Some old Reno pics

[wingman]

Lots of drama in the high rent Unlimiteds, but I really enjoyed the stockers that year too.

This was taken from the old pylon 1 again. There was a bit of hill between us and Home pylon, so the racers just seemed to rise up out of the desert. It was a really unique part of the course to shoot from. It only worked with an overcast, though...

[Jan]

Yep, I like that pylon 1 shot a lot as well. The overcast is certainly helpful. So is the black & white. I still think B&W is great for action too, not just stills or portraiture. It's a silly thought perhaps but it strikes me that black and white photos can at once capture action and turn it into a portrait of action if you will... sort of. Agree or disagree?

My pop quiz question may have been deceivingly simple. So I'll ask it a different way.

The "Precious Metal" you pictured so nicely there above the RB-51 (which I preferred the look of in the Mac days with the larger tail, ventral fin and all-red paint rather than the later red with white wings) isn't the only "Precious Metal" Dandy Don had.

That should give you a big clue as to what Whittington and the RB-51 had in common.

[RAD2LTR]

The Whittingtons had two Precious Metals, the one in the pic, and the one that got the Griffon. The first was a real Mustang, the second was built with some Mustang parts.

Will

[Jan]

That's basically what I was getting at Will. Neal's photos of the RB-51 and "Precious Metal" together on the race course at Miami show - with the benefit of hindsight - Whittington chasing a Mustang adaptation that he himself would adopt roughly a decade later.

The Griffon in the RB was an inspiration for Don and though the second Precious Metal was different in several ways than the RB-51, its general configuration - Griffon engine and counter-rotating prop - was what Don had flown against, basically always coming second best to, in the late 1970s.

But of course, there's a third close connection here in the form of another Unlimited racer and pilot. That's the next easy question in my pop-quiz. Which aircraft and pilot am I talking about?

[wingman]

Yep, I like that pylon 1 shot a lot as well. The overcast is certainly helpful. So is the black & white. I still think B&W is great for action too, not just stills or portraiture. It's a silly thought perhaps but it strikes me that black and white photos can at once capture action and turn it into a portrait of action if you will... sort of. Agree or disagree?

My pop quiz question may have been deceivingly simple. So I'll ask it a different way.

The "Precious Metal" you pictured so nicely there above the RB-51 (which I preferred the look of in the Mac days with the larger tail, ventral fin and all-red paint rather than the later red with white wings) isn't the only "Precious Metal" Dandy Don had.

That should give you a big clue as to what Whittington and the RB-51 had in common.

Yes, it was deceivingly simple. I must confess that I have never thought much about the Whittington Griffon bird in the context of the RB-51, other than that they had very different versions of the Griffon. The World Jet airplane was just so different from the Red Baron...

[RAD2LTR]

Another possible similarity between PM1 and RB, it looks like RB had a modified H model tail, and PM had an H model tail. Perhaps I'm wrong, but the tail on RB looks like they started with an H model, and built it out into a wider vertical stabilizer. I'd love to know if my guess is right or not.

Will

[Plane Nuts]

RB started with a D tail with increased chord and offset removed. 18 inches was added to the top making it taller than an H tail.

[wingman]

Actually, the tale (sorry) is much more complicated than that, and much more interesting. There was no -H DNA in the RB-51. The designers (presumably Bruce Boland) realized from the beginning that the prop, along with changes in everything else, would destabilize things. They designed a new larger vertical, with a bunch of area added longitudinally (forward) but the same height. It appeared this way at the airplane's first outing at Mojave 1975. Photo by my old friend the late Bill LeSanche.

[wingman]

The airplane was still extremely unstable at race speeds so by Sunday the team had fabricated and installed a makeshift ventral fin.

[wingman]

There was a lot of modification and trying things and arguing and carrying on over the next year. Along with the airplane not flying well the crew was dealing with systems failures,canopy issues (remember this was the first of these familiar canopies and there was a development curve) "blower gears" failures, and all the issues, squawks and hassles involved in any new and radically innovative racer.

I first saw the Red Baron at my first Reno, in 1976. By this time they had extended the tail vertically, but still had a vestigial ventral fin.

Mac failed to finish in the Championship race, and everybody was angry and frustrated. After the races the owner had Darryl Greenamyer fly the Red Baron. The experience scared Darryl and he nearly got into a fistfight with the crewchief when he landed. Darryl was accustomed to taking off three point in his Bearcat with the huge prop, but the RB didn't work that way and apparently just would not unstick for Darryl. He also complained about the CG being very wrong with even more ensuing instability.

The end result of all this was McClain being forced out of the program he had sweated on for years, and Darryl coming on as the new Race pilot. Darryl won the next Reno (without a ventral fin) and a very angry Mac McClain went on to more adventures with Jeannie. So it could be said that the Red Baron's tail problems led indirectly to Jeannie's triumphs a few years later.

What was never really decided was what the Red Baron's1975-1976 stability problems really were. Not enough tail area? Tail not tall enough? Too much aft CG? Pilot technique? All they knew is that a whole bunch of things were changed and they ended up with a raceable airplane. Racing is like that -- one race a year. You have to change a lot of stuff and it can be really difficult to tease out the effects of each change.

[wingman]

Whenever Darryl Greenamyer got involved in anything, chaos, confusion and often anger followed. But Championships did too.

There were monumental egos involved in this project. And monumental minds and skills. It really was a time of giants.

[RAD2LTR]

It must be the area added on above the rudder that made me think it was a modified H. Somehow I missed the fact that Daryl flew RB. Interesting. He did have a knack for figuring out how to straighten things out so they flew right. A talented pilot and mechanic for sure.

Thanks for the lesson.

Will

[wingman]

Mac Mclain was basically a duster pilot, I think. Darryl was highly trained test pilot, along with many other skills. He had also been to this party before, with a wildly unruly highly modified Bearcat that they were always chnging. He did have the right set of qualifications to finish the taming of the RB. Both men, though, were among the great Racers of Reno history.

I disagree with Jan about the white wing. I liked it.

[RAD2LTR]

Neal, I agree, the red wing is too much red. Yes, both Mac and Daryl came from very different places, but they were both very successful. I would not say being a crop duster pilot is a bad thing, he just wasn't an SR-71 pilot. There have been more fast crop duster pilots racing than there have been SR-71 pilots

Will

[wingman]

Neal, I agree, the red wing is too much red. Yes, both Mac and Daryl came from very different places, but they were both very successful. I would not say being a crop duster pilot is a bad thing, he just wasn't an SR-71 pilot. There have been more fast crop duster pilots racing than there have been SR-71 pilots

Will

I meant nothing negative about ag pilots -- Hevle, Goss, Van Fossen, Macy, Bob Yancey, Gary Hubler and on and on -- but a trained experienced test pilot does bring something extra to the development process. A John Penney, or Skip Holm, or Neil Anderson will handle development and racing a bit differently. I'd say no difference in the Gold Race, but useful in the six months before and really useful in the week before the Gold race. I think Darryl was well qualified for a role in taming the Red Baron.

Look at the fancy work stands. Anybody recognize that mechanic in the middle?



Neal