The Valley of Speed
Wow, what a week! This will be a year to remember for all Reno air race fans that’s for sure. Great racing on Sunday! Three finals had passes for the lead after several laps of stalking. All three passes for the lead were the same, build up momentum in the Valley of Speed, pull alongside on the outside of the final turn, watch your advantage slip away taking the longer outside line as the finish line approaches then do it all over again the next lap. Now that I think about it the passes happened in different spots but all began at turn one. The Rare Bear just muscled her way past September Fury on the outside pulling the pass off at the finish line. I was sitting in section 3. On a race prior and I forget which one the pass occurred at the end of the Valley of Speed. The pilot was finally, after several laps of trying, able to pull in front and take the preferred racing line away from the leader before banking into the final turn. A perfect pass! How come I never heard anyone refer to the back chute as the Valley of Speed before? Some fan in front of me explained to me there was a 500’vertical drop out there hence its name! Now that was air racing at it’s finest!!
I was shocked to read in aafo once I returned to base camp (Reno), of Rare Bear’s throttle problem. I recall seeing it’s landing gear down flying northwest on final approach while I was running to my truck in lot 7! I just thought, wow Johns been up there for awhile, must be taking a long victory “orbit” enjoying the moment! At that point I was in my own race to beat the traffic so didn’t give it anymore energy. Cutting the mags and leaning the engine out before dead sticking her to a safe stop on the ground…wow, good stuff but I’m sure John could have done without it! Great to see him back in the seat of Rare Bear by the way. I just feel like he knows the plan better than anyone and can get the most out of her on any given day. I don’t know if it was by design or not but good strategy by the team if it was. I’m talking about not pushing the motor until Sunday. Just get her in the big show then open her up! Remember a few years ago when we had that 500mph club battle on Friday or was it Saturday. Everyone throttled back on Sunday in an attempt to see the finish line! I was pleasantly surprised to see that Rare Bear had something more in her on race day this year! I had talked to one of the crew on Friday and was informed that they only had 70% of the manifold pressure and still were able to get to 450mph. Does anyone know the mechanicals on Sept. Fury and on what lap it started?
I had the pleasure of talking to one of the Gold Unlimited pilots about taking risks. He told me his testicles were not as big as they used to be, that he had nothing to prove and didn’t know how many races he had left. I’m not a pilot but I am a racer and completely understand this sentiment. I told him I just turned 52 and had raced my first motocross in 32 years. Why you ask would you do a foolish thing like that to which I reply because I still can, if I wait another 32 years I’ll probably be dead! Some people like speed, like to push the limits of themselves and their equipment. We know the risks and accept the consequences! Our mothers hate it, that I can tell you for sure which brings up another good point. It is selfish to take these risks perhaps even irresponsible but like I said, some of us are just wired for speed and competition and that’s that! I shook his hand and told him good luck and have fun!
I attended the movie premier, “Thunder Over Reno” last night. I’m glad it was free! The writing and acting was horrible but the footage of the flying was great! The sound of 3000hp was good too but there were a few scenes where the background noise made it impossible to hear the dialog. Kind of hard to follow the story line no matter how bad when you can’t decipher the words. I was disappointed. Ok, Rare Bear won, nobody crashed…two out of three ain’t bad!
Will the liquid cooled V12's ever be back in the 475-500 club? Heard the Merlin mechanical guru checked out! Didn't he pass on his secrets to anyone?
Cheers,
Hans
Wow, what a week! This will be a year to remember for all Reno air race fans that’s for sure. Great racing on Sunday! Three finals had passes for the lead after several laps of stalking. All three passes for the lead were the same, build up momentum in the Valley of Speed, pull alongside on the outside of the final turn, watch your advantage slip away taking the longer outside line as the finish line approaches then do it all over again the next lap. Now that I think about it the passes happened in different spots but all began at turn one. The Rare Bear just muscled her way past September Fury on the outside pulling the pass off at the finish line. I was sitting in section 3. On a race prior and I forget which one the pass occurred at the end of the Valley of Speed. The pilot was finally, after several laps of trying, able to pull in front and take the preferred racing line away from the leader before banking into the final turn. A perfect pass! How come I never heard anyone refer to the back chute as the Valley of Speed before? Some fan in front of me explained to me there was a 500’vertical drop out there hence its name! Now that was air racing at it’s finest!!
I was shocked to read in aafo once I returned to base camp (Reno), of Rare Bear’s throttle problem. I recall seeing it’s landing gear down flying northwest on final approach while I was running to my truck in lot 7! I just thought, wow Johns been up there for awhile, must be taking a long victory “orbit” enjoying the moment! At that point I was in my own race to beat the traffic so didn’t give it anymore energy. Cutting the mags and leaning the engine out before dead sticking her to a safe stop on the ground…wow, good stuff but I’m sure John could have done without it! Great to see him back in the seat of Rare Bear by the way. I just feel like he knows the plan better than anyone and can get the most out of her on any given day. I don’t know if it was by design or not but good strategy by the team if it was. I’m talking about not pushing the motor until Sunday. Just get her in the big show then open her up! Remember a few years ago when we had that 500mph club battle on Friday or was it Saturday. Everyone throttled back on Sunday in an attempt to see the finish line! I was pleasantly surprised to see that Rare Bear had something more in her on race day this year! I had talked to one of the crew on Friday and was informed that they only had 70% of the manifold pressure and still were able to get to 450mph. Does anyone know the mechanicals on Sept. Fury and on what lap it started?
I had the pleasure of talking to one of the Gold Unlimited pilots about taking risks. He told me his testicles were not as big as they used to be, that he had nothing to prove and didn’t know how many races he had left. I’m not a pilot but I am a racer and completely understand this sentiment. I told him I just turned 52 and had raced my first motocross in 32 years. Why you ask would you do a foolish thing like that to which I reply because I still can, if I wait another 32 years I’ll probably be dead! Some people like speed, like to push the limits of themselves and their equipment. We know the risks and accept the consequences! Our mothers hate it, that I can tell you for sure which brings up another good point. It is selfish to take these risks perhaps even irresponsible but like I said, some of us are just wired for speed and competition and that’s that! I shook his hand and told him good luck and have fun!
I attended the movie premier, “Thunder Over Reno” last night. I’m glad it was free! The writing and acting was horrible but the footage of the flying was great! The sound of 3000hp was good too but there were a few scenes where the background noise made it impossible to hear the dialog. Kind of hard to follow the story line no matter how bad when you can’t decipher the words. I was disappointed. Ok, Rare Bear won, nobody crashed…two out of three ain’t bad!
Will the liquid cooled V12's ever be back in the 475-500 club? Heard the Merlin mechanical guru checked out! Didn't he pass on his secrets to anyone?
Cheers,
Hans
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