Some old Reno pics

[Big_Jim]

Yeah, I guess I do give Brad kudoes for this, and probably sounded more dismissive than I intended. However, I've never heard of the Squire boat here or elsewhere, and I know next to nothing about racing the fast boats anyway. I have no idea what kind of motor might be in the Squire boat. I know so little here -- I really didn't know what to be impressed with and Brad's post told me nothing...

Neal, BCIV asked me to come and add a bit to my poke at him. That boat is the 1979 "Squire Shop" Unlimited Hydroplane. It is one of 16 runnable restorations the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum (of which, I am the Deputy Director) has done since 1993. We spent six years and a lot of cubic dollars restoring it to original condition. It is powered by a Rolls Merlin. The photo was from a test session we had on Lake Washington, in Seattle, on Tuesday where I was testing a new propeller in preparation for our multi-boat exhibitions that we will be putting on at races this summer.

For whatever its worth, over the years Dave Zeuschel, Pete Law, Dixon Smith, Randy Scoville and Dwight Thorne--all engine and systems gurus in the air racing world--were players in these same Unlimited hydroplanes.

I'll now return you to air racing.

[SpinB]

Speedy...re-defining the term Surface Warfare!!! Excellent work, Brad! I lost interest with the heavies when they switched to suck and blows...racing wasn't the same! I'm so glad you folks are showing what people are missing!

[wingman]

I guess I am too, now that I know what we're talking about. I'm not a big fan of water at best -- I prefer it in front of me mixed with Bourbon rather than under me or around me. A lovely engine though -- now that I can relate to!

I think the big boats were pretty much history by the time I came along in the late 1970s. I did appreciate the boat history in Air Racing from Bardahl through Lyford and Thorn to Bill Stead etc etc. but for midwestern me it was all just stuff I read about in the history books.

Remember I grew up in the woods -- makes for a rather provincial outlook compared to you Seattle city slickers...

Neal

[wingman]

This really was a very special Mustang...


.

[wingman]

And another, from Bakersfield

[wingman]

I like Bearcats

[Jukka]

I'm glad this thread is rumbling along in my unexpected and entirely unintentional absence. I've enjoyed the thread and it would be a shame if it went away...

I always have thought the P-63F was one of the most beautiful Warbirds. It had a 35 year racing history, though it was never raced frequently or hard. Actually its beauty was not perfect -- there were some bad angles.

Neal

Some data of P-63s recently popped up in Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruoDK2MlAlg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRyKys89QeE

[Jan]

1969 ... (Hal Loomis photo)

[Jan]

1966... (Eric Everill photo)

[Jan]

1970 (Eric Everill)

[Jan]

1970 again... (John Tegler collection)

[Jan]

Unlimited pilot... (John Tegler collection)

[Jan]

Reno 1975 (Ran Slaten photo)

[Jan]

Reno 1975 (John Tegler photo)

[BellCobraIV]

Reno 1975 (John Tegler photo)

That looks like the Mojave ramp when it used to be in Reno.