Warbird Information Exchange

In 2011 my brother and I attended the Reno airaces. Not the first time and definitely not the last. After years of racing motocross we both decided air racing was the next level for us. In 2012 My brother a veteran pilot with over 8000 hours in many different types of planes strapped onto his back the tiny and blistering fast Race 12, "outrageous" and took the beautiful plane to a second place finish in the gold class. Rookie of the year was awarded to pilot Justin Phillipson along with a whole lot of support from many friends, business associates and family. In 2013 Justin leased once again the same airplane and took it to a strong 3rd place finish in the very competitive gold class. In discussions after the 2013 races Justin decided it was time to unfold a whole new racer for 2014. We searched far and wide for a good usable project and happened to come across a very unique airplane with so much potential and so much history we could not pass it up. The original wing and tail are based on a shoe string racer and was built and flown by Judy Wagner back in the late 70s. A gentleman named Gary Austin purchased the tail and wing from the wangners years ago. I'm not sure of the exact dates. Gary started assembling the small plane for a sport/race aircraft. After Gary's unfortunate end the project ended up in the hanger belonging to Matt Jackson who in turn later sold it to Hep Porter of Minden Nevada. As Hep realized the amount of work required to finish he decided to offer the project to justin knowing in his hands this shoe string would once again see the pylons in Reno. We have set up shop in Chico California less then a mile away from the Chico airport and have gone to work. My reason for this thread is to keep Gary Austin's dream alive. Although the plane is deviating a bit from his original thoughts it's still going to hold the concepts that Gary and Judy had. We are currently hard at work shooting for a early June test flight. I will be posting pictures and descriptions of the progress on race79. You can also follow race79 on Facebook as well. Please follow this thread and feel free to ask questions at any point. Thanks.

I think I use to own this project, If so I have some old photos of under construction if you would like.

Wow, that would be amazing. Who would I have the pleasure of speaking with? When did you own it and what could you tell me about what you did. I have some current construction photos and what not I need to get posted. If you have any please feel free to email them to me or just post them here. racer956@yahoo.com. I have some questions of some parts of the plane maybe you can shed some light on for me if you feel inclined. Mainly the aft spar on the wing, seems to be recessed a bit for a taller pilot. Thanks, Josh.

IF1 freaking rules! I shot photos for the Formula Forum this year and helped on Kent Cassel's Race 99 during the year. I enjoyed the pits in IF1 immensely. Love to see your progress on your Facebook page. Won't be long now until we see you rounding the Pylons!

I'm really glad that you've taken up Gary's project and are going to finish it and take it racing! Many of us here on WIX sorely miss Gary, and this project will be a way for all of us to keep in touch with his legacy. Keep us posted! And we wanna see plenty of pictures, please!

_________________
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Lake Dallas, Republic of Texas