Wildfire article

[MikeS]

I had the opportunity to talk to Bill Statler about Wildfire a few weeks ago. Here is the article I wrote up. Constructive criticism and follow-up questions are welcome.

[laminar]

Re: Wildfire article

Good stuff, I hope it works out for them

[BillA]

Re: Wildfire article

Good for them that they still have enthusiasm after all these years.

[ebutner]

Re: Wildfire article

Just got this email from team Wildfire:

To all of our fans, friends and supporters.

It is with a great deal of disappointment and regret that my brother Richard and I must announce that Wildfire will not be at the Reno Air Races again this year. I can assure you it is not due to the lack of effort by the crew.

As you know, the Wildfire crew consists of all volunteers who contribute what time they can, when they can. Our engine mechanic, Tom Johnson (T.J.) lives in Castro Valley, CA. which is near Oakland; our sheet metal expert, Greg Benson, lives in Santa Maria, CA.; our avionics/electrical engineer/mechanic, Paul Novacek, lives in Albuquerque, N.M.; and our pilot Dave Morss lives in Redwood City, CA.. Inspite of the distances from the project, they continue with their support whenever possible. We have one volunteer who lives close enough to the Wildfire project at the Mojave airport to help my brother and me on a regular basis and another volunteer who lives close enough to gives us a hand on every other Saturday. When my brother comes up to Mojave from Laguna Niguel to work on the racer, it is a three hour drive for him each way. All crew members have full time, 40 hours/week, jobs. We do not have the resources to hire outside help to work on the project to help us out.

Special thanks goes out to our good friend Pete Law, designer of the fuel, oil, ADI and oil cooling systems, who is always available to help us when we need him.

Since, at the most, there are only three of us, sometimes four, working on Saturdays only, it takes a long time for us to get things done. We've come a long way and we're real close to completing the Wildfire project. We completed our taxi tests a couple of weeks ago with only minor glitches;
a canopy that won't seal properly and a faulty mag switch. The high winds at Mojave have often slowed us down as well. Once these minor problems are taken care of we are ready to fly and start our Flight Test Program.

Our big hurdle to conquer is the landing gear doors. We are still working on getting them designed and built. Unfortunately, dad passed away before he completed the design of the gear doors. We can start the flight test program without them, but we need them to complete the test program. We will get them done.

My brother and I vowed to complete the Wildfire Home Built Unlimited Class Race Plane Project in memory of our father and we will do it thanks to the support we have been getting from all of you.

Thanks again to all of you. We look forward to your continued friendship and support and to having Wildfire at Reno next year.

An update to the Wildfire Air Racing web site which will include a video of our taxi tests will be available to you soon.

Bill Statler
Wildfire Air Racing Team
Unlimited Division