John Penney

[Jim58]

Re: John Penney

To Mr. John Penney and the entire RARE BEAR CREW,

Thank you for your incredible talent. What your team did this past year is nothing short of incredible. you have given us (the fans of the BEAR) yet another Win from the fastest piston powered A/C in the world!

Mr. Penney (I call you Mr. because my Dad taught me to have respect)

Thank you for your post,
That is what keeps me coming here for information. watching you fly that race and leaving the course I knew when the Bear's temper flared you were the right man in the cockpit. I just had a feeling you were "THE MAN" who could get the Bear back to it's cave in one piece.

that was a race to be talked about for some time to come.

THANK YOU ALL.....
Jim

THANK YOU Mr. Dwelle
for that wonderful 3350 I enjoyed watching you and your son this year.

[chuck]

Re: John Penney

I think a lot of thanks should go to John just for posting on this forum. I am not meaning to take anything away from anyone else, but how many other Unlimited contenders (and winners) post here. Thanks for not forgetting the fans. Chuck

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: John Penney

Here's a little clip of when the 'aerodynamic filler' was ingested......

A Mazing.... How fine a 3350 can grind aerodynamic filler!

Cudos to John for his ability to keep his fist buried in the firewall when thiungs seem to be going to hell in a handbasket!

[wolfee]

Re: John Penney

Chuck,

I think you would be suprised. We have more then one race pilot that posts here. Some more then others, but we are quite blessed to have them here to share thier experiance with us from time to time.

Mr. Penney

Thanks for the insight. That is exactly what I asked for before the races. I know your a bussy man and couldnt talk too much about things before hand. It is great to have you here, thank you sir!

Congrats on the win and a safe landing!

Wolfee

[Chris Thun]

Re: John Penney

Mr. John Penney, you're a great pilot and a great man, my wife and I met you and you took time to sign her t-shirt and have your picture taken after the great win. My wife said she prayed for you to stay in the lead and then had to pray you down, the bear just didn't know when to quit. We'll be looking forward to next year. The best to you and your crew. Chris and Larki [B]

"Bear" fans,

To start off, thanks to all the well wishers out there and for the support for the "Rare Bear" Air Racing Team by those fans who love the plane as much as all our team members do. And our hearts go out to the families and friends of our racers tragically lost this year.

This year was one of tremendous challenge. After Mr. Rod Lewis, owner of Lewis Energy Group became the new owner of the "Bear" he began to assemble the new team under the leadership of Dave Cornell, a wizard when it comes to making racing planes go fast. Virtually all of his team mechanics are those who joined the team several years ago so there was a wealth of talent and experience from which to draw. Rod invited me to drive for the team soon after Dave assembled his crew. Needless to say, I was thrilled to be offered the privilege to come back with this great team.

Up until PRS, the plane was torn down to bare bones (you may have seen some of the pics on this site). Every system and bit of structure was inspected and/or overhauled and the whole airframe X-rayed. Significant repairs were required as a result of unknown, sometimes major, discrepancies since the airplane's original buildup that started in 1968. Anyway, the buildup started with mounting, during PRS, of an engine bought from Tom Dwelle. That was less than 3 months ago. The plane flew for the first time on September 2nd.

The first time we put any power to the beast, it argued with us and we had to go out and qualify on Tuesday at, believe it or not, less than rated takeoff power for the 3350. Performance was an anemic 452.something. We wrestled with power through our first heat on Saturday, limited on power and being passed by Tiger, then....Oh-my-God....by Dreadnought!!!

Two test flights on Sunday still left some questions unanswered, but we had improved. So, we were still flight testing on the start of Sunday's Gold Race. To set the record straight, we did NOT use nitrous.

On the start of the race we accelerated past Matt and I was able to move in on Mike's wing. That man is a fierce competitor, a great pilot, and flies one of the smoothest lines I've seen. After all, I got to see it for a whole lap. Don't know what September's problem was, but I know that plane can go faster than it was going when we passed him on the second lap, and was surprised to hear the the lead we opened up.

On the third lap, the engine ran rough for several seconds, as unknown to me, some "aerodynamic filler" had broken off the cowling right side and was ingested by the engine. A picture on this site shows a trail of white "stuff" trailing the bear for several hundred yards. The "Bear" must have chewed it up and spit it out, because after retarding power to see if we were OK, it ran smooth again, but we had smoke in the cockpit. It took half a lap, flown high, to get confirmation from Dave that we had no smoke trailing the aircraft. The cockpit smoke cleared after two more laps and power came up again, but not all the way. We held a stable reduced setting with our lead to the flag.

After pulling up for the cooldown, it became apparent that the throttle was jammed and I couldn't get it back below 45" MAP. Pulled the rpm back to 2400, declared an emergency and Steve was on my wing before I knew it. That guy is some kind of a safety pilot, and he asked the right questions at the right time to help me with the forced landing plan. Dave and I also discussed the engine shutdown plan to keep from grenading the engine. Race control held 232 on runway 32 while they landed the other (healthy) racers on runway 26...which gave me a spot-of-bother as I was now down to 20 gallons of gas. They finally let 232 cross 26, and I set up for the deadstick.

At 10,500 feet the ignition key was turned off and mixture pulled to cutoff. It gets really quiet. That was on a high downwind to the high key so I could do a complete 360 to the downwind for the deadstick. Steve was right there. I wanted to stay fairly close to the runway as we had high winds out of the west. Initial aimpoint was 1/3 down the runway, but when landing was assured, I brought the prop rpm up to bring the aimpoint back a little. Touchdown was about 1500 to 2000 feet down the runway, and surprised myself with one of my better touchdowns of the week! Fire/Rescue was on the scene immediatley.

I can't say enough about how cool Steve Hinton and Dave Cornell were. It was reassuring to know Steve and Dave were right there for whatever I needed. There's no placating at all when I say it was a team effort getting the "Bear" safely to the runway.

And, I can't say enough about the incredible commitment, dedication and sacrifice of our crew who gave up time from their jobs and families to groom and condition the "Bear" for our victory. The effort was an awesome thing to behold.

Stay tuned for more developments on the "Bear" under the ownership of Mr. Rod Lewis, and leadership of Dave Cornell.

John Penney, "Race 77"

[marada mx3]

Re: John Penney

Here's a little clip of when the 'aerodynamic filler' was ingested......

Anyone else notice that the hootin and hollerin on that video coincided with the Bear's smoking? I hate to think people would be cheerin if they thought the Bear was blowin up. Then again, that's why a lot of people watch Nascar - for the crashes.

Obviously, there is no way to tell why these people were yelling, but the timing was perfect. Maybe they were 232 fans!

Tommy

[supercub]

Re: John Penney

As I remember it, people were "hootin and hollerin" Cheering every time the Bear came by. I'm sure there is the odd person that would like to see an engine blow, but I'm convinced that a large majority (99.999%) that want to see a "SAFE" race and that includes no blown engines.
Brian

[Dave65882]

Re: John Penney

All I got to say is what an amazing week. To everyone on the crew of bear, way to go guys. I have been following the place since I was little, my sons now love to see her win, and it was a great week!!!!! My son is very greatful for the time everyone gave him even though everyone was working hard.

He has already started on a new LEGO BEAR for you guys next year, complete with a trophy for your well deserved win.

[Section3guy]

Re: John Penney

wow john thanks for posting it kinda seemed like i was there
more insight than i ever thought i whould read
all i know is there were alot of section 3 people yelling for you to "STICK "the landing and you did
some one watching (not in the know that you were coming in in trouble) whould have thought that was a power landing
great job hope to see ya in section 3 for some shirt signing next year!

[a4gturn]

Re: John Penney

Well, I guess John Penney "must be the best pilot I ever saw."

[Sneauxman]

Re: John Penney

Thank you Mr Penney for being the man you are. Your life, profession, marriage and family all seem to be reflections of a life well lived. Last year in the pits during qualifying you were gracious to sign my brand new picture book. You were also surprised that anyone would want your autograph. Get used to it Mr P. You are a a hero to one of your age comtemporaries for multiple reasons.
Thank you for the detailed sharing. In 38 years of following this sport there has never been a winning pilot willing to share the experience to this extent. This was a genuine treat.
Our best to you and your family.

[ebutner]

Re: John Penney

You were also surprised that anyone would want your autograph. Get used to it Mr P. You are a a hero to one of your age comtemporaries for multiple reasons.
Thank you for the detailed sharing. In 38 years of following this sport there has never been a winning pilot willing to share the experience to this extent. This was a genuine treat.
Our best to you and your family.

I agree... Thanks.. Great thread.

[ignomini]

Re: John Penney

Mr. Penney, add one more enthusiastic fan to the list of people saying thank you for telling us about the race experience. You deserve your status as a fan favorite. A few years ago I asked you to contrast flying the L39 vs. the Bear. You were friendly and responsive. I really appreciated that. Your answer was great too. Thanks again.

"3D Guy"

[DWYER]

Re: John Penney

I CAN SAY THAT OUR AREA WAS CHEERING AND YELLING WHEN THE BEAR CAME BY EACH TIME AND WAS STILL RUNNING STRONG. IT WAS A VERY COMPETATIVE AND SAFE RACE THANKS TO THE PILOTS' WONDERFUL SKILLS. THANKS FOR THE SHOW. BRAVO TO ALL.

[MMPerk]

Re: John Penney

When the Unlimited Gold Race started, everyone around us cheered for their favorite plane. But by about halfway through the race everyone was cheering for Mr. Penney and the 'Bear'. Only a few dry eyes around once the 'Bear' was guided safely back to a great landing!!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us.

Lonnie

http://www.pbase.com/lonrob/sunsept16