2009 National Championship Air Races 16-20 September

[Mad Scientist]

The 46th annual NCAR at Reno Nevada starts this week with qualifying in all categories:

Unlimited
Jet
Sport
T-6
Formula 1
Bi-Plane

The most popular racers by far are the "Unlimiteds", most of which are WW II surplus fighters. My personal fave is "Rare Bear" a highly modified F8F Bearcat although this year it sports a new paint scheme:

Here's a link to the RARA (Reno Air Racing Assoc.) website with continually updated qualifying numbers in all categories:
Reno Air Racing Association - National Championship Air Races and Air Show

This is a link to a discussion board that has a lot of inside info. Many crew members and pilots of those aircraft are members and post lot's of good stuff:
Air Racin' - Aviation Airshow Air Race Photography Discussion

And for the first time a live webcam will be available for Sundays Final races. In fact, the webcam will be on all day and will show the Gold Medal races for all categories as well as the airshow which this year includes the Blue Angels.
Welcome to LiveAirShowTV

For those unfamiliar with it, here's a taste of Unlimited Air racing:

[youtube]0vniz3zXf4g[/youtube]

 

[Mad Scientist]

Rumored to be making an appearance this year is "The Galloping Ghost" in a new, highly modified state:

Is that a bad ass looking racer or what? I may have a new favorite!

Aside from the usual clipped wings, clipped horizontal stabilizer and smaller formula-1 style canopy in an effort to reduce even more frontal area, they've removed the radiator from it's usual location in the fuselage just aft of the wings and put them in the wings themselves (although this drawing doesn't show the wing mounted radiators).

For comparison purposes, this is what a "normal" P-51 looks like:

This was tried on another racer in the 80's and it worked quite well:

 

[Oddball]

One of my former flight instructors, Robin Reid, used to fly those races.

Wish I were there.

 

[Oddball]

That white one looks like a highly modified F-8.

 

[Mad Scientist]

One of my former flight instructors, Robin Reid, used to fly those races. Wish I were there.

Oh yeah, what category? My dad and I went to Reno 1972 and stayed with Gordy Richardson who flew in the T-6 category that year.
We were gonna' go this year but finances are too tight for me right now. Maybe next year.

 

[Mad Scientist]

That white one looks like a highly modified F-8.

Naw it's a P-51. But it's since been restored back to stock.

 

[Oddball]

Since when has a P-51 sported a radial engine?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Since when has a P-51 sported a radial engine?

Oh, I thought you were talking about "Stilleto"! Yeah, "Rare Bear" is an F8F as I pointed out in original the post.

 

[Oddball]

I was in Seattle last year and visited the hangar where they're making Me-262 repros.

Gotta couple of mil until payday?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDFeDxZlrGM]YouTube - ME-262 Over Berlin![/ame]

 

[Mad Scientist]

Two of my all time favorite racers.
This one was so highly modified that it earned the new identifier RB-51. I saw this airplane win its last race at the California Air Races at Mojave in 1979. It set a new piston engine speed record a few months later then was completely destroyed after it's engine blew in the Gold race at Reno 1979 and couldn't make it back to the runway. The pilot, Steve Hinton was seriously injured but made a full recovery and is still flying warbirds to this day.
Interestingly, his son is a pilot as well and will be flying one of the Unlimited racers this year.

Conquest I was piloted by Darryl Greenamyer and in 1969 took the piston engine speed record from the Germans who had had it since the war. This aircraft resides now in The Smithsonian at the Udvar Hazy wing where I saw it a few years ago.

 

[Oddball]

 

[Mad Scientist]

Yep, Bob Odegards' Super Corsair (F2G-2) will be there this year as well. Wasn't this one owned by Cook Cleland and raced at Cleveland post WW II? I think it was same one.

[youtube]DlpS0VgGqfY[/youtube]

 

[Oddball]

Since there were only a handful of the uber-powerful F2G's made, it's highly likely that's the same one.

 

[Mad Scientist]

My favorite "Super Corsair" (I have a lot of favorites ):

It too, ended up a pile of ashes:

[youtube]Bc3InHWB1es[/youtube]

 

[Big Black Dog]

If you divide the number of engines on an airplane by 2 and don't come up with an even number, there isn't enough engines on it.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Here's the race course at Reno/Stead airport:

This year the Sport class will be using the Unlimited course because speeds in that class have been pushing 400 mph the last few years.

If you're not familiar with airports, the numbers at the end of each runway are compass headings you would read if you were to land on that particular runway. The top of the map is oriented North, as are most maps.

Slightly better course drawing here:
http://galenaforest.net/2009/RaceCourses.Report.pdf

 

[Mad Scientist]

On Tuesday afternoon, Strega laid down the gauntlet with a lap speed of 486mph! The single lap speed record is about 511mph I believe.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Sea Fury "Spirit of Texas" made a lap of 430mph today. This particular Sea Fury has had it's Bristol Centaurus engine replaced with a Wright R-3350. That's 3350 cubic inches!

 

[Mad Scientist]

"VooDoo" won heat 3C yesterday with an average speed of 485.984mph!

Interestingly, "Ridge Runner", a dead stock P-51 with a race motor, went 477.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Results from Sundays eliminations:

Richard Thom wins F-1 Silver Race (Bottom half of the field) in his Cassutt "Miss USA".
219.303mph