Some old Reno pics

[BellCobraIV]

I would not think there'd be many secrets this size -- I've never heard a hint of this. Actually I didn't know you could do such a thing. I assume the cowling was aluminum, and maybe the tailcone?

Magnesium?

The tailcone was aluminum and so was the cowling. You can actually see the difference in the way the light hits the metal in these pictures.

The pilot set back so that the expendable fluids could be more in a location that would not be changing the center of lift as much as they were expended.

[Jan]

Come on man, P-39Q-10 s/n 42-20869 Vern Barker, Don Newberger assembled it and Zeuschel built the Allison for it. And Bruce Boland & Pete Law was involved I know the details, both Darryl and Lyle had offered to make the flight that was about to take place. So I get the trivia win and still let others have a chance to play.


BCIV

Yes John, I knew you'd know. And since El Slack has given everyone else a major hint - and left some room for the details - I'm sure one of you out there will be able to give the rest of the answer to my puzzler.

P.S. - Slack is an air racing Octopus. His appendages stretched far and wide in the sea of Unlimited racers.

[BellCobraIV]

Yes, N13Y is indeed still around. Currently you can find it at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT. Johnson made quite a few mods to the airplane, some of which you mention. Some worked well, others, like the exhaust stacks didn't. As John indicated, after Cleveland came to an end, Johnson was on a quest to capture the 3KM world propeller-driven speed record - at the time held by Messerschmitt test pilot Fritz Wendel who had flown an Me-209 to 469 mph in 1939. (Wendel was also the first to the Me-262 in 1942).

Of course, Darryl exceeded that in "Conquest 1" in 1969 at 482 mph. A decade later it was Steve in the RB-51 (I still have a red rivet from the airplane on my desk) at 499.018 mph - a number that was likely etched in Lyle's mind another decade later when he pushed the Bear to the current record at 528.31 mph. And then in 2017, Stevo throttled "Voodoo" to 531.64 mph, faster but not by the FAI-required one percent.

Johnson's attempts at a record are another interesting bit of history. Here's a look at N13Y where she rests today and another similar perspective of Stiletto. I can't find a photo credit for this one of 84 so if you're out there and you see this, speak up please.

I've always admired that Dave listed on the right hand gear door, "We Also Serve Those Who Stand and Wait." then listed all the wives and girfriends that rarely get thanked for all the "Not tonight, We have an issue...Sorry, I'm going to be here another week.....The Oh! She swallowed a dime??......The well while you were gone the fire department came by."

[MRE]

That would be Cobra II. After it was rebuilt it was destroyed on first flight killing Mike Carroll. Big prop, short wings, little tail.

[BellCobraIV]

That would be Cobra II. After it was rebuilt it was destroyed on first flight killing Mike Carroll. Big prop, short wings, little tail.

Mike,

Yes!
Technically Cobra III as Mine Carroll had renamed it. Pete Law and some others did a real detailed investigation and determined that when the landing gear was retracted the nose gear action moved the GG too far to the rear and caused a loss of control. In all probability if Darryl or Lyle was flying the airplane they might have realized what was happening and lowered the gear to regain control.

However all the factors you mentioned would have had an effect on the course. Possibly once again a pilot with more experience would have been able to figure out the fixes.

[MRE]

Seems people thought bigger was better back then when it came to props. I know Dan tried a P-63 prop and they even tried a Bearcat prop on race 69. I wonder how T-28 blades would have worked on Cobra III.

[BellCobraIV]

Seems people thought bigger was better back then when it came to props. I know Dan tried a P-63 prop and they even tried a Bearcat prop on race 69. I wonder how T-28 blades would have worked on Cobra III.

T-28 Blades in the 3 blade hub

[MRE]

Kinda like KF-1. What blades were those ? What would they have used that 3 blade aero products hub on ?

[wingman]

There was an awful lot of waiting around at the Bakersfield Air Race, but when the farmers finally cleared the field workers, what finally happened was impressive. This is the end of Ron Hevle's qualifying run, Shafter was flat.

Ron qualified at a bit more than 430 mph, at an altitude very near sea level. I don't know how that would translate to Reno's altitude, but Strega was howling...

Neal

[BellCobraIV]

Kinda like KF-1. What blades were those ? What would they have used that 3 blade aero products hub on ?

Yes, ironically Cobra II became KF1. I'm sure you were aware of this, however many tuning in to this forum were not. The guys that were doing that magic had deep connections, I mean come on they were running a G6 Allison with factory modified blower gears that generated 125" of manifold pressure in an Allison. I can only imagine that somehow the powers that be came up with one of the XP-51F propellers hub blades and all. Look at the pictures and see if you don't agree?

That would indicate to me that the people were involved had determined the big four blade they already owned was a liability. It didn't suffer for speed as it qualified better than everything else.

It is important to remember that when we started out there were no three blade hubs that would work with the round tip P-3 blades. That was Barry and Gil Iwamasa at California Propeller that made that magic happen.

Yes, the three blade was absolutely faster.

BCIV

[BellCobraIV]

There was an awful lot of waiting around at the Bakersfield Air Race, but when the farmers finally cleared the field workers, what finally happened was impressive. This is the end of Ron Hevle's qualifying run, Shafter was flat.

Ron qualified at a bit more than 430 mph, at an altitude very near sea level. I don't know how that would translate to Reno's altitude, but Strega was howling...

Neal

Great picture Neal, Ron knew that area and landmarks better than anyone. When Bob Love started the race on Sunday we heard him say Tally Ho. Then it was quite a while before the racers made it to the course.

Skip told me once that when the race started they were so high up there was no indication of speed, the planes looked like they were hanging on strings. Then the Bearcat started moving away from everyone a little later the Bear was going up and down pretty radically and had to slow as it was in what we later determined to be a pilot induced oscillation. It had found its maximum safe airspeed and exceeded same.

[wingman]

Sylvia Sweeny's great article on Bakersfield has a great and accurate set of lap times for each Racer. Lyle had a 378 mph first lap and a 431 mph second lap. Did he slow down (going downhill at warp speed)? Was he shaken by the PIO? I couldn't see much at the time other than a bunch of airplanes approaching from the distance.. I know he had to do a bunch of passing to get to second place.

[MRE]

We were pretty spoiled back then. I thought Bakersfield was cool, different than Reno. I remember they changed the engine in Dreadnought on the ramp, don't think I ever saw that again.

[BellCobraIV]

Sylvia Sweeny's great article on Bakersfield has a great and accurate set of lap times for each Racer. Lyle had a 378 mph first lap and a 431 mph second lap. Did he slow down (going downhill at warp speed)? Was he shaken by the PIO? I couldn't see much at the time other than a bunch of airplanes approaching from the distance.. I know he had to do a bunch of passing to get to second place.

Neal,
Lyle, shaken, no, concerned, yes. Getting the airplane back under control was his first concern, getting into first place was the next step.

There were multiple concerns after the Bakersfield race, some items because of things we experienced as a team and needed to grow. Others because of the pictures you shared with us of how the fuselage was distorted at speed, finally the PIO.

Lyle met with Corky Meyer who did the dive tests for Grumman on the Bearcat, we met with Ray Poe and Bruce Boland who were with Darryl in his Bearcat days. Some additional weight ended up going on to the counterweight in the elevator control system. Corky Meyer shared with Lyle that if there was any slight bit of play in the elevator trim tab bearings they should be replaced immediately before anymore flying at speed. Bruce had some good input in the conversation, during which he said to Cornell, "I can't believe that you haven't modified this thing with a pressure cowl.

After the race before leaving for home on Monday Penney flew the airplane for the first time. He and Lyle discussed Penney making a pass at about a 100' across the ramp at Shafter. John agreed and towards the end of his first flight ever in the Bearcat made a pass at about 25' AGL scared the hell out of us. Later Lyle told him he would need to adjust his eyes for that.

[BellCobraIV]

We were pretty spoiled back then. I thought Bakersfield was cool, different than Reno. I remember they changed the engine in Dreadnought on the ramp, don't think I ever saw that again.

Agreed!