A- 'HOLE in one'...

[BuckyD]

Re: A- 'HOLE in one'...

The air racing gremlins were hard at work at Reno '97 NCAR & hungry for making trouble, especially within the ranks of the Unlimiteds. Some compelling evidence of their voracious appetites is illustrated in the following B&W archive photos, including some truly knarley holes & bite marks.

This first set of shots details pilot/owner- Tom Dwelle's Super Sea Fury - Race #10 CRITICAL MASS, following noted hired-gun race pilot- Skip Holm's Lap-5 Mayday exit from Sunday's Unlimited Silver on 9/14/97.

While Skip was holding down third place, leading edge fragments of #10's engine cowling began breaking-off & did some serious extra damage to the Hawker's RH horizontal stabililzer- giving Holm the impression he'd been targeted by ack-ack. Tom Dwelle is seen giving some die-hard fans the inside scoop in the pits after the event. DBD

[Ken from PG]

Re: A- 'HOLE in one'...

A couple of a souvenir from 2006

[BuckyD]

Re: A- 'HOLE in one'...

After creating substantial havoc chomping on #10 Critical Mass' airframe & snuffing Stu Eberhardt's motor in #22 Merlin's Magic during Reno '97 NCAR's Unltd. Silver Race- the 'Gremlin Gang' got extra-busy brewing-up some really serious chaos for that season's Unlimited Gold Championship contenders.

To setup a truly-dramatic stage for the final event, they created some of the fiercest windy conditions ever experienced out on the Stead Field racecourse in its' entire history, for race organizers, contestants & race fans to deal with that day.

Another much-anticipated showdown between race champions- Bill 'Tiger' Destefani in his P-51D #7 STREGA vs. 'World's-Fastest'- Lyle Shelton in Race #77 RARE BEAR got underway, leading seven other hard-charging big-iron Unlimited challengers, w/Tiger leading at a gruelling pace for all pursuers, particularly- Shelton in second-place.

Gremlin nasties wasted no time in jumping onto RARE BEAR's mighty Wright R-3350 motor by eating up a header weld, which torched some big holes in the engine cowling, while messing-up the ignition and air intake systems to handicap Shelton w/a rough-running powerplant for most of the race. The BEAR was shedding hot metal fragments down onto the desert sagebrush along its' flightpath around the course, starting small brushfires.

Tiger prevailed to log another Gold Trophy win in STREGA, w/Lyle Shelton managing to nurse his stricken Bearcat past the Home Pylon for a 3rd-place finish behind Brian Sanders in #8 Dreadnought, before declaring his Mayday.

Severe gusts & tricky crosswinds forced some hairy landing scenarios onto all the Gold finishers. Shelton muscled The BEAR safely down onto the old closed runway, w/Tiger & STREGA following his move. Destefani soon found his fresh victory to be hard-won & at great expense- w/a hard-landing damaging a main wing spar, and a near nose-over dinging his race prop (w/more damage to the engine & nose case).

Following are some B&W archive photos- capturing both STREGA & BEAR being returned to the pits by their respective crews after Sunday's Gold Race, and some damage details f/historical ref.

The prowess & courage of air racing pilots is truly awe-inspiring, to say the least. Here's a sincere toast of thanks to two of the sport's all-time greatest champions: Tiger Destefani & Lyle Shelton

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: A- 'HOLE in one'...

Here's the post-Reno '97 Gold Race STREGA & BEAR photos...

(Seem to have had some tech problems managing these attachments for prev. posting. Sorry)

DBD

[SCEPTER]

Re: A- 'HOLE in one'...

-WOW-
Thanks for sharing those pics and stories BuckyD. I've never seen pics of Strega after that hard landing. The pics of #22's motor are really good also.

[WASP-kid]

Re: A- 'HOLE in one'...

-WOW-
Thanks for sharing those pics and stories BuckyD. I've never seen pics of Strega after that hard landing. The pics of #22's motor are really good also.

What he said. Very sweet history lesson.