'BUCK SHOTS'

[FlyKidChris]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Big Dogs On-The-Loose" - NOW that's what we're looking for! Or at least, what I'm looking for!

Thank you, again, for yet another memorable shot.

[wingman]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Great shot, Buck...

Neal

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Thanks-all, f/the kind kudos on the Gold start photo. Those are my favorite race photo-ops, and most-challenging when they happen (& not ashamed to admit I've 'choked' on getting the shot fm time-to-time, usually auto-focus issues). Nice when both the equipment AND the photographer are working-properly, and these exciting action groupings are captured f/posterity.

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Warbird Pursuit"~ Gull-winger ridin' the Parrot's Tail...

Sun. 9/19/10-Reno NCAR-UNL Silver Final-7 Laps: John-Curtiss Paul holds the inside-track flying a tight courseline w/his Curtiss P-40N Warhawk- #17 'Parrothead' (N1195), as competitor-Doug Matthews attempts to get around him w/his big gull-wing Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair #24 (N240CF), to no avail. Parrothead finished 6th @ 324.544-av/mph w/the Corsair still right on his tail in 7th @ 324.460.

THAT's- "Great Racing!"

DBD

(Note: Decided to reprise this 'Buck Shot' fm a prev-posted photo ensemble on the mega-thread. -DBD

[vodkaandsoda]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Great shots! I had no idea that Roger Brower had passed away. He was always very generous and helpful back in the day when I was doing warbird airshows. Sad to hear that.

"Light My Candle!"~

A couple 'Buck Shot' captures of a pair of classic Unlimited Gold Champion Mustangs getting all~ 'stoked-up' ~for racing:

"Wakin'-up The Witch"~Fri. 9/18/09-Reno NCAR: Young race pilot-Steven Hinton, Jr. gets a stack-fire donut while starting-up the Mike Nixon/Vintage V-12s' Rolls-Royce Merlin race engine in Tiger Destefani's P-51D Mustang Unlimited- #7-'Strega' (N71FT), prior to takeoff on another early-morning 'dawn patrol' test flight, in-prep f/the day's Gold competition heat event in the afternoon.

"Fiery Blue Eyes!"~ Fri. 9/16/83-Reno NCAR: John Crocker's potent P-51D- Race #6-'Sumthin' Else' (NX51VC) gets 'wick'd-up' enough to blast-out blue stack flame during a power-test run of her Jack Hovey-prepared race Merlin by the crew, out on the cold Stead Field ramp just after sundown. Note: this is a hand-held Kodachrome 64 slide film shot, taken standing atop a 12-ft. step ladder (-another brilliant photo-comp suggestion fm my late pal-Roger Brower on JC's crew,-seen standing at far-left, next to fellow team mates-Ron York & Ted Curiel.)

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Hey Vodkaandsoda-

Glad you remember & knew Roger Brower. During his last few years, even though his health was failing, he crewed f/Racing Biplane champ- Tom Aberle, working on Tom's #62-'Phantom' racer. Miss him...

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Boys & Their (Tinker)Toys"~

It's always a fun & fulfilling life experience when a son follows a father's footsteps in sharing mutual passions & goals- especially when it leads to achieving great accomplishments in the same field of interest. Such father-son precedents have been noted in the sports world, and also occasionally in the elite- 'World's-Fastest Motorsport' of closed-course pylon Air Racing.

Most-recently, air race fans got to watch it happen in the Unlimited Class at Reno '09, when the sport's youngest pilot-Steven Hinton, Jr. won that year's Reno NCAR UNL Gold Championship flying Tiger Destefani's P-51D Mustang #7-'Strega' at record speed, to match his father- Steve Sr.'s 1978 UNL Gold Championship win, while flying Ed Browning's radical record-breaking #5-'Red Baron' RB-51 super-Mustang as the sport's then-youngest UNL Gold champion race pilot.

At the Reno 2008 NCAR event, we also got to enjoy seeing another great father-son combo set this rare sports precedent in the highly-competitive T-6 Racing Class, when Ken Dwelle won the '08 T-6 Gold Championship-at a new class record 244.523-av/mph (-which still stands today!) & while flying the very same aircraft previously-owned by the family & piloted by his dad-Tom A. Dwelle to win both his two T-6 Gold Championships @ Reno '89 & '90: Harvard Mk.II Race #7-'Tinkertoy' (N97AW)

The entire Dwelle Family are air racers, as a matter-of-fact! Now how cool is THAT?!- "VERY!!!"

Here's an ensemble of 'Buck Shots' including these two Dwelle 'boys' gathering-up their trophy hardware (Tom's Reno '91 pic was the earliest awards photo I took of him to use) & flying #7-'Tinkertoy' around the pylons during their respective first-time T-6 Championship Gold Race victories. 'Way-To-Go', Guys!

DBD

[FlyKidChris]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"...when Ken Dwelle won the '08 T-6 Gold Championship-at a new class record 344.523-av/mph (-which still stands today!)"


That is a fast T-6!

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"...when Ken Dwelle won the '08 T-6 Gold Championship-at a new class record 344.523-av/mph (-which still stands today!)"


That is a fast T-6!

I should say... Sure that's not a speed for "Wildfire"?

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"OOPSY-DAISY!"...

Thx f/keepin' the ole' Buckster honest & spottin' my ten-thumb texting typo there. Correction made to the original post copy to read: "244.523-av/mph"

A case of- 'haste-makes-waste' w/too many details spinnin' around inside this old coconut. Glad I got you guys watchin' my six!

DBD

[stuntflyr]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

I should say... Sure that's not a speed for "Wildfire"?

No,
It has to fly long enough to be timed!
Chris...

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Sometimes~'The Magic' Works (& Sometimes~ It Doesn't)"...

Photos (L-R):

1. "Ready For Business"~ Sat. 9/9/00-Reno NCAR-Arrivals: North American P-51D Mustang Unlimited Class racers- #22-'Merlin's Magic' & #45-'Risky Business' arrive f/race week competition on Reno's Stead Field ramp.

2. "Too-Hot to Trot!"~ Sun. 9/15/96-Reno NCAR-UNL Gold Final: The Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 race engine in Bill Rheinschild's P-51D Mustang racer #45-'Risky Business' lets-go while rounding Outer 4 Pylon during Lap-4, forcing his mayday-exit fm the Reno '96 Gold Championship race.

3. "Hole in The Gold"~ Mon. 9/20/82-Reno NCAR-Departures Monday: John Crocker's gold-painted race Merlin rests on the pit-stall tarmac, following removal fm his P-51D Race #6-'Sumthin' Else', w/a hole in the case- fm a broken crankshaft suffered on Lap 4 in Sunday's Reno '82 Gold final.

4. "A Hole in One"~ Mon. 9/17/84-Reno NCAR-Departures Monday: Detail photo of the holed burnt Merlin piston fm Bill 'Tiger' Destefani's Mustang #7-'Strega', that forced race pilot-Ron Hevle's Lap-7 early-departure fm Reno '84's UNL Gold.

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Kingcobra!"~~~~~~

Although absent fm the air-racing competition scene in the Unlimited Class for quite awhile, the beautiful & rare WW2 Bell P-63 'Kingcobra' pursuit fighter, which saw extensive-combat w/the Russian Air Force, was once a plentiful-entry in the post-war Bendix Trophy cross-country speed dashes & Cleveland National Air Races' closed-course pylon trophy race events.

Three King-C's have raced during the 'modern-era' of 'Big-Iron' pylon contest meets @ Reno, Mojave & Miami~ John Sandberg’s P-63C #28-'Tipsy Miss' (N62822) raced by Lefty Gardner & Gary Levitz, Larry Havens’ P-63C #90-'Crazy Horse' (N9009) & the Jack Flaherty/Whittington F-model (NL6763) raced as #4 by Steve Hinton & as later-on as #8/#63 by Don & Bill Whttington, Vernon Thorpe & Jimmy Leeward.

The last time a P-63 was a race entry was @ Reno ’79, when Mike Smith Q’d too-slow to make the field in #28/N62822, renamed as-'What Price Speed?". If the 'World's-Fastest Motorsport' manages to fully- revitalize itself, perhaps air racing fans might-again have another opportunity to enjoy watching a Bell P-39 or its' P-63 big brother bend the pylons in competition.

Here's a 'Buck Shot' mini-gallery of photos of two gorgeous Kingcobra flyers still-thrilling warbird airshow devotees in the USA- John Bagley's P-63C-5 Kingcobra 43-11223 (N163FS) based in Rexburg, ID., during a rare appearance @ the ’02 Reno NCAR, and Southern California's Palm Springs Air Museum P63A-1 42-68864 (N163BP) that's a regular at the annual Planes of Fame Air Museum Airshow in Chino (now-undergoing a total refurbishment).

Here's a link f/some history of the type & listing surviving P-63 examples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_P-63_Kingcobra

DBD

[Big_Jim]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Oh man, Bucky you tease!!! I just KNEW when I saw the title of "Kingcobra" in red that you were going to post pictures of Tipsy Miss from '76 or What Price Speed? from '79......


Sigh.........

[Chad Veich]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

It's worth noting that one of the regular pilots of the Palm Spring Kingcobra is none other than Will Whiteside. Maybe Will can bend a few arms and get the bird to Reno at some point in the future. What say you Will???