Formula One Heat 1A

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

So that's where that project ended up. The airplane had never flown, had it? That fuselage doesn't quite look like a regular Shoestring -- seems a bit fatter, somehow. Judy was really tall -- I wonder if the plans were changed a bit to make it more comfortable for her.

Here's the original Wagner Shoe -- since renamed "Judy", leading the very first Shoestring of them all, flown by the great Ray Cote.

The original Shoestring was designed and built in 1948 or 1949. It's amazing that the design can still be competitive.

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Paulo Iscold, eh? We met him a few years back, when he was at Reno helping Andy Chiavetti rebuild Strega's canopy after it blew out with Matt Jackson. A formidably intelligent man -- and apparently still loving Reno and air racing.

Wing design is crucial in modern Formula 1. Much of the success of Nemesis in particular was due to a quite radical new wing design -- surprisingly thick, with the thickest point quite far back on the wing. Jon always credited that wing for a lot of Nemesis' success -- said it did not slow down in corners under G nearly as much as more conventional wing profiles. I wonder if Iscold's design is done along those lines...

Neal

[kennsmithf2g]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Here she is from this year

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Great looking Racer! Thanks Ken.

Neal

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Can't wait! Leave tomorrow..

Drive safe my friend! I came closer than I ever want to again coming down Tuesday afternoon. Lady got stuck out passing a line of cars/trucks and froze, I moved over and gave her room but she, FROZE, at the last second, I had to go off pavement to get by her at about 120 MPH closing speed... I thank my angels who are around me and my 30,000+ hours steering forklifts at high speed for the muscle memory.

I'm still pinching myself to believe that the crash didn't actually happen, it was that damn close!

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Fraed Naught jumped out to an early lead from the start. Miss Min fell into place behind and held its own. Every lap after that Endeavor made the attempts to pass. He would almost make t, and then lose it going into the first turns after the home straight. Scarlet Screamer was in place in fourth and slowly lost ground to the 2/3 battle ahead of it. Hot Stuff got off the ground slow and while a nice line was flown, it stayed in it's late place throughout the race. No Strings Attached pushed a bit to hard and got a DQ for low flying. Didn't see the details. Madness stayed its place in line behind Hot Stuff for most of the race.

Miss Min is back after a multiple year complete radical makeover including a new design/ build wing. It went from a cloth covered Cassutt to a carbon fiber clothed custom skinned monster. It handily held off the advances of Endeavor every time they came.

Yes, Justin is an awesome guy. He and Phillip Goforth are fireballs of energy and commitment for the class. Everybody this year has taken to heart the lessons and leadership learned from our recently lost late great Jay Jones. There are AMAZING stories within the class right now, and a whole bunch of awesome stuff happening there. Even with the early intervention of Dr Wing-Ding Ding, things have been going great every since.

LOP, DOOD! I could not recruit and hire better commentators to post here than you!

Great attention to detail and even better write up format!

THANKS FOR POSTING!

[Samuel]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

So far he has flown 4, raced 3. That number will likely increase through the week.

That is awesome! Some videos of the race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOfEVjuJVj4

[Samuel]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC0HFdw5_o8

[yakdriver]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Interesting results here. If anybody with connections in the class could give a report it would be appreciated. I'd be especially interested in impressions of the start and the first lap or so.

Neal

I helped Lowell get Fraid Naught ready last week. Things did not go smooth and it involved a complete tear down of the engine Wed night. Lowell worked until 3 in the morning getting it together then we had a mag problem that took some time. He arrived at Reno with a 5 min run on the engine. He flew a short flight Sunday and flew the qualifying laps with less than 20 min run time on the engine. Look for it to get even faster as the engine loosens up and breaks in. I think he and his airplane will raise a lot of eyebrows this week.

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Excellent videos, Samuel. The 1A video was REALLY interesting. Jim Jordan has really come into his own. He's come a long way since we met him at his first PRS years ago. I think they're really on to something with that wing, too. It really works those turns. I found the Kitplanes article on line, and though I didn't really understand a lot of it found it very interesting. The wing profile really is a lot like what I remember the Nemesis wing to be.

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Thanks for the information, Yakdriver. Even more impressive performance after hearing all that. I don't know Lowell, but I'm well acquainted with the airplane. We used to spend a day or so with Dan Gilbert every year on the way home from Reno, so saw quite a bit of the original buildup of the airplane there in Belleville. It was Dan's second attempt at a Gold Race airplane and he had really high hopes for it -- he always thought he made some mistakes in designing Shadow (especially with a too conservative wing), so Lowell's racer is the result of all that learning process.

Any secrets you can share regarding how such a fast airplane gets off the ground and jumps into the lead so quickly? Seems like all the great fast Formulas, from Rivets and Shoestring right through Nemesis and Endeavor, have been slow starters due to the high speed-oriented prop, and didn't move into the lead until 2 or 3 laps into the race.

Best of luck to the team -- I'd love to see that airplane win it all this year.

Neal

[yakdriver]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Fraid Naught won the 2A heat. Pretty consistent speed 253.831. I have flown with Lowell over the last 35 years and he is an incredible stick. He will be tough to beat Sunday.

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

Congratulations to Lowell and to the team! That is a spectacular speed for a heat race. Actually it would be a spectacular Gold Race speed -- very few Golds have been over 250 mph in recent years.

Well done, and looking forward to Sunday!

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

LoveOldPlanes, Samuel, Race 5, anybody -- we'd love to hear a report similar to the one LoveOldPlanes did for Heat 1A, as well as more videos and photos and commentary. The reporting on Heat 1A was really good -- anything would be appreciated!
This is shaping up to be one of the really great stories of Reno 2016...

Neal

[wingman]

Re: Formula One Heat 1A

What happened with Jordan and Miss Min?