A quiz for Brad

[wingman]

Actually for anybody -- I think y'all will like this shot. But Brad is a bit of an expert in this particular venue (or so he claims) (and no, it is Not Reno) so I'm hoping he can tell me something.

So name the event, the year, the players, and which race of the weekend it is...

Brad -- do give the youngsters (and oldsters too, I guess) a few hours to make some guesses, though.

Neal

[CJAM427]

Re: A quiz for Brad

This youngster will take a stab at it.
I'm going to say the location has to be Mojave and year is 1979 because looks like Red Baron has white horizontal stabs.

As for the who's in what, this is where the guessing really starts.
From L to R.
Lloyd Hamilton in Baby Gorilla, Clay Clabo in Fat Cat #85, Dan Martin in Ridge Runner III, Steve Hinton in RB #5, and Don Whittington in the original Precious Metal #09.

[wingman]

Re: A quiz for Brad

That is excellent. I think the IDs are correct, except for the bare metal airplane, which should be Putman in #86. He ran pretty strong that week even though they were complaining about a sick engine. It doesn't seem like Martin should have been running with this group, as he was not getting very racy yet, but he did have spray bars and such already and I think he was the only red nose Mustang there.

So what I need from Brad is this: Would this be Sunday or Saturday? My memories of this weekend are pretty fuzzy after 37 or so years and rather than dig into my magazine collection to try to puzzle it out I thought Brad might be able to tell me...

Neal

[CJAM427]

Re: A quiz for Brad

Awesome, I'll take 4/5 any day! That was the one that really had me guessing. #86 isn't a mustang that comes to mind right away for me. Didn't it have a weird name like Cuichetton (sp?) or something?

That would definitely be Brad's department, he can probably tell what day it is from the sky alone.

[wingman]

Re: A quiz for Brad

Ciuchetton was actually quite a prominent racer for a while there. It was another of those Bakersfield airplanes owned by an Italian -- thus the name. I think it was the second or third to last Mustang ever built (It was an Australian built airplane). It had a Zeuschel race motor pretty much from the beginning of its US career, and was gradually cleaned up and clipped and became a Gold Race airplane. It has also had a varied and colorful career since leaving Bakersfield in the early 1980s.

http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/?survivors/serial/A68-198

Since Brad hasn't come around I've been thinking about my picture. I'm thinking this is likely the Sunday Championship Race, as there is no John Crocker. Seems to me he came to Mojave that year, but had his engine go sour on Saturday (I think) and had to sit out the final race. I'm still hoping Brad will come around at some point and set us straight...

Whatever the details, I think it's a pretty cool photograph -- one I'm kind of proud of. Another of those forgotten gems that I'm turning up as I slowly dig through the Wingman archives.

Neal

[Big_Jim]

Re: A quiz for Brad

Ciuchetton was actually quite a prominent racer for a while there. It was another of those Bakersfield airplanes owned by an Italian -- thus the name. I think it was the second or third to last Mustang ever built (It was an Australian built airplane). It had a Zeuschel race motor pretty much from the beginning of its US career, and was gradually cleaned up and clipped and became a Gold Race airplane. It has also had a varied and colorful career since leaving Bakersfield in the early 1980s.

http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/?survivors/serial/A68-198

Since Brad hasn't come around I've been thinking about my picture. I'm thinking this is likely the Sunday Championship Race, as there is no John Crocker. Seems to me he came to Mojave that year, but had his engine go sour on Saturday (I think) and had to sit out the final race. I'm still hoping Brad will come around at some point and set us straight...

Whatever the details, I think it's a pretty cool photograph -- one I'm kind of proud of. Another of those forgotten gems that I'm turning up as I slowly dig through the Wingman archives.

Neal

Wow...a guy misses one day and all sorts of treasure pops up! Great pic, Neal. Yes, you took the words out of my mouth. My first thought when I saw the photo was that it was Sunday's championship race because Sumthin' Else isn't in the picture....could have been out of the field of view, but most likely not. Looks like late-afternoon sun too.

And just for CJAM427's comment, the Brothers W never brought Precious Metal to Mojave, unfortunately.

[CJAM427]

Re: A quiz for Brad

Ciuchetton was actually quite a prominent racer for a while there. It was another of those Bakersfield airplanes owned by an Italian -- thus the name. I think it was the second or third to last Mustang ever built (It was an Australian built airplane). It had a Zeuschel race motor pretty much from the beginning of its US career, and was gradually cleaned up and clipped and became a Gold Race airplane. It has also had a varied and colorful career since leaving Bakersfield in the early 1980s.

http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/?survivors/serial/A68-198

Since Brad hasn't come around I've been thinking about my picture. I'm thinking this is likely the Sunday Championship Race, as there is no John Crocker. Seems to me he came to Mojave that year, but had his engine go sour on Saturday (I think) and had to sit out the final race. I'm still hoping Brad will come around at some point and set us straight...

Whatever the details, I think it's a pretty cool photograph -- one I'm kind of proud of. Another of those forgotten gems that I'm turning up as I slowly dig through the Wingman archives.

Neal

That's kind of funny, I've definitely seen it before in it's current state when it was in Oshkosh (my second home).

It totally is a cool photograph. I can totally feel the speed and intensity building up in it. Plus it has the Red Baron in it, which is one of my all-time favorites.

And thanks for the info on PM, Brad. In my mind I really associate that airplane with 1970's air racing, so its surprising to hear that it never made it to Mojave.

Connor

[Big_Jim]

Re: A quiz for Brad

That's kind of funny, I've definitely seen it before in it's current state when it was in Oshkosh (my second home).

It totally is a cool photograph. I can totally feel the speed and intensity building up in it. Plus it has the Red Baron in it, which is one of my all-time favorites.

And thanks for the info on PM, Brad. In my mind I really associate that airplane with 1970's air racing, so its surprising to hear that it never made it to Mojave.

Connor

Precious Metal DID race at Mojave in 1975 and 1976 with Gary Levitz. In fact, it finished 2nd to the Red Baron at the 1976 race. But after the Whittington brothers bough it, they did not bring it out for either the 1978 or '79 Mojave races.

[CJAM427]

Re: A quiz for Brad

Precious Metal DID race at Mojave in 1975 and 1976 with Gary Levitz. In fact, it finished 2nd to the Red Baron at the 1976 race. But after the Whittington brothers bough it, they did not bring it out for either the 1978 or '79 Mojave races.

Oh okay, maybe that's where I was making the connection...