You heard it right - Team Miss America is bringing a second racer to Reno this year! I was lucky enough to be at the Oklahoma Museum of Flying today (8/12/23) where the new racer was being prepped for her 1st photo shoot. The slick little racer was then pushed out on the taxiway next to her big sister, the original Miss America... where I was lucky enough to take part in this epic photoshoot.
Team member Johnny Morrison has the honors of being the creator/owner of this beast, and man-o-man... what a beauty!!!! Sitting next to the original Miss America she looks all the part of a true racer... canopy mods, cut-down cuffed prop, shortened wings & horizontal tail, zero incidence wing mod, thrust angle mod, vertical tail mod... you bet - this little baby has it all. And it doesn't stop there, just look at the custom instrumentation and gauges, rescue button, seat belt, custom paint & graphics. But my personal favorites are 1) that she still retains that ole stick for steering 2) the padded leather seat is pretty cushy :-) and 3) the propellor turns in the correct direction when you're petaling.
On the serious side though, you can tell Johnny put a lot of heart & soul into this thing. The attention to detail is really evident - even using the same paint on his creation as that used on the full-scale racer. There's even a data-tag affixed to the inside left side of the racer proving its authentication as being a custom build by Johnny. It looks completed, but Johnny still has a few more things to do before she's ready for Reno. He's going to add some lines to simulate the elevators, rudder, flaps, & ailerons - as well as add some petals with the NAA logo on them (a nice finishing touch I'd say - and why you only see a bent steel bar right now).
Rumor has it that although this "Little Miss America" will be completed in time to make Reno 2023, Johnny doesn't intend on bring it back to OKC after the event. I can't say how much he's going to ask for it, but you better be prepared to dig deep. Since this took 1 month to build and 3 months to paint - he's obviously got a lot of time, talent, and soul invested into this project and things like that don't come cheap. After all, it's one of a kind... that's gotta be worth something special don't you think?
BTW: Sorry for the clickbait title - I was feeling a bit onery this morning . But since you made it this far, I might as well let you know that Brent, Greg, & Miss America will be taking the trip to Stead on Friday morning, 8/18/23. Leaving OKC just after sunup, they'll be chasing the sun to their 1st stop in Albuquerque, NM. After refueling, it will be off to Kingman, AZ and then onto Stead airport arriving early that afternoon. I'll be there to capture the moment - and then later again to bring you some news about the flight after arrival.
Until then
Team member Johnny Morrison has the honors of being the creator/owner of this beast, and man-o-man... what a beauty!!!! Sitting next to the original Miss America she looks all the part of a true racer... canopy mods, cut-down cuffed prop, shortened wings & horizontal tail, zero incidence wing mod, thrust angle mod, vertical tail mod... you bet - this little baby has it all. And it doesn't stop there, just look at the custom instrumentation and gauges, rescue button, seat belt, custom paint & graphics. But my personal favorites are 1) that she still retains that ole stick for steering 2) the padded leather seat is pretty cushy :-) and 3) the propellor turns in the correct direction when you're petaling.
On the serious side though, you can tell Johnny put a lot of heart & soul into this thing. The attention to detail is really evident - even using the same paint on his creation as that used on the full-scale racer. There's even a data-tag affixed to the inside left side of the racer proving its authentication as being a custom build by Johnny. It looks completed, but Johnny still has a few more things to do before she's ready for Reno. He's going to add some lines to simulate the elevators, rudder, flaps, & ailerons - as well as add some petals with the NAA logo on them (a nice finishing touch I'd say - and why you only see a bent steel bar right now).
Rumor has it that although this "Little Miss America" will be completed in time to make Reno 2023, Johnny doesn't intend on bring it back to OKC after the event. I can't say how much he's going to ask for it, but you better be prepared to dig deep. Since this took 1 month to build and 3 months to paint - he's obviously got a lot of time, talent, and soul invested into this project and things like that don't come cheap. After all, it's one of a kind... that's gotta be worth something special don't you think?
BTW: Sorry for the clickbait title - I was feeling a bit onery this morning . But since you made it this far, I might as well let you know that Brent, Greg, & Miss America will be taking the trip to Stead on Friday morning, 8/18/23. Leaving OKC just after sunup, they'll be chasing the sun to their 1st stop in Albuquerque, NM. After refueling, it will be off to Kingman, AZ and then onto Stead airport arriving early that afternoon. I'll be there to capture the moment - and then later again to bring you some news about the flight after arrival.
Until then
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