Re: UNLIMITED Racer Project For Sale
I'm going to post my silly opinion. Mr. Awesome has a 3350 in it alright but it's not a Sky Raider engine, It's a Turbo Compound. Likely off a Connie. Waaay too much weight and waaay too much junk moving around inside that cowl. Skip absolutely hated flying it. When I got done talking to him I figured one thing. If Skip Holm won't fly it. . . Those were radical times at Reno. Cool times because so many were trying to hit the nail on the head with the perfect combination of airframe and engine and they were using every engine and airframe combination you could think of. We had a great chance with BMB but circumstances can really ruin a good thing. The Pond racer, Tsunami, Furious, Dreadnought, Mr. Awesome. Checkmate (Then Perestroika. I still have a Green T-shirt from them) Everyone laughed at Bob Yancey then too. These were all radical modifications at the time. It seems old hat now and you can laugh at the way they did or didn't do but that was to me a sort of Golden Age at Reno. If we had, had the time to build the correct fuel system for BMB we may have been the new Rare Bear of the time. Instead we spent 5 nights changing engines. I still can't believe they are putting that plane back to stock but that's their deal. Anyway, Larry Burton mated a 3350 to a Sea Fury and until we showed up at Reno he was getting not only odd looks but there were some laughs too. Now you hardly see a Sea Fury with a Centaurus in it. All these guys wanted to make a difference and they were willing to try wild stuff to do it. I think the 3350 Turbo Compound was a real stretch but the engine was sitting in a yard somewhere and the airframe was sitting in a yard somewhere and Joe Kasperoff wanted to play so he did. The plane is not a million beer cans. That's something to say for it. All these years someone has still had faith in the thought that maybe, Just maybe this thing could fly. I actually think the standard -76WD would do ok. It just needs the right balance.
Now you got me all teary eyed for the old days.
I hope to meet some of you this year. I'm coming up for the first time in 15 years. I'm working with Larry on Dancing Queen this year. We're putting the engine together right now. We have been laughing lately about how when we were at Levelor we just went and got what we needed. He made the comment the other day "I wonder if Burt Munroe would do it like this?" Now we bring him up a lot. "Is this something Burt would be proud of?" "I wonder if Burt built one of these?" At Levelor we machined our parts. In Larry's garage we are filing, and using roto-sanders. It's fun times. You have to be creative. And working on an O-200 with Larry you get to hear how they used to build 4 cam Fords, and I feel like I know Mickey Thompson. One thing I know.
Larry Loves Racing.
See ya up there.
I'm going to post my silly opinion. Mr. Awesome has a 3350 in it alright but it's not a Sky Raider engine, It's a Turbo Compound. Likely off a Connie. Waaay too much weight and waaay too much junk moving around inside that cowl. Skip absolutely hated flying it. When I got done talking to him I figured one thing. If Skip Holm won't fly it. . . Those were radical times at Reno. Cool times because so many were trying to hit the nail on the head with the perfect combination of airframe and engine and they were using every engine and airframe combination you could think of. We had a great chance with BMB but circumstances can really ruin a good thing. The Pond racer, Tsunami, Furious, Dreadnought, Mr. Awesome. Checkmate (Then Perestroika. I still have a Green T-shirt from them) Everyone laughed at Bob Yancey then too. These were all radical modifications at the time. It seems old hat now and you can laugh at the way they did or didn't do but that was to me a sort of Golden Age at Reno. If we had, had the time to build the correct fuel system for BMB we may have been the new Rare Bear of the time. Instead we spent 5 nights changing engines. I still can't believe they are putting that plane back to stock but that's their deal. Anyway, Larry Burton mated a 3350 to a Sea Fury and until we showed up at Reno he was getting not only odd looks but there were some laughs too. Now you hardly see a Sea Fury with a Centaurus in it. All these guys wanted to make a difference and they were willing to try wild stuff to do it. I think the 3350 Turbo Compound was a real stretch but the engine was sitting in a yard somewhere and the airframe was sitting in a yard somewhere and Joe Kasperoff wanted to play so he did. The plane is not a million beer cans. That's something to say for it. All these years someone has still had faith in the thought that maybe, Just maybe this thing could fly. I actually think the standard -76WD would do ok. It just needs the right balance.
Now you got me all teary eyed for the old days.
I hope to meet some of you this year. I'm coming up for the first time in 15 years. I'm working with Larry on Dancing Queen this year. We're putting the engine together right now. We have been laughing lately about how when we were at Levelor we just went and got what we needed. He made the comment the other day "I wonder if Burt Munroe would do it like this?" Now we bring him up a lot. "Is this something Burt would be proud of?" "I wonder if Burt built one of these?" At Levelor we machined our parts. In Larry's garage we are filing, and using roto-sanders. It's fun times. You have to be creative. And working on an O-200 with Larry you get to hear how they used to build 4 cam Fords, and I feel like I know Mickey Thompson. One thing I know.
Larry Loves Racing.
See ya up there.
Troy
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