I know we have some airplane nuts here. Reno air races.

Just watched the unlimited Gold race. Strega a P-51 won with Steve Hinton piloting with a fast lap of 504 mph. The announcer said...Take that nascar!!! Strega has won 11 times.

 

Does that dude with the big Hawker Hurricane still race? god that thing was a monster compared to the clipped wing P51s

 

wonder if they would keep it going.....did someone say a Sea Fury was fast....

 

Remember back in the 70's or 80's when Steve Hinton bought the farm in the Red Baron at the Reno races? Walked away, the aircraft was totally unrecognizable.

 

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National Championship Air Races.."The World's Fastest Motor Sport"
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A Hawker Hurricane faster than a Mustang or Bearcat? Even modified, I can't imagine one hanging with Dago Red, Rare Bear, or Strega.

 

Dunno about a Hurricane, but there have been a few Sea Furys that ran well.

 

..Class..... ...Race ............Winner.. ..Speed
Unlimited ..Breitling Gold .....Strega ....477.523
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More info. here:
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http://www.rgj.com/article/20120916...ates-Reno-Air-Races-conclude-without-incident
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I remember Bob Hoover over flying the wreckage and saying to the other pilots something to the effect Steve was gone. Unbelievable crash.

 

Pretty sure the winner was STEVEN Hinton.......as in Steve Hinton's son.

 

You are correct, 25 year old STEVEN Hinton.

 

http://www.supercoolprops.com/articles/gwhitegearheads.php
Interesting piece about Hot Rod airplanes

 

“It was a great and safe week of racing,” said Mike Houghton, president and CEO of the Air Races.
“ We’re looking ahead to our 50th ”.
.

 

I believe Hoot Gibson was second in that race piloting September Fury

 

My son is the crew chief on the Precious Metal P51 Mustang.

 

My buddy Marc is up there. Lots of good action. No serious accidents.

"Furious crashed tues. due to gear collapse. Seafury pilot walked away. Qualified 3rd in unlimited."


Strega is out in Bakersfield where Marc is at. Good group of guys. Did a fly over at a memorial for a fallen pilot out there.

Nice to see they were able to carry on after last years accident.

 

My bad, it was a Sea fury no that I think of it.

 

"Furious" was Lloyd Hamilton's old plane. I still remember seeing him flying "Baby Gorilla" out of the Santa Rosa Airport. Was always cool seeing that ol' Sea Fury out amongst the various P-51's.

 

A friend of mine used to go to Reno and OshKosh every year. They would fly out in their T6 (AT6?). His dad owned a P51 racer or two, can't remember the names. Also owned the plane used in that John Belushi moved, a P40 IIRC. His dad bought 6 P51 Ds in South America and augured one in ferrying them home.

 

Precious Metal is one of the most beautiful machines in all of motorsports!!

I have seen almost every type of motosport short of F-1 and World Rally and I honestly believe I could make a lap in any of those vehicles with a proper training.
Not a fast lap, but a lap none the less.
And then there's Air Racing...there ain't no way in hell I'm flying a plane 100 feet off the ground,not to mention doing it at 500 MPH!!! And they do it in traffic!!!
It is something that has to be seen to be believed!!

 

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I love older airplanes, WWII produced the greatest aircraft of all time. I'm almost sad the jet age happened!
There was one Aussy prototype fighter to come out of WWII that, had it gone into production would unquestionably been the fastest production fighter ever built. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-15 Kangaroo (Shitty name!) on paper it was capable of 450mph in level flight, the prototype on one flight exceeded 500mph in level flight!
Yeah it looks like a big Mustang but they arrived at that design from a radial engined design without the belly radiator, looked sort of like a big F8F Bearcat. I would love to see a modified one race at Reno in 'Unlimited!'

 

The CA-15...














Doc,

 

Woenvlgo, the pictures didn't show up for me, it's the dreaded RedX.

Anyone else, or is it just me again!

Doc.

 

1979 race & crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ6EwiSIbx4&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6bhjys0g4&feature=related

Steve Hinton World Air Speed Record Attempt 1979 Red Baron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=58wb-fAW8nQ

 

I don't keep up on it much nowdays, is Dago Red still racing?

 

Dago Red was not there this year. The unlimited pits were "thin" by maybe 40%.. I was there for one day only and the crowds were also thin.
Still had a great time, though. I took a couple hundred pictures (mostly static shots in the pits 'cause i can't pan my camera with a steady hand anymore) and, if anyone is interest, I'll post them on this thread later today after I finish editing and uploading them to PhotoBucket....

 

Thanks for the pics, Doc.

 

Rich, man I envy you, even one day there would be a great 'bucket list' day!
Please post up some pic's at least for we tragics.

No worries Belair, I wasn't sure if they would fit in!

Doc.

 

My wife and spent Thursday at the races…. We could only afford one day as the entry prices and pit passes go up each day it had to be early in the week. Thursday is usually a good day as the crowds aren’t as thick , but this year they were just weren’t there….. Anyway, here are some pictures. Mostly static shots because I just don’t pan as well as I used to ..
Nice Cessna 195 at the entrance to the pits.
















Note the deuce grille shell and Chevy engine in the tug..

German Fiesler “Storch” WWII liaison plane