Re: Critical Mass??
OK Wayne I'll bite-
On seeing Critical Mass back at Reno:
Hard to call, I know for certain that the old man is done racing CM. It was his deal, he had the drive and passion to make it happen. When he hung up his spurs, most of that went away. We were all very burned out. Those of you that have campaigned/crewed an unlimited gold racer understand what it takes 365 days a year to make it happen. When we won the T-6 gold race for the second time and traded Tinkertoy for the Sea Fury, all the T-6 guys said Wohoo, you go! The unlimited guys said "what are you crazy?" It's a lot of work. I have attached a recent picture of the aircraft. It has not flown since the return from Reno 2003. It has not run since we gave the prop back to the Bear folks a few months later. We do have a prop, and are talking about putting it together so we can run the motor. I don't know if CM will return or not, I do know that if it happens it won't be in the near future.
On me racing CM:
After we returned from Reno 2003 I was furloughed from my job at United and had to get a real job. I am fortunate that we have a strong family business that I could go to, but it severely limits my time off. My family is very important to me and I take my job seriously. There is precious little time off, and the prospect of taking 10 days to go to Reno is a non-starter right now, not to mention the work required to get the SF where to needs to be. That being said, things are getting better rather than worse, and I do find myself thinking about Reno from time to time. When I return, it will certainly be in a T-6 first. I would like to fly Race 10, the time may come, but in the meantime I have nothing to prove and my allegiance is to my family and my business.
On Inlets and such:
Bruce Boland designed the inlets, they are the same ones that were on the Super Corsair. You have to remember that we had just aborted the flight to the Phoenix 500 in 1996 due to high oil temps and we were desperate to solve the problem and get the oil temps where they should be. The inlets are a little overkill, but they do provide enough ram air to get 73" of boost coming down the chute. My feeling is that the fences really need to just go away, but the inlets are not THAT bad. After our first hot laps in 2000, Pete Law computed that we should be able to do 472 mph laps (on the old course). The only time we demonstrated that was in 2000 for the first lap or two, right before the engine blew up. It was so painful to fix, we were always a little gunshy about going back up to warp power after that. We did at times, but it was never quite as fast as in 2000. That was a good motor.
I would really like to see the geardoors fit better as the first mod. They have simply been in the dirt too many times. They need to go in the dumpster. Sea Fury gear doors are not easy to come by... I would also like to see a proper canopy pulled. The waves in that one embarrass me. It happened when I was away in the Air Force and I claim less than no responsibility.
-Ken
OK Wayne I'll bite-
On seeing Critical Mass back at Reno:
Hard to call, I know for certain that the old man is done racing CM. It was his deal, he had the drive and passion to make it happen. When he hung up his spurs, most of that went away. We were all very burned out. Those of you that have campaigned/crewed an unlimited gold racer understand what it takes 365 days a year to make it happen. When we won the T-6 gold race for the second time and traded Tinkertoy for the Sea Fury, all the T-6 guys said Wohoo, you go! The unlimited guys said "what are you crazy?" It's a lot of work. I have attached a recent picture of the aircraft. It has not flown since the return from Reno 2003. It has not run since we gave the prop back to the Bear folks a few months later. We do have a prop, and are talking about putting it together so we can run the motor. I don't know if CM will return or not, I do know that if it happens it won't be in the near future.
On me racing CM:
After we returned from Reno 2003 I was furloughed from my job at United and had to get a real job. I am fortunate that we have a strong family business that I could go to, but it severely limits my time off. My family is very important to me and I take my job seriously. There is precious little time off, and the prospect of taking 10 days to go to Reno is a non-starter right now, not to mention the work required to get the SF where to needs to be. That being said, things are getting better rather than worse, and I do find myself thinking about Reno from time to time. When I return, it will certainly be in a T-6 first. I would like to fly Race 10, the time may come, but in the meantime I have nothing to prove and my allegiance is to my family and my business.
On Inlets and such:
Bruce Boland designed the inlets, they are the same ones that were on the Super Corsair. You have to remember that we had just aborted the flight to the Phoenix 500 in 1996 due to high oil temps and we were desperate to solve the problem and get the oil temps where they should be. The inlets are a little overkill, but they do provide enough ram air to get 73" of boost coming down the chute. My feeling is that the fences really need to just go away, but the inlets are not THAT bad. After our first hot laps in 2000, Pete Law computed that we should be able to do 472 mph laps (on the old course). The only time we demonstrated that was in 2000 for the first lap or two, right before the engine blew up. It was so painful to fix, we were always a little gunshy about going back up to warp power after that. We did at times, but it was never quite as fast as in 2000. That was a good motor.
I would really like to see the geardoors fit better as the first mod. They have simply been in the dirt too many times. They need to go in the dumpster. Sea Fury gear doors are not easy to come by... I would also like to see a proper canopy pulled. The waves in that one embarrass me. It happened when I was away in the Air Force and I claim less than no responsibility.
-Ken
)
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