Tuesday
Update Sheet
11:00-
AM
Good morning Race Fans!!
Qualifying results, all
classes – as posted on the Reno Air
Racing Association stats board, have been
updated
Unlimited Class:
According to sources, Dago Red's
unofficial speed of 496mph, was
discounted due to a 'wide turn on Pylon
4' during qualifying. The official time
for Dago Red stands at 489.681mph. The
team is optimistic for a 500mph lap on
Sunday.
...stay tuned for more of
today's exciting Action....
4:30pm
Unlimited Class: Ooops!!..Miss
Merced dumped about 2 qts. of oil on the
ramp. There's no pit activity to indicate
a problem. Overfull?
Unlimited Class: Race
7, Strega's "serious
unofficial" story is that 2 pistons
burned. She's been inside the hanger
(more secret stuff) for most of the day.
The team is putting the engine back
together at this time in preparation for
flight.
Unlimited Class: Dago
Red's team has been heard saying that, on
Monday's great qualifying run, the power
settings were "radically
conservative".
Sport Class:
Race 25, Questair Venture, officially
clocked at a speed of 331.902mph and
pilot Dave Anders was overheard saying
that he had "power to spare"!!
Sport Class: Lee
Behel, pilot of Race 5, Deviled Egg,
officially clocked his speed at
309.724mph and was 'normally aspirated'
(non-turbo) with Eric Ahlstrom's newly
designed wing root fairing. Lee's best
speed prior to the new fairing was
297mph.
Sport Class: Dave
Morss' ride the Factory Lancair has good
news in that a new set of pistons are
being flown in from Redding today.
Sport Class: Also,
Dave's Zero-Nine-Lima arrived today and
is reported 'only here for practice'??
Sport Class: Race
9, LiveWire picked up an unexpected
hitchhiker when the aircraft struck a
buzzard on a practice run. The pilot,
Livio Bognuda, safely returned and the
plane is intact with minor damage —
The addition of a passenger in Livio's
right wing should not cause any speed
penalty.
Formula One Class:
Race 44, Judy, blew a rod between Pylon 3
and Pylon 4, then Mayday'ed out when the
motor seized. Holbrook Maslen brought the
plane down safely and smoothly. They
found a nice little hole bored through
the engine (probably a bolt when a rod
blew). The team is frantically installing
a new engine and fully expect to fly by
tomorrow.
Formula One Class: The
trouble with bumps!! Apparently there's a
deep dip with a nice bump on the main
runway at Stead. Race 4, Alley Cat and
Race 96 Mac Daddy hit the same bump
during landing which caused both planes
to begin the ugly
"wing-tip-with-the-concrete"
dance. Race 96, Mac Daddy, piloted by
David Hoover, lost both wheel pants and
banged up his wing tips in the morning
session and then Alley Cat, Race 4,
piloted by Ray Cote, tapped the concrete
with his wing tip in the afternoon
session. Both pilots came home safely and
the planes are being repaired.
6:00pm
Unlimited Class:
Late breaking news flash!! Race 67,
Val-halla, the North American P-51D
Mustang of Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders
arrived at Stead just a short time ago.
Bill made a fly-by of the field before
landing. Unknown at this time as to
whether or not he'll be a late entry.
11:30pm
Unlimited Class:
Engine work completed, under the cover of
darkness, Strega Race 7 was pulled out
onto the ramp to do some 'engine run-ups'
verifying all the hard work done to the
aircraft's engine. "It sounded
good" was the comment from engine
man, Dwight Thorn, as Strega was towed
back to the hangar for final assembly.
All crew members, including the pilot,
Tiger Destefani, were wearing broad
smiles... the prospects are looking good
for tomorrow!!
CLICK HERE FOR
AUDIO RECORDING OF ENGINE RUN
Unlimited Class:
"We're down" said Sherman
Smoot, pilot of Race 86 Czech Mate,
continuing, "We holed a
piston." Sherman brought Czech Mate
down smoking today and all possibilities
of competing in the race are exhausted.
Unlimited Class: A
late night visit to Race 117 Bad
Attitude's hanger found the airplane with
the radial engine on the floor for
repairs to a relatively minor part that
requires the removal of the engine for
access. The airplane is expected to race.
AT-6 Class: Tonight,
a smiling, Mary Dilda, pilot of Race 22
Two of Hearts, told us that they are
"cautiously optimistic" and
that "we aren't done yet!!" The
crew is optimistic that they have found
the problem that was causing the loss of
power in Mary's engine. Attempts to
qualify will resume tomorrow.
*Good luck Mary and crew!!*
CLICK HERE FOR MORE AIR RACE
REPORTS
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