later, in the same heat, the leader, Bill
Rheinschild, pilot of Race 45, Risky
Business, called a Mayday in the 4th lap
on the back of the course. Bill stayed
high and brought Risky down as soon as
the runway was clear. Apparently, Bill's
power dropped from 100" down to
40" in seconds, which is definitely
NOT a good thing. A check with the crew
later, revealed the cause, Rheinschild's
throttle linkage had broken. Risky will
race again Saturday in good form
Sport Class:
Heat 2A we saw the Factory Lancair
running smooth and very fast,
unfortunately for Dave Morss, the plane
went wide and crossed the 'deadline' (off
the course) and that's an automatic
disqualification per RARA's rules.
Lou Meyer, in Race 69, Thunder Mustang
went on to win the race. That's
"Sky-Slut's" Second race,
Second win!! If this keeps up, we'll have
to tie a string around his ankles to keep
him on the ground but it may already be
too late.. Lou's feet have not touched
down since yesterday as it is..... Lee
Behel in Race 5, the Questair Venture
took the Second place position.
Unlimited Class:
The last race of the day turned to be
rather disappointing, again due to
attrition. Critical Mass, Race 10 had
fuel leak on the ramp and scrubbed.. Race
11, Miss America had a magneto problem
and also did not start. September Fury,
Race 232, piloted by Michael Brown,
called a Mayday shortly after take-off
due to a 'sick engine'. A late evening
tour of the pits showed no activity in
the September Fury pit.. no indication of
how bad or if the airplane will race
tomorrow. Critical Mass has their problem
fixed... If they can win the Silver Heat
tomorrow, they will still be in the Gold
for Sunday.. No word from Miss A on the
status of their repair but lack of
activity and the "routine"
nature of mag problems would indicate the
problem has been taken care of...
T-6 Class:
Jack Frost is out of it again due to a
protest. In all fairness to Jack, the
problem he was called on was purely a
technicality and did not affect
performance.. but it was an infraction
and Jack was a gentleman and stood down
for the balance of the event.
This was to be Jack Frost's last year in
T-6's anyway and his racer is for sale...
An extremely excited Lickety Split, Race
9, crew is feverishly replacing their
engine. The team just purchased an engine
from Jack Frost of Race 47, Frostbite,
after Jack posted signs around his pit
that said 'For Sale'.
Note:
All race statistics, as posted in the official
race results, printed at day's end by the Reno
Air Race Association.
Click here for
final qualification results
Friday
Pairings
Unlimited | T-6 | Sport | Formula
1
| Biplane
|
