Friday Morning At The 50th Anniversary Races: Reno 2013 (8 Pix)

(click pic to enlarge) T-33 Pace aircraft with home pylon in background before sunrise

 Between having to work Wednesday until noon (when I had hoped to hit the road at 6am), the 35 hour road trip from Indiana to Reno, and then nagging internet access and Adobe Creative Cloud subscription issues, getting a post up from Reno has been a real challenge! So, I'm trying to play catch-up now... here's a small collection of images from Friday morning that I had hoped to have posted by noon yesterday. If things go well I will have more of Friday up a little later today. Reno!

(click pic to enlarge)  Precious Metal lit by some lights in the pit before sunrise

(click pic to enlarge) Strega with rebuilt canopy prepping for an early morning test flight

(click pic to enlarge)  Close-up of the rebuilt canopy which worked great on Friday

(click pic to enlarge) Voodoo crew and Steven Hinton before an early morning flight

(click pic to enlarge) Rare Bear looks great but isn't making the power it needs for speed

(click pic to enlarge) Elliot Seguin with his Wasabi Siren heading out for a morning race

(click pic to enlarge) Elliot and crew riding the fire engine after winning that morning race!

Video: Wasabi Reveals Hot New Formula One Air Racer! (Wasabi Siren)

 Elliot Seguin works for Scaled Composites in Mojave California, but he also runs Wasabi Air Racing with his crew chief Jenn Whaley. They've been busy for the last couple years designing and building an all new Formula One race aircraft for Reno... it's called the Wasabi Special, but its also known as the 'Siren'. You might already know that for a while Elliot was part of Team Nemesis (Jon and Patricia Sharp, last raced in 2009) which is very well know for having been the first team to break 400mph with a Sport Class racer (actually Super Sport at the time) - and Elliot's exposure to the amazing design of the very successful Nemesis NXT has trickled down somewhat into the much smaller Continental O-200 powered Formula One Class Siren. Seems like good thinkin' to me!

 I don't really have a lot of details on the airplane, but the video above gives you a variety of looks at the Siren, along with a fun and kinda artsy presentation of some of the flight testing that's been done in relative secret over the last year. Given that Elliot has a few years of Reno race experience in his antique old-school Cassutt racer, getting out on the race course in a possible contender should be both a thrill and a great learning experience. With this being the 50th anniversary of the Reno Air Races, I don't think he could have picked a better time to introduce an all-new racer!

Reno Air Races: September 11-15, 2013

Go Green... Go Wasabi!

Video screenshot: all-new Formula One racer from Wasabi Air Racing: The Wasabi Siren

Video screenshot: The Wasabi Siren showing its Nemesis NXT heritage planform

The Electric, Amphibious Lazair... Pilot Report By Elliot Seguin

Elliot Seguin flying Dale Kramer's amazing electric and amphibious Lazair ultralight

(11 pix)

Elliot Seguin works at Scaled Composites, has experience racing at Reno with his Wasabi Air Racing Cassutt, and he loves to fly... this extensive pilot report is posted here on Airpigz with his permisssion. The electric Lazair is a recent update to the design by Dale Kramer, the original designer of this very popular late 70's ultralight aircraft.

For more details on the electric Lazair project, check out this 
extensive forum thread by Dale Kramer (KiloOne) at RCgroups.com

PILOT REPORT:

 We had an amazing opportunity recently to fly arguably the most operational electric airplane out there. Dale Kramer is a master builder of all kinds of interesting projects. His shop was extensive and impressive.  He designed the Lazair in the 70’s during the boom in the ultra-light industry.  Over the next several years the factory he set up sold 1200 of the airplane to enthusiasts from all over the world. Dale became interested in other types of flying (heavy lift airships, competition soaring) and separated himself from the Lazair.

 But recently the electric aircraft boom has inspired Dale to dust off his Lazair. The resulting set of experiments resulted in a new chapter for the design and perhaps for general aviation. Dale’s final iteration included hanging two Joby electric motors from the Lazair’s nacelles replacing the two JPX two strokes he had flown behind for years.  When he put this new configuration on floats he had the first electric seaplane, a terribly practical electric airplane, and one heck of a beach toy.

 I called Dale after seeing the airplane at Oshkosh. I was hoping to learn more about the switch to electric and where he thought electrics could go. When he responded with an invitation to visit his home in western NY and “find out for myself” it was just a matter of buying the tickets. In the three days we spent with Dale and Carmen on Keuka Lake the Electric Lazair was flown almost twelve hours total by six different pilots in many different atmospheric and water conditions. We walked away with a much better understanding of this new way to propel aircraft and with big smiles on our faces.

 Could electric power plants change full size aviation the way they did r/c? The shift to electric from glow power in RC aircraft has drastically improved accessibility, ease of maintenance, and in general relieved the boundaries of entry to that sport. Before electrics even the most experienced RC pilot might spend ten minutes getting his glow engine to start on his model, and he would most certainly smell like glow fuel when he was done.  With modern electric models an operator no longer has to spend all that time and energy dealing with the powerplant. I wondered if that would be the case with electric man carrying airplanes.

Click to read more ...

EAA Video: Elliot Seguin (Scaled Composites - Wasabi Air Racing)

 My friend Elliot Seguin had the opportunity to share his unique aviation experiences in this recent EAA Timeless Voices video. It's a long video that chronicles his journey from being around flying as a kid, to winding up working at Scaled Composites, and also racing at Reno in the Formula One class with his Wasabi Air Racing Cassutt... all this by the time he was in his mid 20's. It's a great encouragement to anyone young looking to make a way forward into aviation, and it shows that persistence is one of the most important elements of reaching your goals!

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

AirPigz Podcast #7 - Follow Up Interview With Wasabi Air Racing

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Elliot Seguin in his #68 Cassutt racer

 When Elliot Seguin did podcast #5 with me back in June of 2009, we covered some of what he was working on with his Cassutt race plane as he was preparing Wasabi Air Racing for Reno 2009. 

 In this interview, we talk in great detail about how his second year at Reno went,  including having an airplane that was indeed faster than it had been in his first year out, and what it was like dealing with some ‘mayday’ issues with the airplane as well. 

 We also chat a bit about the races overall from the perspective of a fan of air racing which of course both of us are.  I was so fortunate myself to be able to attend the races… my first time there since I was just 9 years old in 1970!  I highly recommend that you make plans to be at the Reno Air Races in 2010.

 We were also going to talk some about the interesting work he does at Scaled Composites, but we spent so much time on the racing that we’ll have to do the Scaled talk the next time we get together.  Elliot’s a fun guy doing a lot of cool stuff… I hope you enjoy listening to his firsthand experience as a race pilot at Reno.

Wasabi Air Racing: Elliot Seguin and crew chief Jenn Whaley

Elliot and Jenn playin' with epoxy and making airplane parts

A tall Elliot in a short airplane on takeoff roll at Reno 2009

Wasabi Air Racing blog

Working To Turn Up The Heat On The Wasabi Cassutt

 Check out the Wasabi blog to see the all new cowling progress on the Cassutt racer 

 Oshkosh 2009 is right around the corner.  In fact, if I squint a little I can see it up there waving us in! And you know, it's gonna be the best Oshkosh ever!  But anyway, that also means the Reno Air Races are fast approaching too (September 16-20).  For those racing at Reno, that means work, work, work!

 If you listened to my podcast interview with Elliot from Wasabi Air Racing, you know he's been working on his Formula One class Cassutt to improve the airplanes race speeds.  He just posted some pix on the Wasabi blog showing the progress being made on an entirely new cowling and intake system.  The picture above shows it really beginning to come together.

 It's easy to underestimate just how much work goes into designing and fabricating a front end to a race plane that reduces drag to a minimum while also allowing enough cooling and induction air...  but not so much that you are just making more drag.  It's a big project!  It'll fun to see what the results are at Reno.

 Elliot is also presenting a forum at Oshkosh on Thursday July 30 from 1-2:15pm titled "Fly High, Fly Slow, Turn Left? - From air race fan to air race pilot--An engineer's perspective on becoming a formula one race pilot."

 Find out what it takes to start from the ground up in air racing.  I know I'll be there to check it out!

AirPigz Podcast #5 'Interview With Wasabi Air Race Owner/Pilot Elliot Seguin'

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The Wasabi Air Racing 'Cassutt' owned and flown by Elliot Seguin
Photo: Alan Radecki - Mojave Skies

Elliot (sitting on airplane) is part of the crew for the Nemesis Air Race Team

 

Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo from Scaled Composites where Elliot works

Photo: Virgin Galactic

 AirPigz podcast #5 is just over a one-hour long interview with Elliot Seguin, the owner and pilot of the relatively new Wasabi Air Racing team.

 I met Elliot after he found AirPigz a couple months back, and then he contacted me thru FaceBook.  He was pretty interested in AirPigz since he saw stories on the WhitKnightTwo and the Nemesis race plane, which just happen to be two elements that are a part of his life in aviation.   

 Based in Mojave, California, and as an employee of Scaled Composites, a crew member of the Nemesis Air Racing team, and the pilot/owner of Wasabi Air Racing, Elliot has a lot of interesting experience and knowledge to share even tho he's only 26 years old.

 This podcast interview is likely to be just the start of many more that follow along with Elliot as he works hard to progress further into the exciting world of high speed air racing.  Enjoy!

Check out Elliot's Wasabi Air Racing blog