Exciting News!

[speeddemon]

Re: Exciting News!

Hey Speed: Were Georgia Mae and Miss Candace the same airplane? Which Mustang had the "magic" thin-blade prop -- until it got ground in the sand? Peas

Miss Candace and Jeannie had Canadian Northstar blades.

The "magic" prop was on the Levitz/Whittington Precious Metal. One of two sets of experimental Hamilton Standard blades developed for the P-51 H program. VERY thin. The first set was bought by JD Reed and perished in the crash of Beguine in '49. The second set was used on Joe DeBona's Thunderbird x-country racer. Guess it freaked out DeBona and his sponsor, Jimmy Stewart...the blades were so thin that under power, they bent forward noticeably. Ralph Payne bought them from DeBona and used them on Precious Metal...destroyed when Whittington played tag with Jerry Doody's Datsun on the ramp in 1977.

I hear that the blades are still at World Jet in 'storage'. Not sure they're airworthy, though.

[wingman]

Re: Exciting News!

Had a phone call with Jimmy -- briefly he said they were sticking with the the short wings, no Allison rods for now, and the Foxy Lady/Sumthin Else canopy. Most interesting thing was their plans for a Stiletto-style boil-off system replacing the doghouse and radiator. Now this should add up to a very interesting looking Racer! He said he expects no big difference weight-wise with the cooling changes.

He said the crew at GossHawk are pretty pumped about having the project -- they're pretty excited about having a project that'll be done in a few months and they can actually see fly rather than the endless years-long stuff they usually do.

He talks about racing the Ghost as a three or so year project, with this year being a "see what we have" thing running in the top 4 or 5 airplanes and then taking it from there. That's assuming they do make it this year -- Jimmy said they think they can probably do it, but that obviously this sort of thing is never a sure thing...

I know Ryan has given us most of this (and Thanks Ryan!) but I thought it would be good to have it all consolidated in one post.

Neal

[Race5]

Re: Exciting News!

Stilletto style?!?!? SWEET !

[Peashooter]

Re: Exciting News!

With a good engine, the only weakness might be the short wing? Maybe it won't just be the kerch & Dave show at Reno 2007!

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Exciting News!

I thought when I saw the picture of the wing that it looked like maybe a boiloff system was in order. See my other post maybe its worth 2.5 points. I hope I get to see it in 2007 at Reno.

[Peashooter]

Re: Exciting News!

I can't wait to see the 'Ghost crankin' up a full head of steam!

[John]

Re: Exciting News!

Oh wow! that picture of Miss Candace is beautiful, and those white stacks are really cool.

Thanks for the updates on The Ghost! And to think that I was fearing the fast Mustang days were over.

Great to see John Crockers canopy getting a new life, I always thought it looked really slick.

[speeddemon]

Re: Exciting News!

Oh wow! that picture of Miss Candace is beautiful, and those white stacks are really cool.

I belive in that picture he still has the Bearcat prop on Miss Candace too. By the time Reno rolled around a week or two later, the Northstar prop was on.

The red 'trim design' is also not on the wingtip, which leads me to believe that it is the beginning of Sept. 1973. It too was on there come race time.

Finished in 2nd place that year...at a speed that would have set beat the previous year's winner...and set a new record in the process. But it was still about 10 mph slower than the Bear that year.

[Fence Sence]

Re: Exciting News!

Hey speed, I was 2 months old at that point. My first time as a Fenceliner.

[sledge39]

Re: Exciting News!

_______

I belive in that picture he still has the Bearcat prop ......
....which leads me to believe that it is the beginning of Sept. 1973.

....a closer look....2 Sept 1973.....




_______

[Peashooter]

Re: Exciting News!

Was there any benefit to the revised inlet? (Off a Connie oil cooler?)

[MLenoch]

Re: Exciting News!

In 1999, Moonbeam flew with a 20% smaller coolant scoop. Less air = less drag; slightly more water was used for cooling. Same scoop now resides on Miss America. Scoop was originally built by Micky Rupp as a flush scoop (against the wing surface); I do not know if he ever raced with the modified scoop. I had it rebuilt to be moved away from the turbulent boundary layer against the bottom of the wing.
(Critical,informative,scientific comments&observations are welcome.)
VL

[wingman]

Re: Exciting News!

Vlado -- did Mr. Rupp have any comments on your changes?

I thought you ran quite well with it...

[MLenoch]

Re: Exciting News!

Thanks.......I had lots-o-fun with it!

Mickey Rupp did not comment before or after the changes. I think he was basically interested in retiring from racing and much more interested in boats at the time.

VL

[speeddemon]

Re: Exciting News!

_______




....a closer look....2 Sept 1973.....




_______

Yup...that's the Bearcat prop alright. Three white blades...one red.

Z said it was something screwy with the gearing that made him decide to do away with it on Candace and Miss A.