November 2005 Cover Story:
Racing at Reno: The Year of the Round Motor
Story by Gary Williams

Reach for the Stars was the theme for this year’s annual National Championship Air Races and at times the theme fit, but other times not.

The accident-free event was held at Stead Field north of Reno, Nevada on September 14-18 and this year the weather cooperated with mid-seventies temperatures and light wind. As usual the news in the months preceding the races was a roller coaster of rumors, first with Terry Bland retiring Dago Red, a record-setting Mustang with multiple wins at Reno, then news of the return of Strega, and further word of racers that wouldn’t appear at the Reno races this year. Furias, Precious Metal, and Czech Mate were all labeled as definite no-shows but the racers that did show up (in all classes) provided some very interesting racing.

Biplanes: This class is usually made up of Pitts biplanes and kit planes but the last few years some one-of-a-kind designs have emerged. This year David Rose didn't return with his Gold winning Frightful but Phantom was back with Andrew Buehler at the controls. Jeff Lo has raced in the biplanes several years and this year he came with a new variation on the Pitts design that showed some promise. The big change in this class was in the rules. This year the class decided to start each race in reverse order with the slowest racers in the front. This makes for some exciting racing for the fans but the pilots are faced with the prospect of passing lots of other racers to get into the lead. Jeff Lo was doing just that in the Gold Race when he got into some very rough air while trying to pass several other racers at the same time. The turbulence flipped Lo nearly inverted and he had to rely on his aerobatic training to recover. When the race was over it was Andrew Buehler and #62 Phantom with the win at nearly 231 mph and Lo in #13 Miss Gianna in second (220 mph). Jeff said later that his crew was telling him that he was gaining on Phantom about one second per lap but his aerobatics in the turbulent air put him too far back to catch the leader. Jeff also said that he has some ideas to make his biplane faster in 2006 so he will be one to watch.

T-6: These aircraft are so closely matched that the fans find themselves holding their breath for the first few laps. They're the size of Unlimited Class racers but they race on a much shorter, five-mile course. Mary Dilda races her #22 Two of Hearts each year and last year long-time T-6 racer Al Goss beat her in the Gold Race in Warlock. This year Mary got faster. She won the Gold at 237 mph beating Goss by 3.5 mph. Nick Macy took third in Six Cat at 231 mph. Tom Campau got fourth in his #21 Mystical Power but on the way home from the races his engine quit and he had to set the aircraft down where he was in Wyoming. After the accident Tom described his racer as “spare parts” but thankfully he was okay.

IF1: Gary Hubler continued his win streak in the Formula One Class by finishing first in the Gold Race in his #95 Mariah at 252 mph, beating David Hoover in a new design, an Arnold AR-6 named Endeavor. Gary had to fight for the win. He only topped Hoover by 1.6 mph! Jason Somes and Scotty Crandlemire had their own race for third with Jason beating Scotty by only .027 mph! They both finished at just over 240 mph.

Sport: This is the fastest growing class and one of the most interesting. This class is made up of kit planes that are available to the general public and the speeds jump each year. The first year for this class, 1998, the Gold Race was won at 308 mph. This year there were enough entries to hold all three final races; Bronze, Silver and Gold. Darryl Greenamyer has been king in this class since 2003 in his Lancair Legacy but John Parker is always close behind in second. This year was the same with Darryl taking the win at 365 mph and Parker at 357 mph. John Sharp raced this year in his Nemesis NXT but he made a poor showing and pulled out of most races after a few laps. Kevin Eldredge finished his NXT kit in time for the races and did well all week finishing the Gold Sport Class race in third at 343 mph. Rumor has it that John Parker has a supercharged engine that he may race next year so Greenamyer may have more to worry about in the future.

Jet: This class is an oddity at Reno. Most racing classes are reminiscent of the Cleveland days in the 1930s and 1940s except the jets. These L-39 jets are quiet, closely matched and fast. John Penney, of Rare Bear fame, won the Jet Gold Race at 454 mph, ahead of Sal Rubino at 448 mph. Dave Morss got third and John Bagley took fourth by only .4 mph!

Unlimited: Forecasters predicted an off year for Reno this year, with many "hot" Unlimiteds not scheduled to show up, but Reno did have some interesting racing in this class. A secondary theme for the races this year could have been "The Year of the Round Motor." Ron Buccarelli decided to pass on the races because the crew is making some modifications to Precious Metal and a full-race Griffon engine is being built. Multi-winning Dago Red was retired, and when race week started the crew found both of Strega’s engines were "making metal" meaning some of the bearings were starting to disintegrate in the testing stage and metal was showing up in the oil screens. Brent Hisey took Miss America up to qualify and blew the intake ducting and lower cowling completely off the aircraft so that meant those four Mustangs were not racing. The only Gold competitor left with a V-12 was the amazing Ridge Runner III flown by Dan Martin. Dan qualified the nearly stock-looking Mustang at 443 mph!

There were a record number of Sea Furies at Reno: nine. Critical Mass and Furias never entered the races and Michael Brown's September Fury developed an engine problem at Ione, Calif., and the crew couldn't solve it in time to safely fly the racer over the mountains to Reno. There are a lot of racing Sea Furies!

Michael has three Unlimited racers and he flew his twin-engine F7F Tigercat and won the Bronze race at nearly 370 mph. The racer looks like a Lincoln Continental on a course with Corvettes and it was a treat to see Michael muscle the Tigercat into the lead. When a racer wins a division he has the option of forfeiting the win (and prize money) to race in the next higher race. This put Michael in the Silver Race where he ran 2 mph faster but that put him in sixth ahead of two Mustangs, Merlin’s Magic and Speedball Alice. The Silver was won by Matt Jackson in Argonaut at 410 mph just ahead of rookie Stephen Patterson in Southern Cross by .36 mph. Howard Pardue was third at 390 mph. Patterson brought his Sea Fury back to Reno racing where it was known as Cottonmouth fifteen years ago, and Steve was a rookie but he looked like a seasoned racer on the course.

The Unlimited Gold Race was predictable but interesting. John Penney in Rare Bear took the lead at the start. The Bear seemed healthy and the crew had done some mod’s to the airframe this year so Penney only needed to use enough power to stay ahead of Brian Sanders in Dreadnought, who has proven he could run 450+ mph laps reliably. The wild card was Dan Martin in the last remaining "hot" Mustang, and the only one in the final race. Dan had borrowed Strega’s propeller to get the most from his racer in this race and fell into third (as predicted) and ran the first laps at 467 mph according to some timers. Within two laps Dan had passed Dreadnought and was slowly gaining on the Bear when, in the third lap, his Merlin popped and Dan pulled out and called a Mayday, his engine suffering from a broken piston.

Penney led the rest of the race and won the championship, the Bear’s ninth, at 466 mph. Dreadnought was second at 449 mph, Spirit of Texas at 430, Riff Raff at 423, Fury at 414, Bad Attitude at 403, Dan Vance in September Pops at 400, and rookie Fred Cabanas in Conch Fury at 397. All radial engines except Martin who Maydayed in the third lap.

This was the third championship for John Penney and he has decided to step aside as racing pilot of Rare Bear. Rumors are already spreading on who will take the reins next year. John didn’t mention the jets and after winning the jet final he may return in that class next year.

Where owners get the names for their racers is sometimes interesting. September Pops is named after a B-24 in World War II. Brown's father flew the bomber and his wife, Michael’s mother, was pregnant and due in September. When he found out another on the crew also was due to become a father that September they decided to name their bomber September Pops. Brown carried on the tradition and named one of his racing Sea Furies the same.

Fans at Reno '05 had the rare opportunity of seeing two jet teams, the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Canadian Snowbirds. Also appearing were Bob Odegaard in his F2G Corsair. Bob's aircraft raced at Cleveland in 1949 and Bob has restored it to look as it did then. He performed a great high-speed aerobatic display for the fans. Kent Pietsch did an aerobatic comedy act in his Interstate Cadet, showing how not to fly and losing parts off his aircraft during the act. Actor John Travolta was at the air races this year. He was actually there to do some filming for a commercial but the well-known pilot said he would like to fly a demonstration at the races in the future.

Super weather, great racing and a world-class air show makes this a must event in September next year. Don't miss it!