Frank Taylor, Dago Red

[spitfire]

Does anyone know whats happening with Dago Red? Did Frank Taylor get it back again after it was sold via the bank to Eric Hoffman? Is it going to fly again soon?

[Race5]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Does anyone know whats happening with Dago Red? Did Frank Taylor get it back again after it was sold via the bank to Eric Hoffman? Is it going to fly again soon?

Frank did not get it back, it won't fly soon, and when it does fly it will be a stocker.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Frank did not get it back, it won't fly soon, and when it does fly it will be a stocker.

I have heard "whiffs" of a rumor that the current owner/s *may* bring her back as a racer.....

One thing I've learned in my nearly 61 years, of which over 30 have been spent at the races, NEVER say never... Ya just never know....

[Bob]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

How about posting the current owners email addy so we all can email him and let him know that Dago Red belongs at reno! Maybe a thousand or so emails from us fans would help tip the balance?

[T. Adams]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=5410V&x=16&y=17

There is all the info you need. Airplane is not in Alaska though. Have to write a snail mail letter to Mr. Hoffman though.

[flyingjibus]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

How about posting the current owners email addy so we all can email him and let him know that Dago Red belongs at reno! Maybe a thousand or so emails from us fans would help tip the balance?

Im thinking a million or so, and each one coming with a 1$ paypal gift.

[Bob]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Im thinking a million or so, and each one coming with a 1$ paypal gift.

I would happily donate 5.00

[grampi]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

It's things like this I can just never wrap my head around. Why take the fastest racer ever out of competition to put it back to stock? While I certainly understand these beautiful warbirds are not becoming more plentiful, there certainly are still plenty of stock Mustangs left in flying condition. We don't need another one, not if means retiring the fastest racer ever!

[Big_Jim]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

It's things like this I can just never wrap my head around. Why take the fastest racer ever out of competition to put it back to stock? While I certainly understand these beautiful warbirds are not becoming more plentiful, there certainly are still plenty of stock Mustangs left in flying condition. We don't need another one, not if means retiring the fastest racer ever!

Why? For the same reason that John Crocker decided to turn Sumthin' Else back to stock. For the same reason Alan Preston decided to turn Stiletto into a TF-51. For the same reason that everyone teases that it's only a matter of time before Dago, Precious Metal, and Voodoo become TF-51's as well. Because as a racer their 'market' value only appeals to a very small slice of the warbird market 'as is'...and the operating costs go up as exponentially as the 'value' of the airplane goes down. 99.95% of the people in the world who can afford to buy/own a P-51 are not interested in racing one.

Did you know that back in 1990 both Dago and Stiletto were put up at the Santa Monica/Museum of Flying auction for some insanely low opening bid price...and nobody bid on them?

There are only a few people in the world who can afford it that owning a RACER appeals to...and right now, most of those people already own one. Or more, if you're Rod Lewis. A stock warbird is 'worth' more restored on the open market than it is as a racer. If I can buy a million dollar racer yet restore it so that it's worth double...that's a hard equation to argue with. Good business AND a good deal.

Did you know that Doug Matthews had his P-51 "The Rebel" torn apart in Tiger Destefani's hangar with every intent in the world of modifying it as an all-out racer a couple years ago? Then LD and Tiger started talking about the costs associated with operating it in racing configuration. And you'll notice that it's a really nice stocker again.

That's why.

[grampi]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Why? For the same reason that John Crocker decided to turn Sumthin' Else back to stock. For the same reason Alan Preston decided to turn Stiletto into a TF-51. For the same reason that everyone teases that it's only a matter of time before Dago, Precious Metal, and Voodoo become TF-51's as well. Because as a racer their 'market' value only appeals to a very small slice of the warbird market 'as is'...and the operating costs go up as exponentially as the 'value' of the airplane goes down. 99.95% of the people in the world who can afford to buy/own a P-51 are not interested in racing one.

Did you know that back in 1990 both Dago and Stiletto were put up at the Santa Monica/Museum of Flying auction for some insanely low opening bid price...and nobody bid on them?

There are only a few people in the world who can afford it that owning a RACER appeals to...and right now, most of those people already own one. Or more, if you're Rod Lewis. A stock warbird is 'worth' more restored on the open market than it is as a racer. If I can buy a million dollar racer yet restore it so that it's worth double...that's a hard equation to argue with. Good business AND a good deal.

Did you know that Doug Matthews had his P-51 "The Rebel" torn apart in Tiger Destefani's hangar with every intent in the world of modifying it as an all-out racer a couple years ago? Then LD and Tiger started talking about the costs associated with operating it in racing configuration. And you'll notice that it's a really nice stocker again.

That's why.

Makes sense, but wouldn't it have made more sense for someone who already races a Mustang to buy Dago when it was sold as a racer and use IT for racing and turn their current (and slower) Mustang back into a stocker to sell?...considering Dago was the fastest unlimited racer at the time it was taken out of racing...one would think one of the other teams racing Mustangs would've been chomping at the bit to get their hands on a Mustang as fast as Dago...who wouldn't want to go from being merely a contender every year to being the one favored to win every year?

[Mluvara]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Makes sense, but wouldn't it have made more sense for someone who already races a Mustang to buy Dago when it was sold as a racer and use IT for racing and turn their current (and slower) Mustang back into a stocker to sell?...considering Dago was the fastest unlimited racer at the time it was taken out of racing...one would think one of the other teams racing Mustangs would've been chomping at the bit to get their hands on a Mustang as fast as Dago...who wouldn't want to go from being merely a contender every year to being the one favored to win every year?

By the time the current owner of Dago got it, it was out of racing condition and in a ton of pieces. Much of the speed that was applied to the airplane had been removed or taken off for rebuild and there's no instructions for putting those things back into the airplane. There's a lot more than an apparent physical "airframe" which makes it go fast.

As Big Jim said, the market is small and there's few operators for such machines.

One can wish all they want that simply buying a racer makes it an instant competitor. Very few people know how to operate the race motors and one needs a crew who is knowledgeable in the systems and such to support it. If one were to buy Voodoo as is, they sure better know what goes into such an airplane to operate it. Racing a 350mph airplane is much different than fielding a gold class competitor. Try going out and running the indy 500 with a crew and driver that doesn't know the car. It doesn't happen overnight.

Michael

[Big_Jim]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

One can wish all they want that simply buying a racer makes it an instant competitor. Very few people know how to operate the race motors and one needs a crew who is knowledgeable in the systems and such to support it. If one were to buy Voodoo as is, they sure better know what goes into such an airplane to operate it. Racing a 350mph airplane is much different than fielding a gold class competitor. Try going out and running the indy 500 with a crew and driver that doesn't know the car. It doesn't happen overnight.

Several years ago, the Miss Budweiser hydroplane team equipment went up for sale. The team that bought it out, purchased the boats, the trucks, and the trailers, and a few motors, propellers, etc. But they didn't want to spend the money to buy all the 'documentation' that was offered along with it...the research that said "on this course, use this prop, this gear box, this engine to make ____ happen."

The new owners felt that they were smart enough to figure it out on their own and that it wasn't worth the 'extra' money.

Biggest mistake they ever made. Their success has been a shadow of its former self, because not only do they lack the personnel who knew how to exploit it, but also the 'road map' to make it happen.

[Arctic Cat]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

My dughter tried baking cup cakes the other day with out eggs in the mix, it dun blowed up in the oven. The recipe for a top contendor at Reno isn't one that you can just look up on the internet.

[T. Adams]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Even though it's in a ton of pieces now, I'd rather see a plane like Dago sitting in the Smithsonian than flying as a TF!!

I really can't believe I just said that, it goes against my belief that they all should be flying, but that plane should not be a TF.

[Ken from PG]

Re: Frank Taylor, Dago Red

Tim, what if you got to take your camera up in the back of that plane. Would you like it then?

I do agree that it would be hard to look at as a TF though