Miss Ashley II

[Frank C.]

Re: Miss Ashley II

I miss that plane but mostly I miss Gary. He was a huge part of the Races.

I second that opinion.

Frank C.

[Frank C.]

Re: Miss Ashley II

Michelle, you once "scolded" me for leaving Bill Rogers out of the "toast" (so to speak).. I don't know if too many people know how hard that event was on him.. I looked deeply into his eyes as they were breaking down the pits and to say he had a broken heart would be understatement...

Bill Rogers is one of the few... Here's to Bill Rogers and ALL of the folks who were responsible for making a dream come true. However short lived it was, man... those were the days!

Well put Wayne.

Frank C.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Miss Ashley II

Did they ever get any real data on weather the NACA belly scoop worked to further reduce cooling drag?

I don't think they ever had time to truly evaluate the results in a quantitative way but.. from conversations I had with Bill at the time, and later, I truly believe they were on their way to a very, very fast airplane.

There was some early speculation that there was not enough air flow, because of cooling problems early race week '99.. it turned out to be a bad radiator and as Bill said to me after they disassembled and "rodded" the radiator, "we're makin' ice cubes"...

Regarding Big Jim's earlier observation about the two year mark and discovery of the engine not making the same power as the "big" Griffon... from where I was at the time, they knew exactly what they had from the get go, and were taking things one step at a time. They cleaned up the airframe and were working on ways to increase engine HP from the beginning. We really have to look at this in the light that the engine they raced with, for all intents and purposes, was entirely STOCK, with the exception that it had a different fuel system than the stocker.

The engine was straight out of the crate from Rolls.. no BS.. they then drilled holes (I was there) for the nitrous system and added that mod. But I know in my heart, once they had time to get things worked out, even with the "little" Griff... that was going to be an airplane to watch..

Though I never quite got to know Gary well... (I was wearing him down..) I will cherish my time with that group of people for the rest of my life and always feel a huge hole for the loss of Gary and the airplane he and Bill Rogers loved so much.

As an afterthought here.. I know that conventional wisdom says that the Lear wing was slower in the corners.. however, I was hearing the exact opposite from Bill and the team. They told me at the time that Gary felt like he was reeling them in when in the turns.... Would Bill BS me?? OF COURSE!!! He relished feeding me stuff that was *somewhat* true but... Look at the speeds that Gary raced the airplane... remember, this was a STOCK engine with a different induction system, and in its second year, an infant program where nitrous was added.. There was a lot of room to grow and we will never truly know... will we...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Miss Ashley II

Well put Wayne.

Aww hell... we all have our moments...

Thanks

[Lowell]

Re: Miss Ashley II

John Dilley told me in a conversation at the first Denver race in August of 1990 that the Lear wing on Vendetta also gave it excellent turning capability at speed, and it would have been key in that racer's potential success.

[Flyboykelly]

Re: Miss Ashley II

I appreciate all of the responses. I've been watching this forum for quite some time and am always amazed By the depth of experience and knowledge on here. MAII was an amazing airplane. Wouldn't it be fun to see a similar profiled thunder mustang . Here's to dreaming....

[DWYER]

Re: Miss Ashley II

I remember being a kid and looking for their t-shirt to buy the year before the tragedy. I told them how much I loved the airplane and how beautiful it was. They didn't have any t-shirts to sell that day so they asked for my mailing address and a couple of weeks later, a t-shirt and hat arrived at my doorstep with a nice thank you note for being a fan. Now what an awesome aircraft, extremely beautiful, what a class act!!

[Ron Lewark]

Re: Miss Ashley II

Wayne and others, thank you for all the imformation on Miss Ashely II and her build, what a race plane by a group of talented an dedicated people. A close friend and fellow box seat buddy loved Miss Ashley II. He and his wife went down to the pits and talked to Gary and bought an autographed poster just before that final race. He has never got over that accident to this day.
Ron

[First time Juke]

Re: Miss Ashley II

Help me out folks...ws MA II a metal ship or partially carbon fibre if so what parts ?

[Race5]

Re: Miss Ashley II

Mostly metal. It had carbon fiber leading edges on the wings, and some composite scoop pieces.

[Mustang1957]

Re: Miss Ashley II

yeah,what race 5 said.

[grouch3d]

Re: Miss Ashley II

I have a question
Does anyone know what the purpose of the fins on top of the fuse in front of the stab are for?

[FuryFan]

Re: Miss Ashley II

I have a question
Does anyone know what the purpose of the fins on top of the fuse in front of the stab are for?

In Kevin Grantham's "Griffon-Powered Mustangs" they are described as fairings for the horizontal stabilizers. The design is similar to what is on the F-86.

Kevin

[f1-69]

Re: Miss Ashley II

It's a few years out but there is an ash2 clone being built in Texas now

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Miss Ashley II

It's a few years out but there is an ash2 clone being built in Texas now

This could be interesting. Do you have any more info on the project? This is the first I've heard of it but that means nothing since I always seem to be the last person to find out anything and everything.

Will