Some old Reno pics

[wingman]

Nice shot Neal. Looks like White Lightning might have seen some actual lightning from that T-storm. Also looks like the airplane was getting a top-up with Quaker State.

You know, I remember it being Pennzoil, but this is definitely Quaker State. Whichever oil company it was, I remember trucks coming around dropping off cases of oil to the Unlimiteds.This was always appreciated by the teams. A nice little sponsorship that got noticed, without the company having to spend too much money.

Neal

[wingman]

Now Chris has me thinking about Lefty Gardner. Lefty was another of the good ones I actually met Lefty at my first Reno, in 1976. I was doing an early morning walkabout and there was guy pulling cowling panels off a pretty Mustang. I asked him a question and ended up having a very nice conversation. I didn't find out who I had been talking to for a couple of years.

Lefty flew low...

[Jan]

Quite a difference in just over a few days -- Those guys must have been pretty frantic that week.

Esler was good -- actually a lot better than that ground shot shows. I think your Dad took me on at least partly because Dave left looking for somewhere where he could actually make some money. Air Race photography has never been lucrative.

And a very nice air to air -- Who was "Windsinger Photography"? An internet search turns up nothing.

Neal

Yes, Dave Esler was good. So was Steve Addis. I met them both but as a kid. Mom says they were both excellent. We have lots of stuff from both guys and so many others. The collection is pretty darn large. I'm not even scratching the surface of the surface with the few images I've posted in this thread.

To answer your question about Windsinger...

That was a gent named Gary Smith. He was from Logan, Utah and primarily did nature photography in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area, Canyonlands National Park, (what is now) the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Cache-Wasatch National Forest. He also shot during his service in the Marines in Okinawa and Taiwan as well as some later portrait work. He was hired by the Red Baron Air Racing Team to do some professional photography for promotional materials. I don't know whether it was Dad who hired him but it could have been since he was handling PR for the team. Smith shot lots of stuff on the ground and in the air - stuff you haven't seen before. He had Windsinger Photography and Windsinger Enterprises as well as a book of the same name.

Now for a couple images from another great shooter... a Master air race photographer it can be said, long before his time surveying the showgirls of Reno with the ever-sarcastic Dwayne... That should tip you off to who it is.

[Jan]

We now present two images with perspective... from Jim Larsen

[Jan]

Here's the second (Jim Larsen photo)

[Big_Jim]

Mojave 1975 on the course with fin added. (David Esler photo)

Definitely the brutish-version of the RB.

[wingman]

Really nice model! I still think the airplane was too red. That unadorned fuselage and red wing just do not work for me visually -- too much red. Brutish, I suppose, but not particularly attractive. Plus, the airplane just looked better to me like this...

[wingman]

" his time surveying the showgirls of Reno with the ever-sarcastic Dwayne... "

That does not tell ME who it is --Who the heck is Dwayne? I've known Jim for a long time and never knew him to show much interest in showgirls. There's got to be a story here...

Neal

[Jan]

Yes, there's a story there... perhaps multiple stories. Dwayne or maybe "Duane" (I don't know which spelling is correct) was an engineering colleague of Jim's. He was on the scene multiple years in the 1990s, traveling to Reno with Larsen primarily to take in the nightlife Reno offered.

You would normally find Dwayne/Duane lounging in the shade in front of one or another of the race team trailers right up at the deadline in the pits. He would stay in those spots all day while Jim roved from place to place snapping shots or consulting. He had a wry sense of humor and would give Eric and I daily updates on the casino shows he and Jim had taken in the night before as well as an appraisal of the feminine components of those productions.

Dwayne/Duane was a short fellow with a fair complexion and he sought shade to prevent sunburn. For the most part, he could care less about the day's action. His chief concern was the action after-dark. I'm surprised you didn't know him or at least know of him.

[Jan]

Really nice model! I still think the airplane was too red. That unadorned fuselage and red wing just do not work for me visually -- too much red. Brutish, I suppose, but not particularly attractive. Plus, the airplane just looked better to me like this...

Another nice image Neal. I liked the later version of the RB too but I'll stick with my preference for the all-red version. Cleaner and less adorned with gaudy (though appreciated) sponsor signage.

[wingman]

I did love photographing that airplane. I really liked how visible the white wings were -- much easier to pick up and stabilze on before it got to my pylon.

[BellCobraIV]

Definitely the brutish-version of the RB.

Talented Model builder!

[wingman]

Yes, there's a story there... perhaps multiple stories. Dwayne or maybe "Duane" (I don't know which spelling is correct) was an engineering colleague of Jim's. He was on the scene multiple years in the 1990s, traveling to Reno with Larsen primarily to take in the nightlife Reno offered.

You would normally find Dwayne/Duane lounging in the shade in front of one or another of the race team trailers right up at the deadline in the pits. He would stay in those spots all day while Jim roved from place to place snapping shots or consulting. He had a wry sense of humor and would give Eric and I daily updates on the casino shows he and Jim had taken in the night before as well as an appraisal of the feminine components of those productions.

Dwayne/Duane was a short fellow with a fair complexion and he sought shade to prevent sunburn. For the most part, he could care less about the day's action. His chief concern was the action after-dark. I'm surprised you didn't know him or at least know of him.

Wow -- another whole side to Jim Larsen! I had never heard of any of this. Jim and I were not close, but always spent time talking over on the photo trailer or out on the pylons.. He is a very interesting man. Birgitta really liked Jim. One year back in the mid 1990s she got curious about how he worked. She followed him around the pits at a distance for a couple of hours and just watched. She said it was a different experience. Jim would just walk around looking at things and very occasionally take a photo or two of something interesting. The remarkable thing was how few shots he took. I'd be tearing around trying to photograph everything -- I could easily expose a couple of rolls of film just walking the length of the pits. Nobody would ever see them. Jim would do his thing usiing a lot less film and a lot less energy and the next month have really wonderful photos all over Air Classics. I learned an awful lot about my art from simply studying Jim's photographs whereever I could find them.

A great guy with endless aspects -- engineer, airplane designer, and master photographer.

Neal

[BellCobraIV]

You know, I remember it being Pennzoil, but this is definitely Quaker State. Whichever oil company it was, I remember trucks coming around dropping off cases of oil to the Unlimiteds.This was always appreciated by the teams. A nice little sponsorship that got noticed, without the company having to spend too much money.

Neal

Quaker State was in tight with the Formula 1 teams Sport Bipes. They continued to try to get their footing in the Unlimited Class. Quaker State paid Zeuschel $50,000 dollars to run their oil in Miss Candace, Zeuschel cashed the checks, signed the forms, put Pennzoil in the Quaker State containers and kept on going. Rumors of that situation was why when Aeroshell was supplying the Rare Bear with 15W50 we were required to have containers on hand in case anyone wanted to walk up and analyze the oil to verify that it was 15W50. We thought we were having an issue with the torquemeter. Ben Visser put the 15W50 sponsorship on hold on a Thursday during race week. We went downtown and picked up two drums of 60 wt. AeroShell, came back changed the oil and flew a test flight. Evaluated the results and decided that the issue was the gap on the rings in the torque cell piston and went back downtown and picked up two drums of 15W50 and changed the oil again. Ben had shipped a lot of oil to Reno to cover what ever we needed, also if anyone else wanted to swap oil brands race week. Reno didn't usually have the quantity of both oils in stock. AeroShell spent a lot of money on the 15W50 ad program......the stuff worked really well. The screens were fantastically clean compared to the 60 wt. Oil and the engine indicated more power as well.


John

[Big_Jim]

Talented Model builder!

What that guy really should do is take one of those Trumpeter 1/32 scale F8F Bearcats and make a Rare Bear.