Wasabi

[wingman]

A new shape on the race course -- Thank you Elliot and Jen, and congratulations!

Neal

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Wasabi

Oh, now that is cool!

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

Yes, two new Gold class IF1s is very encouraging. This is the airplane Dan Gilbert worked on for so many years. Dan ended up medically unable to race it, but it is in good hands now.

I believe both airplanes have real potential to be contenders. They have quite different design philosophies -- it was fun to go back and forth between the two pits discussing why each did what they did...

All fans who ignore the "little guys" are definitely missing some very interesting stuff.

Neal

[gordonronco]

Re: Wasabi

i was telling my dad that F1 has the best field of competitors because you really have 3 portions of it: cassuts, modded cassuts and customs. there are so many different styles whipping around the course, even more varied than the sports because these are a lot of creator/owner/pilots. i expect big things of not only Wasabi, but September Fate if she's up and running next year.

we also got into a discussion about what happened to previous iF1 racers like the pushys, Shadow and the tail draggers. it'd really be nice if there were a database or listing somewhere of those planes...

[IF1#13]

Re: Wasabi

Hi all,
Formula one is a very exciting field because though still expensive, a builder/pilot/owner can express their creativity and innovation without the cost associated with a big 6/8 cylinder monster up front. It forces the builder to stay innovative but still within the confines of the tech rules.... this leads to some fantastic designs!

Two of which are listed above in the thread:

Lowel Slater and Dan Gilbert as well as Elliot and team Wasabi have worked their butts off to bring two new awesome airplanes to IF1 and deserve a huge amount of respect for doing so. It takes a ton of dedication and late nights to make that happen and as an air race fan and fellow racer, my hats off to both teams!

Neal... awesome shots as always and great seeing you and your better half this year!

Next year should be fun!
Brian
-September Fate

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

Thank you Brian, and thanks to you and the airplane's owner for bringing one of my favourite paint jobs to Reno again.

Next year should indeed be good for the class and for the fans. Three new Gold Racers, each with a year of development and racing, with serious motors, plus Endeavor and Vito...

And we do very much want September Fate in that mix!!

A question for you: What was it that the Gary Hubler group were doing to make such truly awesome engines? Clearly no one since has really come close to their output. I know they got some information from Jack Wells and the Nemesis brain trust, but they had to be doing something really special to move that heavy draggy looking Cassutt through the air at those speeds!

Looking forward to next year!

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

Look at the shadows on the wing -- and look where the greatest thickness is. Remind you of a certain legendary IF1 Racer?

Another area of influence from that airplane is the method of breaking down the airplane for transport. That line of screw heads behind Elliot is the break point -- the wing is integral with the forward fuselage. This solves all sorts of problems associated with the Cassutt/Shoestring method of lifting the wing out of a one piece fuselage.

The downside of this method is that you have to be REALLY sure of your calculations of wing incidence and such, because it's an awfully major project to correct this later on...

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

The Gilbert/Slattery racer is quite a different animal -- it appears a bit smaller, with a more conventional wing mounting system. Of interest is the ventral fin and much lower tail wheel. This, I think, is an attempt to make the wing more level on takeoff. A tail dragger has to push a tilted wing through the air til enough speed is gained to pick up the tail. A more level wing (and fuselage) at the start of the takeoff roll means (theoretically at least) less overall drag at the beginning of the takeoff roll, and faster acceleration.

I watched this airplane take shape over several years of visits to Dan's home, and had a number of conversations about what he was trying to do, and what lessons he felt he'd learned in building Shadow 20 years ago. I have real hopes for this design...

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

And then there is Endeavor -- the prettiest of them all (until September Fate, at least). It was the fastest IF1 on the field again, but lost the Gold to a slower airplane due to a number of circumstances. Steve will be hungry next year...

[IF1#13]

Re: Wasabi

Neal...

"A question for you: What was it that the Gary Hubler group were doing to make such truly awesome engines? Clearly no one since has really come close to their output. I know they got some information from Jack Wells and the Nemesis brain trust, but they had to be doing something really special to move that heavy draggy looking Cassutt through the air at those speeds!"

I have no idea what you are talking about. Besides, you know that I could not answer that even if I did know!

If the engine info did come from Jack Wells and the Nemesis group, then Elliot is also sure to know! Next year will be very telling.

One thing is for sure, Gary Hubler, in my opinion could take a slower airplane and make it fast. He was one of the best pilots Reno will ever see.

Brian

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

Somehow I thought that was the sort of reply I'd get to that question, LOL.

I really, really miss Gary Hubler. Knowing him and his family was an eternal pleasure, and watching him on the Race course in any airplane was sublime...

Neal

[gordonronco]

Re: Wasabi

Just wondering, what happened to Endeavor on Sunday?

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

I don't know in detail, but from Pylon 5 it seemed that Vito got a spectacularly good start. He had a spectacular lead when he came by us, while Endeavor was stuck behind traffic. #11 does NOT like traffic or turbulence. Steve might have been OK if he'd done the Jon Sharp/David Hoover line -- get up in clean air above the traffic and let the motor wind up and the airplane get "on the step". He certainly lost valuable time fighting through the pack of slower airplanes. He seemed to be gaining rapidly on Vito at the end, but just ran out of time.

I've heard some question Steve's choice of starting position -- on the outside of the runway while Vito had the inside track. The outside position is often chosen by the pole sitter because you don't have to worry as much about being run down by faster accelerating airplanes behind you (in this class maximum top speed often means slow acceleration at the start). Against an aircraft like #50 with good top speed AND good initial acceleration Steve's choice may not have been the best...

Neal

[mrcraigarcher]

Re: Wasabi

I walked through the pits shortly after the Gold race on Sunday morning. Everyone was celebrating, except for the Endeavor crew. I stopped for a moment to congratulate them on *almost* another win.

They were pulling plugs and found one pretty fouled and messed up. (Mind you, I'm not an engine guy, so that's the extent of my "technical" explanation of the plug) Crew guys indicated to me they were flying for a while on 3 cylinders.

They sure made it exciting, though, didn't they!

[wingman]

Re: Wasabi

It was an exciting race -- waiting to see if Steve could run Vito down before the checkered flag!

Here are a couple more shots of the new designs. I think they show some of the differences in design philosophy well. In the Unlimiteds all solutions seem to converge so that a Strega looks much like a Dago Red looks much like a Voodoo. In IF1, on the other hand, you see very different solutions from different design teams.

Wing planforms and tailwheel locations jump out at me. Wasabi has a large forward fuselage enclosing the entire engine and cooling system, while the Gilbert/Slattery airplane encloses cylinders in "cheeks" like many other designs. Because of this Wasabi's fuselage is wide at the engine and tapers back to the tail. The fuselage of Lowell's Racer actually has its widest point behind the cockpit -- which gives an interesting look when seen from behind or above.

Both are very different from Nemesis, Endeavor, or September Fate! Which approach works best?? I guess we'll have a better idea 11 months from now...

Neal