A little quiz, if anybody's interested...

[wingman]

We have here the beginning of a very long night. You cannot see any markings on the airplane so there should not be any controversy about identities and "what is authenticity".

So what year do you think this is? How many players can you identify? This is less than 40 years ago, so it all shouldn't be too hard...

Neal

[RAD2LTR]

Well based on the fact that its the Strega trailer, and looks to have the Skoal Bandit logo on the wings, I'd guess its Strega, sometime in the late 80, perhaps early 90s. I don't have a clue who any of the people are.

Will

[mitchcarley]

Tiger coming down ladder
Skip at wooded speakers box
George Lucas walking past nose
???
: )
m

[wingman]

Tiger is a positive -- I'm surprised people didn't ID him earlier. Many people don't know that Tiger was an excellent mechanic back before he started drinking so much. A big negative on Skip. Look at the shorter guy behind him, though -- he is a clue to the year this might have been taken. I think the guy in the blue coverall is probably Mike Wilton. George Lucas is a maybe.

Here is a shot from the trailer much earlier in the week. It's interesting to see how empty the pits feel. That's Dennis Buehn's beloved Albatross back by the Lear Fan hangar.

[L.E.D.]

Kerch?

[wingman]

Yes, that is Bill Kerchenfaut. Bill was not always crew chief for Tiger, and the tobacco people did not always sponsor Strega, so that all shold help pin down the year.

In fact, that was the year Tiger actually lost the tobacco sponsorship...

[L.E.D.]

Well, I guess I'll stick my neck out a little and do a little inferring and internet seraching since this is before my time at Reno

Tegler says Ron Helve first raced Strega at Reno in 1983, and he continued through '85. (No sponsor on the plane in '83, at least not in Tegler's book, FWIW.)
In '84 (the last year of those wonderful narrative race reports) Strega busted an oil line in a heat race which made me think of wingman's picture, above.

.. But...
In 1985, Kerch joined the team (noted in an article right here on AAFO).
Tiger took over flying in 1986.
However Strega wasn't the fastest in the gold until it won in 1987.

Don't know when the sponsors changed though. So 1987 is my best guess.

[wingman]

However Strega wasn't the fastest in the gold until it won in 1987.

Don't know when the sponsors changed though. So 1987 is my best guess.

The photo says nothing about winning the Gold, just being the fastest Mustang...

!987 is a very good guess, but we're not there yet.

[mdwflyer]

The photo says nothing about winning the Gold, just being the fastest Mustang...

!987 is a very good guess, but we're not there yet.

Also before my time, and using the above posts, 1986 he was fastest mustang behind 2 Seafuries.

Neal, every one of your pics tells a story, love them!

Mark

[wingman]

Neal, every one of your pics tells a story, love them!

Mark

Thank you, Mark. I always wonder whether anybody notices or cares...

1986 is correct. It was a pivotal time for the sport -- everybody was planning to be bored with the coming decade of Dreadnought wins. Who could ever beat the mighty round motor?

Thorn, Destefani, Zeuschel, Cornell, Shelton, and Sandberg all had different ideas, however. That was a time of giants.

Here are Dwight Thorn and Mike Wilton around that time.

[L.E.D.]

Well, dang. At least I had fun doing a little Strega research. My first year was 1993, the year after Strega finally beat the Bear, and it was a bit of a bringdown that only Strega was there that year. I'd heard so much. At least I got to see the next iteration.

I am a bit curious about the "fastest P-51 in the gold race" picture.. was that oil leak bad enough for a DNF?

[Jan]

Thank you, Mark. I always wonder whether anybody notices or cares...

1986 is correct. It was a pivotal time for the sport -- everybody was planning to be bored with the coming decade of Dreadnought wins. Who could ever beat the mighty round motor?

Thorn, Destefani, Cornell, Shelton, and Sandberg all had different ideas, however. That was a time of giants.

Here are Dwight Thorn and Mike Wilton around that time.

I wondered why the shirts Dwight and Mike have looked so familiar. Oh yeah... There's one hanging in the closet in my office.

Good "people" picture Neal. You always understood the importance of photographing the humans, not just the machinery. Dad and Mom did a lot of that too. And later on Birgitta became quite skilled at getting images of air racing people.

Anyone else remember standing at one pylon or another in the relative quiet in between races, breezes picking up, smelling cigarette smoke wafting and before even turning to look upwind being pretty sure that it was Neal who was the source of the fragrance?

[Sparrow]

Do you recognize these Neal?? I wonder how they fit into the above referenced thoughts?? (Geoff Goodall pics)
Sparrow

[MRE]

A68-674 also restored in Shafter as Dove of Peace. Remember when Russ was flying it ?

[wingman]

Do you recognize these Neal?? I wonder how they fit into the above referenced thoughts?? (Geoff Goodall pics)
Sparrow

Hello Mike, I have never seen those shots of the "before". It was a Hell of a trip from Geoff's pictures to Sept 83 when Ron Hevle arrived at Stead with the partly mature Strega. This shot is his actual arrival. It was quite a moment, considering what Ron and Dago had done the year before. When did work on what became Strega begin -- some time after Reno 82, I would assume?

You know that Geoff Goodall just recently passed away? My contemporaries are keeling over right and left at this point -- kind of scary at my current age...