Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

John, I hear what you are saying, and I also hear and feel what else is being said. What I think lies behind the frustration is that things like taking the exhaust system back to a stock setup was done with complete disregard for what the science was behind the old, "cobbled up POS" exhaust system that they took off was..

I got the chance to just have a couple offhand conversations with the new crew, and a pretty heated conversation with Lewis employee who works on 232...

Sad thing, these guys seem to just be ignoring the magic s h i t that has been done to the airplane over its history.. worse, they describe it as a "bunch of s h i t" that has been done to the airplane. There are probably other ways to wring out of the bear what it had in the past, and, if they can find them, I wish them well. Or, they could try to find what was ONCE there and then thrown away.

[tjyak50]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

Hehe...
What year was it that we all declared Merlin powered racers "done for good"..
No doubt the world is unfolding as it is supposed to.. the tide will do its thing.

What a great event. A first ever new champion airplane in Voodoo.
A full-up battle on Sunday between a bunch of the A-team planes.

Saw all my Reno friends, made some new ones too.
This IS as good as it gets...

Moar Reno please...
Tj

[440_Magnum]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

John, I hear what you are saying, and I also hear and feel what else is being said. What I think lies behind the frustration is that things like taking the exhaust system back to a stock setup was done with complete disregard for what the science was behind the old, "cobbled up POS" exhaust system that they took off was..

I got the chance to just have a couple offhand conversations with the new crew, and a pretty heated conversation with Lewis employee who works on 232...

Sad thing, these guys seem to just be ignoring the magic s h i t that has been done to the airplane over its history.. worse, they describe it as a "bunch of s h i t" that has been done to the airplane. There are probably other ways to wring out of the bear what it had in the past, and, if they can find them, I wish them well. Or, they could try to find what was ONCE there and then thrown away.

This is too fragile a sport to have 'bad guys' that you root against. There is no Kyle Busch in air racing ;-) I do wish everyone who engages the sport well, and I've already gotten an earful (well, screenful) for defending the Breckenridge bunch- not specifically for what they've done to Rare Bear, but in terms of general competence. They may have made Rare Bear slower by getting rid of some of the lingering Lyle magic, but I don't know enough to say that a significant re-work wasn't needed. its been quite a long time since the true glory days. There's an evolution to everything, and while it is sad to see the obvious friction between the "old" Lewis/ Rare Bear crew and the "new," I guess in some ways that's part of it too. People are people, with egos, and with pride in what they've done or plan to do.

Bottom line, at least its not in the shape Dago Red is in and I'm thankful to all the crews, past and present, for that.

[ChrisMX105]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

The root cause of the "Friction" has been hashed out in other threads. I think that what sticks in all of our craws is the blame and finger pointing. The only thing left from the previous crew was the boiloff and mechanical assembly of the engine yet the finger pointing for lack of performance keeps going back to those who worked on RB prior to this year. When you remove almost everything that was existing and replace it with a new design then how can any failures be attributed to those who came before?
It's like putting new tires on your car and having it not handle well in the snow and blaming the guy who originally had studded ones installed that you chose to remove.

[AirRaceFan]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

John, I hear what you are saying, and I also hear and feel what else is being said. What I think lies behind the frustration is that things like taking the exhaust system back to a stock setup was done with complete disregard for what the science was behind the old, "cobbled up POS" exhaust system that they took off was..

I got the chance to just have a couple offhand conversations with the new crew, and a pretty heated conversation with Lewis employee who works on 232...

Sad thing, these guys seem to just be ignoring the magic s h i t that has been done to the airplane over its history.. worse, they describe it as a "bunch of s h i t" that has been done to the airplane. There are probably other ways to wring out of the bear what it had in the past, and, if they can find them, I wish them well. Or, they could try to find what was ONCE there and then thrown away.

Wayne, you captured my sentiments exactly, only I didn't have the guts to post them. I want a healthy bear doing 490+ just like everyone else does; but I worry that what is being done will relegate her back to 440-450 at best until someone comes along to re-hotrod her. I read that the old exhaust system was designed to improve individual cylinder scavenging - if so, I can imagine it was a hornets nest of pipes, probably complex and lots of welds and hard to work on - but if it was worth power, then so be it! A straight pipe system might be easier to maintain and look cleaner, but if it gives up power...is it worth it?

I guess that's for the new owners to decide, rare bear is theirs to do with as they please; but it will take a long time for the memories of bear hauling around the course at 490+ are distant enough that people enjoy seeing her do 450.

The sad part is, the plane is far too radical to only do 450 and to be trucked in.

I do hope they find the missing speed regardless of how they do it, but you're right, it is frustrating to see the go-fast stuff that pushed bear to 490+ in the past be removed.

Bottom line though...it's their plane now to do with as they see fit, and I respect that.

[BellCobraIV]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

It all goes to show.........if it was easy everybody would have a Bearcat. But just because you have a Bearcat doesn't make it easy. Lyle made some good choices. and there is more than one way to skin a cat. But in the first seven years he owned the airplane it was rebuilt from a total wreck, Won at Cape May, Won at Mojave, Finished First at Reno 3 times, set the time to climb record to 10,000 feet. Etc. Etc.

[JCP]

Re: Unlimited Gold Results - Saturday

Details, Details, Details.......

In the early 90's the bear had limited funding and an enthusiastic crew, and was at least competitive. Deep pockets can't subsitute for a cohesive group.

Ummmmm...... Wrong