Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

[Gary Osif]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

You guys did a fantastic job!

Gary

[paintboy]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Skip,

We loved what we saw from the press trailer at the end of the hangers. You guys made all of us photographers on the trailer vary happy with each pass. Sunday was the best!! We wanted one of you to go between the Red Bull pylons. I guess the C-130 pilot did not get permission to take the Herc around the course. We had made a request earlier that morning. Hats off to all you guys!!!!!!! Thanks.

Dave

[f15hoss]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Dave/All,
Do any of you have any good pic's of our formation on Sunday? I was flying lead, and I retire from the Air Force next week--it was a very special day for me. I was in A/C 129. Plus, I finally convinced the Air Boss to let us tear up the pattern and spray noise on everyone! We were actually throttling back at the departure end before our closed pulls to keep from over-g'ing the jet (9 G's).

My wife was in the stands, but just sat and watched...didn't even think to get out her camera!

Here's a shot from the #2 position on Friday:

[Ron101502]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Skip, you guys were **** hot! As an old F-4 driver, I really envy you. Believe me, you WILL miss it-that German F-4 brought tears to my eyes but it's a bucket of crap (obviously) compared to the F-15. Consider yourself lucky, even though you had to work hard to get there, that you had the chance to serve our country in such a fashion, and thanks for doing it.

Ron Henning
Happy Rare Bear "Fan Sponsor"

[XAR Nut]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Huge congrats to the bear team. Soooooo glad to see them succeed. I was only able to make it Saturday and hit some snow/rain coming back to the bay area through tahoe. Fun weekend!

[Ron101502]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

For those that don't know about the Bear's problems this week, I was lucky enough to hear John Penney recall the situation between last Sat and Friday night at the "fan Sponsor" party. When John flew the Bear last Sat and Sun it seemed the ignition and carb problems were finally behind them. They had finally found someone who could build cylinders with valve guides to their specs and replace the ones that went bad last year, and had 2 spare front and rear jugs on hand.

John went out on the course with Skip on Monday and said Skip was going very slow in Dago. John called for the clock and was very disappointed with the line he flew as well as the altitude management (qualifying laps are flown on a constant descent which is why race laps are slower) and felt he left about 10 knot "on the table". He was surprised that Skip beat his time but figured he'd try again on Tuesday. But, on the post flight, the crew found metal in the screens.

Was it silver (master rod bearing) or something else? They took a sample to an "expert" in Reno who said it was aluminum. He was wrong (charge them $275) and sent the crew on a wild goose chase. The only aluminum is from the pistons so they scoped through the plug holes and found no damage. So they pulled a front and rear jug to scope the bottoms of the pistons for skirt damage (a source of a rumour on this forum) and found none. So they thought it must be old debris that broke loose and were thinking about running up the engine to check to screens again. Good thing they didn't.

Lyle had an elderly gentleman in his 80s or 90s whose name I can't recall flown in who had spend a good portion of his life with the Wright 3350. He took one look at the metal from the screens and said it was the blower drive-don't run the engine. The crew pulled off the blower drive and, as you can see from the pics I posted Friday night, that it was all done. Lyle said the engine was close to destruction.

New parts were delivered to the crew a 2 am (Tom Dwelle offered the parts off Critical Mass if needed-what a great guy!), they were installed and the engine was run. The screens showed a lot less metal and what there was was safe to run, so John test flew Thursday and there was even less metal. They decided on a conservative power setting for the Friday race, and the screens were almost clean but another exhuast valve guide from one of the old jugs went bad (low compression), so yet another all-nighter by the crew (who had only about 2 hrs sleep each night from Mon to last night) was required to change the jug. It requires break in time and John flew a little before the Friday race and a quick check showed no metal but it was decided to run conservative again (obviously I am now past John's Friday night dissertation and am repeating what I heard from other crew members) and the airplane came back clean. They changed the iginition harness and other iginiton parts Sat night and test flew early Sunday. They then decided what power setting to run (this was dry, no nitrous oxide as they stell have 9 old jugs with questionable valve guides), and the rest, as they say, is history. Going back to Friday night, Lyle said he was pretty sure that they would have to settle for another second place, but was determined to "run right" and not damage anything so they can come back next year. And, not to repeat what others have said on this forum, the Bear may have been able to when even without the penalty, but she is still not quite as strong as she was in 1991, but next year - LOOK OUT!..

Also, remember that useing the "old" course measurements, Dago has never beaten Lyle's race record or lap record. And for the unofficial straight line 3k record Dago set at 533, remember 3 of the 4 passes Lyle made in the Bear were over 540, and that was with the 4 blade prop she has now.

The crew was magnificent, going without sleep, sometimes without food, and sometimes even working a "day Job" to get this done. One crewman told me "Nobody could ever pay us enough to do this", which is why, at least this time, persevearance, dedication, and a little luck overcame cubic dollars in the race for the Gold.

And check out what Skip Holm said in today's Reno Gazette Journal (www.rgj.com)-"If any body thinks Rare Bear is NOT the fastest airplane out here, they better think again".

Ron Henning

[Bear Wrench]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

So the Bear Wins on a Tech.

But could it have won or even caught Red me's think not all week they had some sort of mystery engine problem but I never read heard or say anything that really explain what was wrong witht the Bear.

As for the weather guys quite crying about some overcast and winds the show I was at we had Down Poors all day on Sat. and Sunday we had real low soup and most of the stuff is sitting still on the ramp. Has their been a Reno ever rain out?

I would like to see them run the Gold again and really see if the Bear is the winner. Ah the good old days when their was Racing around the Country.

Cheers RR

Yes..the Bear really is the winner, and it sure the hell wasn't on any "technicality". We were on Dago like White On Rice, with (finally!) all sytems running great! This teams taken a lot of crap over the years about lost horespower, do we need to send out a search party for it, etc, etc. Well, guess what we found it in a big way, and it was there for us to call on it if we had to, whether Skip cut the pylon or not.
Every racer has it's gremlins, with the winshield fogging issue having been one of Dago's in the past. That's all part of racing. **** happens. Everything has to work perfectly to make these babies go 100%. For us, everything fell into place on Sunday. Would Skip still have cut the pylon if we weren't all over him like a cheap suit those first couple laps? Maybe, maybe not.
The bottom line is this team NEVER gave up when the chips were down and all the naysayers lined up and said it couldn't be done. That perserverance made all the difference in the world, and makes this victory all the more sweeter. My hat's off to all the members of the Bear team...may this be the first of many more barn burner unlimited gold races to come!!

The Bear is Back!!

Stacy Thomas

PS: Hey S.G. .....that jewelry in the Bear pit.....it's GOLD jewelry buddy!

[Eric]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

That was one helluva Gold Race! The Bear was all over the backside of Dago. My cousin and I spent alot of time just watching the crew work and you could see how much time the crew spent to get the Bear up and going. That was some of the most loyal dedication I have ever seen!!! Congrats on a most deserved win!!!

[Stevo]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Hear, hear. One thing I would like to add, anyone that would have taken the time to go down to The Bear cave during Thursday, Bill Hickle was out there all day telling anybody that walked by and was curious what had gone wrong with The Bear and what status was. All you had to do was ask.
Thanks a ton to the whole team for making the fans happy

[Unregistered]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

So the Bear Wins on a Tech.

no...the Bear wins according to the published rules.

[Ron101502]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

John Penney is not a "speed slinger for hire"-he is a fantastic pilot who has spent a ton of his own money (and accepted the risks) of flying the "people's airplane" in an attempt do something some of us think is a great thing. And I think Skip ( a genuine American war hero and one of the best sticks ever) would agree. No problem that Skip has to earn a living. I have to make my living flying too, and while it is a GREAT sport, it sucks as a profession (or trade, which it really is).

Ron Henning

[Ron101502]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Stacy-it was clear at the Fan Party how much Lyle, John and the crew love you and wish you could still be there full time. My wife even said if she won some money (she didn't) she would hire you away to work for the Bear full time (as she knows I am absolutley ueseless other than to be a "fan sponsor".)

Ron Henning

[Ron101502]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

I agree about Bill Hickle-I made a total idot out of myself (not hard to do) by asking questions that he anwered with great patience and grace. Most interesting was the 3 vs 4 blade prop. He is the only guy who has been with the Bear as long as Lyle (35 yrs!)

Thanks, Bill!

Ron Henning

[paintboy]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Skip,

No problem! I can send you a CD of anything you want. Give me an email at david_leininger@yahoo.com. Between what I shot and my colleague we can set you up. Really enjoyed you guys beating up the field.

Dave

[Kevin L]

Re: Rare Bear WINS!!!! Dago cuts pylon...

Ron, thanks for the extra info on what went on this week at the "Bear Cave". I had been wondering if they had used the nitrous this year. John told me last year at the fan sponsor dinner that they would not use it. They had it "on ice" in the hanger, but did not want to risk the engine. I believe Lyle said they give up around 700 horspower by not using it.

I could not be there this year, but will crawl to Reno next year if I have to. I may just have to get to Nellis this year.

The September Pops/Fury web site had a good daily update on what was going on at Reno. (Many thanks to them for taking the time to do that). They were writing the bear off almost daily. Finally conceding that the Bear is never out of the show until the show is over.

Looking forward to next year......

Kevin Lloyd
Rare Bear Fan Sponsor