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Thursday
September 12:
Risky Business, a P-51D flown by Bill Rheinschild, was leading his
Silver race when he backed off due to a high coolant temperature
indication. After landing, it was determined that it may have been
an inaccurate coolant temp. gage that gave a false high reading.
Too bad that such a seemingly innocuous problem could cost a race.
Another casualty for Thursday was Jimmy Leeward racing the Jack
Roush sponsored P-51D 'Cloud Dancer' who experienced problems with
his Aeroproducts propeller so he decided to cool his heels and just
run the Sunday Bronze race.
Miss Trinidad, a Pratt & Whitney R-2000 powered Yak lost its
ADI system during a race due to a failed solenoid valve. This is
the only R-2000 in the world with an ADI system, of course designed
and developed by Pete Law. At the beginning of the week Miss Trinidad
had a beautifully made mirror finished shroud over the exhaust stack,
presumably for additional exhaust stack jet thrust. However, by
Thursday this device had been removed. Like many 'improvements',
it didn't work, less jet thrust resulted and worse yet, it interfered
with cooling air flow causing over heating.
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Two
views showing Miss Trinidad's attractive but ineffective
exhaust shrouds. They were soon removed. |
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Exhaust
energy is a precious commodity for a racer. At Reno many
styles of exhaust pumping have been tried; some successfully,
some not. These three views show Miss Trinidad, the R-2000
powered Yak with an experimental shroud. Although it looked
attractive, it didn't work. Overheating was one of the
problems with this stainless steel shroud. The last two
views show the shrouds removed. This is the configuration
the aircraft flew with for most of the week. |
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By
Thursday morning Strega's engine had been removed |
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After
recovering from the shock of blowing up a potential 500
mph/lap engine, Strega's team got busy rebuilding a race
engine owned by Dan Martin. |
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Clearly,
the Strega team's work was cut out for them. It's apparent
from this shot that #A1 piston in the Dan Martin engine
has seen better days. It shows the characteristic signs
of severe detonation. |
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One
of the bank assemblies from Dan Martin's engine |
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Six
new pistons ready for installation. From this view it
appears they may be Jack Roush forged racing pistons. |
Meanwhile in Michael Brown's pits modifications had
been taking place on #232 September Fury. High cylinder heads temperatures
demanded some quick action. Dennis Sanders, who along with his brother
are considered the Sea Fury Gurus modified a cowl access panel by
opening it up with spacers. Worked like a charm.
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September
Fury after additional cooling vents had been installed. |
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Close-up
of the spacers installed on September Fury. This modification
allowed a greater flow of cooling air through the accessory
section of the Wright R-3350.
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RENO
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AIR RACES
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
UNLIMITED
RESULTS HEAT I B BRONZE 6 LAPS |
|
|
|
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RACE
TIME RACE SPEED |
21 |
Joe
Thibodeau, Denver,CO |
Hawker
Sea Fury
Two tone Grey |
Sea
Fury |
7:42.06 |
386.543 |
38 |
Ron
Buccarelh, Hollywood, FL |
P
51Silver/Green |
Precious
Metal |
7:51.80 |
378.563 |
27 |
Thomas
Camp, San Francisco, CA |
Yak
3 R 2000 |
Miss
Trinidad Blue/Green/Brown |
8:11.52 |
363.375 |
50 |
Ike
Enns
Broken Arrow, OK |
P
51D |
Miracle
Maker
Silver/Red Nose |
8:35.18 |
346.687 |
104 |
Sean
Carroll
Waldorf, MD |
Yak
9
Camo Green |
Russian
Roulette |
9:04.30 |
328.139 |
9 |
Jimmy
Leeward
Ocala, FL |
P
51D
Polished Silver |
Cloud
Dancer |
DID
NOT START |
POSTED1439 |
RENO
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AIR RACES
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
UNLIMITED
RESULTS HEAT 1A SILVER 6 LAPS |
|
|
|
|
RACE
TIME RACE SPEED |
105
|
Nelson
Ezell
Breckenridge, TX |
Hawker
Sea Fury FB 1 1
Dark Grey/Light Grey |
Spirit
of Texas |
7:21.40 |
404.635 |
99 |
Robert
"Hoot' Gibson Murfreesboro, TN |
Hawker
Sea Fury
Red & White |
Riff
Raff |
7:26.95 |
399.611 |
15 |
Art
Vance Sebastopol, CA |
Hawker
Sea Fury
Orange/White/Blue |
Furias
|
7.27.32 |
399.280 |
45 |
Bill
Rheinschild
Sun Valley, 10 |
P
51 0
Natural Metal & Grey |
Risky
Business |
7:29.36 |
397.468 |
114
|
Brian
Sanders
El Dorado Hills, CA |
Hawker
Sea Fury MK 1 1
Dark Gray |
Argonaut |
7:37.21 |
390.643 |
117 |
Gary
Hubler
Caldwell, ID |
Hawker
Sea Fury Light & Dark Grey |
Bad
Attitude |
7:44.47 |
384.537 |
POSTED1633 |
RENO
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AIR RACES
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
UNLIMITED
RESULTS - HEAT 1C MEDALLION - 5 LAPS |
|
|
|
|
RACE
TIME RACE SPEED |
47 |
John
K. Bagley |
P-51D |
Ole
Yeller |
6:58.09 |
355.996 |
6 |
Dan
Martin |
P-51D |
Flying
Dutchman |
7:11.32 |
345.077
|
81 |
Rob
Patterson |
TF-51D |
Lady
Jo |
8:23.45 |
295.637
|
44 |
Brant
Seghetti |
P-51D
|
Sparky |
8:35.97 |
288.463 |
31 |
Dan
Vance |
P-51D |
Speedball
Alice |
6:59.51 |
283.833* |
Friday September 13:
Friday the thirteenth unfortunately lived up to its reputation.
A fatality in the Sport Class and a serious landing accident in
the same race placed a pall over the Reno pits.
Despite the day's tragedies, the day got off to a good start when
the superbly built Hughes H-1 replica racer broke a number of speed
records. Sounding like a T6 on steroids, the aircraft zipped back
and forth over a measured 3 kilometer course seven times in the
early hours of the morning.
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The
Hughes H-1 replica racer. Workmanship had to be seen to
be believed. Sheet metal work, in particular, was absolutely
flawless. A number of speed records were broken by this
aircraft early Friday morning. Perhaps intentionally,
67 years to the day when Hughes set a number of records
with the original aircraft. Coincidently, September 13,
67 years ago was also a Friday.
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Strega's
tired crew have the Dan Martin's rebuilt race Merlin installed
but lots of work still remains.
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With Strega's blown-up engine parked in the pits,
a golden opportunity was handed the 'techies' to discover some of
the speed secrets of 3,000+ horsepower Merlins. It has been known
for a number of years that Allison V-1710 G6 connecting rods have
been used to replace the original Rolls-Royce rods. Allison rods
have proved to be a lot stouter. Stock pistons are replaced with
Jack Roush forged pistons. With heavier connecting rods and pistons
a price is paid in the form of wicked vibration. Despite welding
on additional counter weights to the crankshaft, vibration is a
major issue. Tie rods, tensioned with Heim joints and turn buckles,
help attenuate some of this vibration as well as securing the supercharger
to the power section. With almost 70 psi absolute in the intake
manifold, a considerable pressure exists that tries to push the
supercharger off the power section. Assuming an induction pipe of
5 inches diameter, then the total force trying to separate the blower
form the engine is almost 1,400 pounds. Then factor in the power
required to drive the blower, which is well over 1,000 horsepower,
some extremely powerful forces are trying to rip the engine apart.
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Strega's
blown-up engine, after being stripped of useful parts,
was parked at the Strega pit as a show 'n tell.
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Right
side view with many accessories removed such as the PD-18
carburetor, induction pipe and magnetos. |
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Although
rude, crude and primitive looking, these brackets clearly
do what they are supposed to do; keep the engine together
under high power settings. |
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These
two views show some of the numerous turnbuckles that tie
the blower section to the power section. |
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Rear
view that shows some of the bracketry and tie rods for
securing the supercharger to the power section. |
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Close
up view of the nose case bracket that secures the nose
case to the crankcase |
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One
of the many steel brackets that secure the turn buckles
to the supercharger. |
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Good
view of the massive steel beam fitted to the main bearing
cross bolts. This beam adds structural rigidity to the
over stressed engine |
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Close
up of what it takes to keep a race Merlin from coming
apart at the seams. In a belt and suspenders scenario,
the blower housing had stop nuts, locked with lock washers
and Loctite..!! |
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Rear
view of the horse's ass. and rear blower section. |
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Typical
of the damage incurred by a race Merlin when it lets go.
Due to the extraordinary forces and pressures generated
within the supercharger housing when an engine back fires,
the entire blower housing flexes resulting in cracked
castings. |
Dave Morss, the well known test pilot flying Shawn
Carol's Yak 9 powered by the only Allison V-1710 competing in the
races, pulled out his heat race due to over heating. The overheating
woes were fixed by installing a different and more efficient radiator.
Since last year this attractive aircraft has undergone a number
of modifications. In order to assist with ram recovery for the induction
system, splitter vanes had been incorporated.
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New
ram-air induction scoop for Shawn Carol's attractive Yak
9 Russian Roulette. |
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Close
up of Russian Roulette's ram-air induction scoop that
feeds the down draft Bendix PD-12 carburetor for the Allison
V-1710. |
#114, Argonaut the beautifully restored 3350 powered
Sea Fury owned and raced by Dennis Sanders was suffering from low
ADI pressure. As is usual with these types of problems, Guru Pete
Law was called in. Prognosis was that the ADI pump was an old installation
and it turned out to be a difficult project to fix. Due to the highly
corrosive environment that ADI pumps operate in, Dennis' pump was
in poor shape. Not surprising considering the fact that the pump
had been installed for a long time.
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Argonaut's
accessory section opened up to work on a recalcitrant
ADI pump. |
During the week, work had progressed on Critical Mass.
Obviously; there was no intention of attempting to get it ready
for racing. Instead, the team gave the spectators a nice overview
on what it takes to remove a Wright R-3350 from a Sea Fury.
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