The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

[GRNDP51]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Philip Goforth has expressed his interest in racing Czech Mate in 2020. We will see if anything comes out of it

[Samuel]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Philip Goforth has expressed his interest in racing Czech Mate in 2020. We will see if anything comes out of it

Czech Mate, the gateway drug to Strega...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Czech Mate, the gateway drug to Strega...

I'm literally on the fence about going this year... (yea... really) you guys keep this up and I'll have to complete the vault over it!

[RAD2LTR]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

There are a couple other possibilities in the works from a couple racers who have been away for a little bit. (Neither really by choice) I can't say exactly who just yet as nothing has been publicly said, but there might be a couple surprises announced before September. They likely won't be gold contenders, but it will be good to have them back on the ramp.

Will

[Fence Sence]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Philip Goforth has expressed his interest in racing Czech Mate in 2020. We will see if anything comes out of it

That would be awesome! They certainly deserve the trophy. CM should be able handle the short tail Dread with ease.

[kennsmithf2g]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

"That would be awesome! They certainly deserve the trophy. CM should be able handle the short tail Dread with ease. "


Hey...Hey...Hey....That's a 4360 your picking on!

[Fence Sence]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

"That would be awesome! They certainly deserve the trophy. CM should be able handle the short tail Dread with ease. "


Hey...Hey...Hey....That's a 4360 your picking on!

Not picking on. Just observing. Maybe if it was a 5600 it could move twice the amount plane of CM just as fast.

[CubersWrist]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Just goes to show that it's not just about horsepower. Weight and drag are important as well. Same deal with the top Sport class racers going faster than most of the unlimiteds

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Well the "Rare Bear" never had a 4360 in it & look what it did.

[knot4u]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Well the "Rare Bear" never had a 4360 in it & look what it did.

The Bearcat was fast regardless of the "missing" horsepower. We got it up to 491 mph without the benefit of a great engine, we did build one but it was flawed due to mismarked parts. That engine was pretty good, it didn't leak much, it ran great, but it just didn't make the power. I remember sitting in the hangar at Van Nuys and talking to Greg about how we were making big manifold pressure and rpm numbers and the torque numbers were flat. I asked him if there was any way we could measure the duration of the cam rings that we'd installed. Nope. We burned that engine down at Reno in front of everyone. When the engine was torn down the cam rings were found to be incorrectly marked, the duration held the valves closed longer than expected resulting in high manifold pressure and low torque. Even down on power that airplane was fast enough to put up a fight with the fast mustangs.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Rare Bear's 3350s seemed to be special engines. I think the Bear has had the best luck with the 3350 in high hp builds. Everyone else has grenaded (Sept Fury, BMB/Critical Mass, Argonaut to name a few ) before finishing the weekend. Clearly Dave Cornell and Mel Gregor were the 3350 whisperers.Sadly that knowledge is gone and will have to be relearned/rediscovered by anyone else who wants to go after the 3k record, as well as challenging the Mustangs at Reno. Can it be done? Most likely. Will it be done, that is a much harder question to answer. I guess it will depend on how much Rod wants to break the 3K record, and or win at Reno.

Will

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Rare Bear's 3350s seemed to be special engines.<---snip--->.

Will

Indeed they were! I'm sure there were internal "secrets" of which I'm unaware but the one thing I am aware of is that the exhaust system was unlike any other.

Some really smart engineers figured out how to swap around the plumbing of the manifold tubes to create an "extraction" effect, increasing the HP by a substantial amount.

It was, however, problematic in that it tended to develop some nasty leaks/cracks over the years. Apparently, the Ezell's and whoever else, decided that it should be scrapped. *IF* the layout was not blueprinted so that it could be recreated, I doubt it ever will again since some of those really smart guys who designed it are no longer with us.

Due to this process, if it happened as I've been told, I do not think, no matter how much work Rod and company do to the Bear to make it more reliable that they will ever recreate the same power that once was obtained from a RB 3350 and make it as fast as it once was.

[ChrisMX105]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

The Bearcat was fast regardless of the "missing" horsepower. We got it up to 491 mph without the benefit of a great engine, we did build one but it was flawed due to mismarked parts. That engine was pretty good, it didn't leak much, it ran great, but it just didn't make the power. I remember sitting in the hangar at Van Nuys and talking to Greg about how we were making big manifold pressure and rpm numbers and the torque numbers were flat. I asked him if there was any way we could measure the duration of the cam rings that we'd installed. Nope. We burned that engine down at Reno in front of everyone. When the engine was torn down the cam rings were found to be incorrectly marked, the duration held the valves closed longer than expected resulting in high manifold pressure and low torque. Even down on power that airplane was fast enough to put up a fight with the fast mustangs.

What year?

[V1670]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Late to the party (as usual)

Regarding the donations to PM and then having the plane NOT fly: just my opinion of course, but I'd rather donate to a plane project that didn't come to fruition than to some fat-****** government person sitting in the lounge drinking martinis on my dime.

And regarding the restrictor plate suggestion; I'd support that. I'd rather see a flock of unlimited screaming around the course in the low-mid 400s than one or two a half-course ahead at high 400s and then have to sit out the rest of the weekend because of a trashed motor. Been going since '72 and the racing was much more exciting back in the 70s-90s. I mean they imposed a speed limit on the jets, so what's wrong with slowing the unlimiteds?

[GRNDP51]

Re: The 2020 Unlimited Class Rumor Thread!

Late to the party (as usual)

Regarding the donations to PM and then having the plane NOT fly: just my opinion of course, but I'd rather donate to a plane project that didn't come to fruition than to some fat-****** government person sitting in the lounge drinking martinis on my dime.

And regarding the restrictor plate suggestion; I'd support that. I'd rather see a flock of unlimited screaming around the course in the low-mid 400s than one or two a half-course ahead at high 400s and then have to sit out the rest of the weekend because of a trashed motor. Been going since '72 and the racing was much more exciting back in the 70s-90s. I mean they imposed a speed limit on the jets, so what's wrong with slowing the unlimiteds?

+1 to the first paragraph.

Regarding any sort of limit on Unlimiteds (lol...), I can say I agree with the jets being limited. The limit is 515 or 525 (I forget), either way, that speed is VERY fast for the course. As far as I know, the speed limit isn't being tapped too often by the fast jets now. I don't think any of the fast jets could be doing 530+ right now.

That being said, the limit on Unlimiteds seems like a tease. Hearing Strega and Voodoo doing 500 all by themselves was much more enjoyable than the thought of watching them with 3-4 other planes all around 400. That sounds more like an airshow. Sure it's "closer racing", but I'll always say that the reason I like Reno isn't necessarily about the racing, it's about the sound, the drama, and the unpredictability.

2019 for example, limit Miss A and Dread to 400, for what!? One of them wins and nobody knows how much power either one of them REALLY had to use. We saw Doc blow up Miss A. I was so sad to see it happen, but those tense moments make Reno way more exciting than a normal airshow. Watching LaVelle trail smoke like the pace plane on Thursday's heat last year had my heart skipping a beat! Stuff like that will always bring me to Reno. Gotta love everybody pushing as hard as possible

Chino's demo race was basically what a speed limit race would be. Ehhhhhhhh...