Some old Reno pics

[wingman]

There were no Sea Furies at my first two Renos. No Bearcats, either. Suddenly in 1978 there were three -- a couple of touring versions, and a fighter...

[wingman]

I alwys thought this was a really good looking Warbird. That wonderful Sea Fury shape, without a lot of stripes and lettering to clutter up that shape.

[wingman]

Lloyd would go anywhere to race. This was at Miami, in the winter of 1979.

[wingman]

Mojave 1979

[MRE]

I got my one and only Sea Fury ride in this airplane with CJ at the end of the day at Madera.

[BellCobraIV]

I got my one and only Sea Fury ride in this airplane with CJ at the end of the day at Madera.

Brian Sanders and I were talking back and forth on the ramp one day about the Dreadnought vs. Rare Bear aspects of life. I was commenting that one of the major downsides of Rare Bear that the maintenance hours to flight hours ratio was around 1,250:1 meaning that on average for every hour of flight time the beast required around 1,250 man hours of maintenance. This was fairly obvious because even on a good week the work load on the Bear went way into the night. Starting at sun up in the morning. I pointed out that for Dreadnought we pretty much watched them waxing most of the day when we had time to watch. At the end of the conversation Brian smiled and said, yeah, our whole crew has had rides in Dreadnought..... I've been up in a lot of airplanes, never in a Sea Fury good on ya MRE!


John

[wingman]

Quite a few people got their first (or only) Sea Fury ride in this airplane. It was such a fixture in the California warbird scene, and during a period when Sea Furies were somewhat rare and exotic. LLoyd or his friends took it everywhere, and raced it everywhere. The big 1979 Miami race had 2 P-38s, 2 Corsairs, 20 something Mustangs, and just these two Sea Furies -- and only one was racing. We were soon to have a Sea Fury population explosion, though.

[Pylon1_Mark]

Lloyd Hamilton Tribute
(By Mark Kallio: Pylon1.com circa 2000)

Some people called him an air racer, others called him a top competitor and one of the best pilots out on the course, and then some just called him a friend - but regardless of what title is used, everyone involved in the sport of Unlimited Class racing is truly saddened by the loss of one of their own - Lloyd Hamilton. Lloyd's 25-year involvement in air racing has not gone unrecognized - in fact it's quite a story in itself. Always friendly and upbeat, Lloyd quickly gained recognition among his contemporaries as being a serious and dedicated competitor. Lloyd's first air race (with co-pilot John Alford) was the 1971 California 1000 Air Race, the third and last closed course long distance race consisting of 41 laps on a 15.15-mile course (1000 kilometers). Taking a somewhat different approach - Lloyd flew an A-26B Douglas Invader (a twin-engine WWII attack bomber) and finished a very respectable 7th place at 294.06 MPH - besting the efforts of 2 F8F Bearcats, 3 P-51 Mustangs, an F4U Corsair and a P-38 Lightning.

In April of 1972 - Lloyd acquired the first of two racing Sea Furies that would end up at his home base located at Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California. His first Sea Fury was purchased from Arnold Glass of Sydney, Australia (registered as CF-BOU) - shipped over to the states - and then was busily restored back to flying condition for that years' Reno event. The re-registered N588 Baby Gorilla made her Reno air racing debut as race no.16 in her civilian style green and yellow paint scheme. In 1973 Lloyd and crew painted Baby Gorilla in what came to be her characteristic Aussie Navy colors of light yellow and medium sea gray.

That year marked the best finish of their air racing career when at Mojave, Lloyd took home the second-place trophy, finishing behind Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear. Baby Gorilla and Lloyd raced at virtually every Unlimited race between 1972 and 1995....except for missing Reno '76-77 events after suffering an engine failure the day after the Mojave 1976 event. Lloyd lost engine power climbing out over Tehachapi (17 miles west of Mojave) and then glided back...almost making it to the airport but landed gear up. 1996 was Lloyd's last Reno event racing Baby Gorilla - the aircraft being sold that year to Paul Morgan of Sytwell Aerodrome - England and has since been re-registered as G-EEMV. One of the few Bristol Centaurus 18 powered Sea Furies to have been raced at Reno in the recent past, Baby Gorilla has been missed by the race fans and crew.

Lloyd's second Sea Fury was born in the era of dedicated racing aircraft such as Jeannie, the Super Corsair, Vendetta, Somethin' Else, Dago Red, Red Baron, Strega, and the like. Over a 5-year period, Lloyd brought together a Pratt & Whitney R4360 major wasp engine, the fuselage of a wrecked Australia Royal Navy FB Mk11 Sea Fury (which was actually raced at Reno in 1971 & 1972, then sold - the aircraft crashing sometime later in Germany) along with the parts from two other Sea Furies to create his 1983 Reno entry Head Gorilla. She was a bit rough around the edges sitting in her bare metal finish - but hopes ran high that she would run much better than she looked. Prior to qualifying Lloyd took off to fly in some time on the motor, and all hell broke loose. The aircraft's prop regulator let go and the engine went into extreme over-speed at about 300 feet altitude. He nursed the plane around, just holding altitude, and successfully brought it back for a landing. There were so many aircraft in the air and making noise on the ramp that this went unheard and pretty much unnoticed. Upon later inspection, many of the cylinder skirts on the big Pratt & Whitney R4360 were damaged. Then Crew Chief Dwight Thorn quickly wrote "Havnaught" on the cowl with a felt pen - bringing a close to Head Gorilla's first year at Reno.

Lloyd and the crew were back the following year with a much more refined racer sporting race no.15 and her new name - Furias. The beautiful, red and metallic gold Sea Fury certainly looked the part of a thoroughbred - however fate again stepped in when Lloyd pulled high on the course during Saturday's heat race (noting engine vibrations) when the R4360 backfired and literally blew 90% of the cowling off the nose of the racer! Lloyd then executed an extremely skillful emergency landing - however Furias was never to make the call to the ramp for the remainder of the event. The following year Lloyd & Furias (with a newly rebuilt engine and other refinements) enjoyed a much better showing - placing 4th in the Unlimited Gold event at a speed of 411.952 MPH. At Reno 1986 - they did even better, posting their career high 2nd place finish at 429.374 MPH. The next few years were marked with the gradual dominance of higher financed teams and faster racers. By the time the 1990 event was over, Furias only managed a 2nd place finish in the Bronze class. Realizing that it was impossible to field two competitive aircraft in future events, Lloyd retired Furias from the racing circuit - but it was not the last time that race fans were to see her in competition. In 1997 Lloyd and his crew brought the old warhorse out of the hangar. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work - Lloyd & Furias finished 6th in the Unlimited Gold Race at 393.830 MPH.

Faced with the prospects of no aircraft for Reno '95 & wishing to keep his "streak" uninterrupted - Lloyd flew the Sander's no.19 known as the Spare Parts Fury (later given a coat of paint and named Argonaut) in Saturday's Heat 3A - posting a well-deserved 7th place finish among some of the best Gold Class competitors. When Lloyd Hamilton stopped racing, he held the record for consecutive races entered/flown - 26 races spanning 25 years of air racing. Only medical problems had kept Lloyd out of the running the last two years, being "grounded" due to back problems. But Lloyd was always involved in air racing - it was in his core being... coming to the event in '98-99 and serving in whatever capacity he could. Over the years, Lloyd also served as both president and vice-president of the Professional Race Pilot's Association (PRPA) Unlimited Class.

On December 28th, 1999, Lloyd suffered a fatal heart attack at his condominium in Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas, where he and his wife Mary live when they are not in Santa Rosa, California. He had arisen Tuesday morning to make coffee while on his Sport fishing boat - which was tied up to the boat slip immediately behind their condo (they liked to sleep in it more than they did the condo) while Mary went back to sleep. When Mary awoke later, she found Lloyd collapsed on the floor and despite best efforts, he was unable to be resuscitated.

On New Years Day, a memorial gathering was conducted at Sonoma County Airport in honor of Lloyd Hamilton's passing. In attendance were several hundred friends from various stages of Lloyd's life. In addition to family members were former school chums from elementary school through college, Bodega Bay commercial fishing buddies, and sportsmen from hunting camp. However, the largest contingent came from the aviation community - Space Shuttle Commander Curt Brown, EAA members, warbird racing owners/pilots and their crews, as well as fellow pilots from of Pan Am and Delta Airlines. Best estimates were that there were approximately 325-350 people. Aircraft in attendance included Argonaut and the Dreadnought Sea Furies - Ridge Runner III, Lady Jo, Straw Boss and Winged Ace Mustangs - and multi-passenger business aircraft from Eagle's Nest and Chino.

A touching eulogy was delivered by Lloyd's very close friend of many years and by far the best air race announcer in the world - Sandy Sanders. This was followed by tributes from a number of close friends and Lloyd's wife Mary. Later in the ceremony, a Missing Man formation was flown by Dan Vance in the Winged Ace, Brian Sanders flying Dreadnought, Dan Martin in Ridge Runner III and Dennis Sanders was flying Argonaut with smoke generators on the wingtips & Mary Hamilton riding in the back seat. Helium-filled balloons in Furias colors (red and gold) were released and ascended skyward following the flyby. Lloyd's survivors include Mary and his three brothers: Don Hamilton of Santa Rosa, Cliff Hamilton of Vacaville and Chuck Hamilton of Oregon.

Mary was a key organizer of this event. Her ability to handle any and everything - menu planning, assembling memorabilia for display and print, even manhandling tables and chairs - was truly inspiring; all the while accepting the many phone calls which poured in from friends and associates. She was assisted by dozens: Art Vance, Jim Gardner, Cindy and Bob Clopton, Sonia and Lee Donham, Betty and CJ Stephens, Dwight and Rose Thorn, Dave DeWitt, Denny Jones, Mike O'Kelly, Rit Keiter, Lynn Hunt, Jim Long, Steve Penning, Larry Rengstorf - the list goes on and on.

Lloyd influenced hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. He was generous to a fault. Many times, other people would have a problem and Lloyd would drop whatever he was doing and get completely involved in their problem while also offering anything and everything that he had. One of the most significant things about Lloyd was his photographic memory. During the years when he was with Pan American, he would take Sea Fury manuals on his trips and while he was on layover between flights, he would read them and remember them verbatim. Then whenever he was back at the hangar and the crew was working on the aircraft trying to solve a problem he would walk up with a solution, while not ever having done it before !!! This talent had been observed many times either at home or on the ramp at Reno, even on competitors race planes.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to know him personally are devastated by his loss. However, this gathering was a fitting tribute to a remarkable personality. Blue skies forever Lloyd - you'll always be remembered.

[MRE]

I was in the back seat of RR for Lloyd's service. It was pretty wild looking over at race 8. The flight from Hollister was low level all the way. Low cloud cover. Going over the water at the top of the bay you couldn't tell where the sky ended and the water began. Everything was just Grey. Just a day you never forget.

[Pylon1_Mark]

I was in the back seat of RR for Lloyd's service. It was pretty wild looking over at race 8. The flight from Hollister was low level all the way. Low cloud cover. Going over the water at the top of the bay you couldn't tell where the sky ended and the water began. Everything was just Grey. Just a day you never forget.

Had to look for this one. I didn't recall having this photo until you mentioned the sky conditions... that sparked a memory.

[wingman]

Lloyd Hamilton Tribute
(By Mark Kallio: Pylon1.com circa 2000)



In April of 1972 - Lloyd acquired the first of two racing Sea Furies that would end up at his home base located at Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California. His first Sea Fury was purchased from Arnold Glass of Sydney, Australia (registered as CF-BOU) - shipped over to the states - and then was busily restored back to flying condition for that years' Reno event. The re-registered N588 Baby Gorilla made her Reno air racing debut as race no.16 in her civilian style green and yellow paint scheme. In 1973 Lloyd and crew painted Baby Gorilla in what came to be her characteristic Aussie Navy colors of light yellow and medium sea gray.

That year marked the best finish of their air racing career when at Mojave, Lloyd took home the second-place trophy, finishing behind Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear. Baby Gorilla and Lloyd raced at virtually every Unlimited race between 1972 and 1995....except for missing Reno '76-77 events after suffering an engine failure the day after the Mojave 1976 event. Lloyd lost engine power climbing out over Tehachapi (17 miles west of Mojave) and then glided back...almost making it to the airport but landed gear up. 1996 was Lloyd's last Reno event racing Baby Gorilla - the aircraft being sold that year to Paul Morgan of Sytwell Aerodrome - England and has since been re-registered as G-EEMV. One of the few Bristol Centaurus 18 powered Sea Furies to have been raced at Reno in the recent past, Baby Gorilla has been missed by the race fans and crew.

Lloyd's second Sea Fury was born in the era of dedicated racing aircraft such as Jeannie, the Super Corsair, Vendetta, Somethin' Else, Dago Red, Red Baron, Strega, and the like. Over a 5-year period, Lloyd brought together a Pratt & Whitney R4360 major wasp engine, the fuselage of a wrecked Australia Royal Navy FB Mk11 Sea Fury (which was actually raced at Reno in 1971 & 1972, then sold - the aircraft crashing sometime later in Germany) along with the parts from two other Sea Furies to create his 1983 Reno entry Head Gorilla. She was a bit rough around the edges sitting in her bare metal finish - but hopes ran high that she would run much better than she looked. Prior to qualifying Lloyd took off to fly in some time on the motor, and all hell broke loose. The aircraft's prop regulator let go and the engine went into extreme over-speed at about 300 feet altitude. He nursed the plane around, just holding altitude, and successfully brought it back for a landing. There were so many aircraft in the air and making noise on the ramp that this went unheard and pretty much unnoticed. Upon later inspection, many of the cylinder skirts on the big Pratt & Whitney R4360 were damaged. Then Crew Chief Dwight Thorn quickly wrote "Havnaught" on the cowl with a felt pen - bringing a close to Head Gorilla's first year at Reno.

Lloyd and the crew were back the following year with a much more refined racer sporting race no.15 and her new name - Furias. The beautiful, red and metallic gold Sea Fury certainly looked the part of a thoroughbred - however fate again stepped in when Lloyd pulled high on the course during Saturday's heat race (noting engine vibrations) when the R4360 backfired and literally blew 90% of the cowling off the nose of the racer! Lloyd then executed an extremely skillful emergency landing - however Furias was never to make the call to the ramp for the remainder of the event. The following year Lloyd & Furias (with a newly rebuilt engine and other refinements) enjoyed a much better showing - placing 4th in the Unlimited Gold event at a speed of 411.952 MPH. At Reno 1986 - they did even better, posting their career high 2nd place finish at 429.374 MPH. The next few years were marked with the gradual dominance of higher financed teams and faster racers. By the time the 1990 event was over, Furias only managed a 2nd place finish in the Bronze class. Realizing that it was impossible to field two competitive aircraft in future events, Lloyd retired Furias from the racing circuit - but it was not the last time that race fans were to see her in competition. In 1997 Lloyd and his crew brought the old warhorse out of the hangar. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work - Lloyd & Furias finished 6th in the Unlimited Gold Race at 393.830 MPH.


On December 28th, 1999, Lloyd suffered a fatal heart attack at his condominium in Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas, where he and his wife Mary live when they are not in Santa Rosa, California. He had arisen Tuesday morning to make coffee while on his Sport fishing boat - which was tied up to the boat slip immediately behind their condo (they liked to sleep in it more than they did the condo) while Mary went back to sleep. When Mary awoke later, she found Lloyd collapsed on the floor and despite best efforts, he was unable to be resuscitated.

On New Years Day, a memorial gathering was conducted at Sonoma County Airport in honor of Lloyd Hamilton's passing. In attendance were several hundred friends from various stages of Lloyd's life. In addition to family members were former school chums from elementary school through college, Bodega Bay commercial fishing buddies, and sportsmen from hunting camp. However, the largest contingent came from the aviation community - Space Shuttle Commander Curt Brown, EAA members, warbird racing owners/pilots and their crews, as well as fellow pilots from of Pan Am and Delta Airlines. Best estimates were that there were approximately 325-350 people. Aircraft in attendance included Argonaut and the Dreadnought Sea Furies - Ridge Runner III, Lady Jo, Straw Boss and Winged Ace Mustangs - and multi-passenger business aircraft from Eagle's Nest and Chino.

A touching eulogy was delivered by Lloyd's very close friend of many years and by far the best air race announcer in the world - Sandy Sanders. This was followed by tributes from a number of close friends and Lloyd's wife Mary. Later in the ceremony, a Missing Man formation was flown by Dan Vance in the Winged Ace, Brian Sanders flying Dreadnought, Dan Martin in Ridge Runner III and Dennis Sanders was flying Argonaut with smoke generators on the wingtips & Mary Hamilton riding in the back seat. Helium-filled balloons in Furias colors (red and gold) were released and ascended skyward following the flyby. Lloyd's survivors include Mary and his three brothers: Don Hamilton of Santa Rosa, Cliff Hamilton of Vacaville and Chuck Hamilton of Oregon.

Mary was a key organizer of this event. Her ability to handle any and everything - menu planning, assembling memorabilia for display and print, even manhandling tables and chairs - was truly inspiring; all the while accepting the many phone calls which poured in from friends and associates. She was assisted by dozens: Art Vance, Jim Gardner, Cindy and Bob Clopton, Sonia and Lee Donham, Betty and CJ Stephens, Dwight and Rose Thorn, Dave DeWitt, Denny Jones, Mike O'Kelly, Rit Keiter, Lynn Hunt, Jim Long, Steve Penning, Larry Rengstorf - the list goes on and on.


Those of us who were fortunate enough to know him personally are devastated by his loss. However, this gathering was a fitting tribute to a remarkable personality. Blue skies forever Lloyd - you'll always be remembered.

Mark -- Thank you very much for posting this obituary/tribute. I missed it back in the Pylon1 days. It had a number of things that I never knew even though I was around Lloyd for all those years. Your tribute is a vital part of Air Race history -- and a nice bit of writing too.

Neal

[wingman]

I could never figure out whether Tina and Bertha were considered participants, or what...