14 Pix From 2012 Reno Air Races (Thru Sunday Morning 9-16-12)

(click pic to enlarge)  September Fury and Hoot Gibson in Heat 2A on Friday at Reno

(14 pix - click any pic to enlarge)

 It's been an awesome Reno Air Races thus far and we've got the big races going on yet today. I tend to keep my focus on the Unlimited Class, and once again we find Strega controlling the racing. Yesterday's Heat 3A finished with the same order of Strega, September Fury, Rare Bear, Precious Metal and Dreadnought in the top five slots. Remarkably, everyone finished with almost the exact speeds that they all ran in Friday's Heat 2A. The speed spread runs from Strega right around 472 mph on down to Dreadnought at around 420 mph.

 Based on what I've seen so far concerning the qualifying speeds seen earlier in the week from the various aircraft, along with the strategy of the teams over these last few races, it's fairly safe to say that this could be a fantastic Unlimited Gold race later today. Strega is strong as always and appears to have more speed if needed... but the other aircraft have shown the potential to be able to give some serious chase when it's needed. There's some real competition potential here. It's gonna be great.  

 Following is a collection of pix from the last few days... there's not enough time to share a lot of details now so you'll just get some captions along with one more encouragement from me to get to started right now making plans for next year and the 50th anniversary of the Reno Air Races - September 11-15, 2013. 

Get Reno Air Race results on this RARA page

Precious Metal and Thom Richard in yesterday's Unlimited Gold Heat 3A (4th place)

Strega and Steven Hinton in yesterday's Unlimited Gold Heat 3A race (1st place)

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Nemesis NXT 'Relentless' To Be Auctioned on eBay

Looking for a really hot ride? Buy 'Relentless' on eBay during the Reno Air Races!

 Kevin Eldredge is brewing up a plan to auction off his incredible Nemesis NXT racer known as Relentless during the 2011 Reno Air Races: September 14-18. The airplane is now hanging a Lycoming 720 cubic inch (8 cylinder) engine off the nose... and that engine appears to be good for about 428 hp!

 It'll take a starting bid of at least $100,000 to get in on the fun. You might wanna get your house and spare car sold asap so you've got a little extra cash on hand to keep up with the other bidders. You don't wanna lose your chance to own one of the coolest airplanes on the planet! I'll be sure to post the eBay link when it's available so you don't miss out : )

relentlessairracing.com

Elliot Seguin Of Scaled Composites Talks About Union College

 Elliot Seguin is still under 30 but he's living a pretty cool aerospace/aviation life. He's working for Scaled Composites as a project engineer and flight test engineer, and he's racing his own Formula One aircraft (Wasabi Air Racing) on the side at Reno. I've known Elliot for a couple years now and it's just great to see a passionate, enthusiastic young guy working hard to make cool things happen in the sky.

 This very well produced video gives a little insight into the drive and dedication Elliot exhibited in getting into Scaled. It's actually a promo fro Union College where Elliot got his education. I don't get out much, so as it turns out I didn't know of Union College, but knowing Elliot like I do, if he says it's a great school, I believe him. The video also gives that all important advice of how important it is to persevere in chasing after the things you want. If you're young and seeking an aerospace or aviation based life, put your head down and go for it... and don't give up til you get there!

 You might enjoy checking out my podcasts number 5 and number 7 - both are with Elliot and cover some of his Scaled experiences and air racing... including some interesting details in number 7 about the engine failures he encountered at Reno in 2009. And if you're looking for some info on some of the cool stuff happening lately at Scaled, check out the AirPigz Scaled Composites category. Yeehaw!

Elliot Seguin in the Wasabi Air Racing Cassutt

Video: 'Live Airshow TV' 2010 Reno Air Races Wrap Up Part 1

 Here's a great, detailed look back at how the recent 2010 Reno Air Races shaped up thru the early part of the event. I especially like this video since it includes a couple pix I took of The Galloping Ghost - check 'em out at about the 8:10 mark.

 Part 2 of the Live Airshow TV wrap up will be coming soon with a look at how the last two days unfolded, including some details on George Giboney's mayday landing that destroyed the Rapid Travel Thunder Mustang but still let him walk away essentially unhurt. 

2010 Reno Air Races - Picstream #1 Friday 9.17.10 (14 Pix)

Rare Bear humor: "Due to the economy we've had to downsize..."

(14 pix)

 You gotta love when the people who race hardcore in the Unlimited Class at Reno have a sense of humor. I figured this pic of the Rare Bear pedal car was a perfect way to get things started. My Reno 2010 experience is beginning a little late - I arrived late last night and then got started checking things out today: Friday. I didn't see the real Bear early today, but I'm sure she'll be growling soon.

Kevin Eldredge; his Relentless NXT; and a pile of broken engine parts

 The big story so far has certainly been the massive engine failure and mayday experienced by Kevin Eldredge in his Relentless NXT racer. It was great to see him spending some time with the people showing the airplane and the broken pieces. It would've been easy to pack and run, but I think it says a lot that he's not only still here, but putting as much of an upbeat face on this situation as could ever be expected. Be sure to check out his Relentless Reno 2010 blog for more details.

Answering questions from interested people about what happened with the NXT

 Kevin explained that an oil line fitting appears to have failed first, leading to oil loss. When all pressure was lost, the prop went flat which allowed the engine to wildly overspeed. Imagine a high output race engine running at or near full power and then remove almost all the load from it. The extremely high rpm caused the counterbalance on the back of the engine to fail, and in the process of all these things happening, the engine locked up suddenly breaking off the shaft extension and throwing the prop off the airplane. Fortunately, even tho 3 of the engine mount lugs broke off the engine, it stayed attached to the airframe. For this very kind of reason, race engines are set up with safety cables that hopefully will at least keep the engine on the airplane in an emergency so the airplane will remain balanced.

 Kevin is still trying to figure out what his next step is... but with a team called 'Relentless', I gotta think he'll be back at it as soon as he can. We also talked about maybe doing a podcast about the incident before long. Hopefully we'll find a way to work that out as it would be a fascinating event to better understand. Most important, it's great to see Kevin was completely unhurt by this dramatic event.

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Relentless NXT Loses Prop During Qualification!

Kevin Eldredge's blog has more details on what happened during a qualifying run at Reno
photo: Kevin Eldredge

 In the left and right corners of this amazing picture you can see parts of the prop from Kevin Eldredge's Relentless NXT that have left the airplane. Fortunately Kevin was able to make a safe deadstick landing on one of the runways at Stead Field. A small fire in the engine compartment broke out but was quickly extinguished. Get more details from Kevin's Reno 2010 blog.

The broken back end of the Relentless  NXT race engine
photo: Everyday Tuesday 

 The early report is that the engine suffered a loss of oil allowing the prop to overspeed, then the engine to seize causing the prop to snap off. Fortunately the engine stayed on the airframe and Kevin was able to get the airplane on the ground safely.

 This pic from the Everyday Tuesday Flickr page shows more of the damaged engine and some of the recovered prop parts.

 I'm still en route to Reno so I don't have a lot of details to offer at the moment. The Reno Air Race website shows both the Relentless NXT and the GP-5 that I posted about yesterday as NO TIME, which I understand to mean they are not qualified for racing. In fact, only four airplanes are qualified for the Super Sport races at this time. 

The Relentless NXT airframe with the damaged engine removed
photo: Everyday Tuesday

 More info on the already very exciting 2010 Reno Air Races coming soon.

Airfoil Shapes In The Fast-Lane World Of The Reno Air Races

(4 pix)

 I'm guessing the best way to go fast and win at Reno is horsepower under the hood. However, drag-reduction thru proper design and great attention to detail is not only a major part of any winning team, but it’s probably a large part of what makes this game so much fun for those who get to play it.

 I thought it would be interesting to look at the airfoils used on some of the fastest propeller driven aircraft that turn circles in the desert in mid September. The image above shows three very different airfoils that fairly accurately represent the three wing cross sections of the airplanes pictured below. Researching the exact airfoils via the internet can be difficult, but I’m confident the samples shown pretty closely identify the shapes actually in use.

  P-51 Mustang 'Strega': 1st place 'Unlimiteds' at Reno 2009  (photo: Everyday Tuesday)

 Let’s start with the North American P-51 Mustang, one of the most popular WWII aircraft used in the Unlimited Class of racers. In the big Championship race on the last day of Reno 2009, it was two P-51’s, Strega and Voodoo that were dominating, but Voodoo had a race ending engine problem before it was over, which opened the door for Rare Bear to finish second behind Strega. All three of these airplanes were running near 500 mph in that race. No matter how you slice it (pun intended), moving a wing thru the air that fast has to be some interesting aerodynamics.

 The airfoil shape on the P-51 is definitely different than most of what was seen back in the 1940’s. Just to clarify, normally I’d identify the name of the airfoil right now, but that’s been a bit confusing in my research, so I’m gonna leave this one without a name. But if you’ve ever looked at a P-51 wing tip very closely, you’ll recognize that unique shape as seen above.

 You may have heard that the P-51 was the first airplane to use a ’laminar flow’ airfoil. A little deeper research actually identifies the B-24 as the first to use a laminar flow airfoil (say what?), but that doesn’t sound nearly as romantic, so go ahead and believe what you want. Regardless, the P-51 does indeed have an airfoil that in theory has the ability for the air to remain smooth and stable as far back as 60% of the distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge. And to tell the whole story, that's significantly further than the 30% of the B-24 airfoil, and for comparison, a ’standard’ airfoil is usually less than 20%.

 The big problem with most applications of laminar flow airfoils in the real world is that things like rivets, skin irregularities from manufacturing and wear, access doors, bugs or anything else that disturbs the perfectly smooth shape that was intended, will prevent the drag-reducing laminar flow from showing up. But in theory, a wing section that has its thickest point much farther aft than a standard airfoil is far better at keeping the airflow smoother, longer. I’d have to say that these shapes are beautiful to look at too. For example, compare the shape of the P-51 airfoil to that of the F-8 Bearcat. You might know I’m a huge Bearcat fan, but the shape of the P-51 cross section is way cooler looking to me than the one on the Bearcat.

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Video: Relentless Beauty - Nemesis NXT

Words not needed.

2009 Reno Air Races Coverage Coming Soon

Rare Bear wearing some hot new paint at Reno 2009!

 I was so very fortunate to be able to attend the 2009 Reno Air Races, but with the blog problems I was having thru the fall, I wasn't able to post any of the fab content that I gathered up.  That's about to change!

 I'm a huge fan of F-8 Bearcat racers, so it's easy to see why I'm such a big fan of Rare Bear.  She sure looks hot in those new colors!  However, the highly modified P-51 Strega flown by 22 year old Steve Hinton Jr. was just too fast for the Bear... but how cool is it that such a young racer is invigorating the sport.  Great job Steve for being the youngest pilot to ever win Unlimited Gold at Reno!

 Big thanx go out to Kevin Eldredge and his 'Super Sport Class' Relentless Air Racing team for letting me see the races from their point of view.  His blue and white Nemesis NXT is absolutely one of the most beautiful airplanes in the whole world.  Kevin had a great year at Reno, but still wasn't quite able to catch Jon Sharp in the original Nemesis NXT, but he wasn't very far behind.  It made for some excellent air racing to be sure.

 Lots more details will be coming your way soon as I continue to sort thru the 2,000 pix I took during the races.  I also hope to do another podcast interview with Elliot Seguin from Wasabi Air Racing, and one with Kevin to get loads of details of how his NXT performed for him this year.

 Lastly, I hadn't been to the races since Reno 1970 when I was just 9 years old.  I had high hopes that the experience would be something as good as I remembered... Wow - It was even better than I remembered!  I highly suggest you start making plans now to be onsite at Stead Field September 15-19 for Reno 2010 : )

Kevin Eldredge with his gorgeous Relentless Air Racing Nemesis NXT at Reno 2009

'Air Racer: Chasing The Dream' Movie - A Must See At Oshkosh 2009!

‘Air Racer: Chasing The Dream' premieres at Oshkosh 2009 
Saturday, August 1 at 7PM at the Theater in the Woods

 There were 2 sneak peek screenings at Oshkosh last year of the nearly completed documentary film project from Christopher Webb Films titled: "Air Racer: Chasing The Dream".  As it would turn out, I just barely missed both of them. However, I had the great opportunity to screen the entire film just 3 nights ago. And to use just one simple word to describe it: Wow!

 Not only is 'Air Racer' beautifully put together as a film, but the subject matter is both fascinating and exciting while also being very inspiring. If you have any interest in flight, or in just a great story about the real human experience of pursuing a dream, this is definitely a must see!

 It's the story of Jon and Patricia Sharp's journey after their life as the leaders of the team that built the Formula One race plane simply known as 'Nemesis'. That airplane won 9 straight Reno Air Race Formula One titles, and over those years won 45 of the 48 races it ran. Domination just barely begins to describe the overwhelming success of that aircraft.

 That original Nemesis was retired in 1999 and now sits on display at the National Air and Space Museum.  But Jon didn't have retiring from air racing on his mind.  Instead, he was thinking about the relatively new 'Sport Class' of race planes that allowed a much more 'anything goes' set of rules compared to the very restrictive Formula One class rules.

 ‘Air Racer' documents the long and difficult journey of designing and building an airplane that would carry the burden of wearing the Nemesis name into the much faster (350+ mph) Sport Class. The set backs and trials make this a truly fascinating story.  A story of commitment and patience.  A story that as of today stands with the Nemesis NXT having turned in the fastest ever Sport Class qualifying speed of 409mpg at Reno in 2008!

 Christopher Webb has done an excellent job of letting us all in on one of the most interesting stories in modern aviation. Please, don't miss your chance to see this film at Oshkosh 2009.  You're gonna love it!