On the course at Reno...

[Neal Nurmi]

[garbs]

So Pylon School is underway? Can we expect to see a Spad in the ranks this year?

[Neal Nurmi]

Sorry Chris -- those were done 30 years ago. Times were different back then...

Does this mean I'm old??

[Dan K]

Sorry Chris -- those were done 30 years ago. Times were different back then...

Does this mean I'm old??

Second pic appears to be watermarked "1895".

You're not just old...you're dead.

[garbs]

Yeah - guess I thought they were just the photographer's secret numbering system. Oh well.

[Neal Nurmi]

Good eye -- I got the watermark wrong on the second shot -- should have been 1985...

Does this mean I'm old??

[K5DH]

Neal,

The sensation of speed in that Skyraider photo is really something! Great shot!!!

Yes... you're old... embrace it! (says the old guy in Texas)

[Neal Nurmi]

Thank you Dean. Since retirement I've spent winters elsewhere doing other things, but I've dedicated this summer to sifting through over 40 years of photographing airplanes -- thousands of slides -- to find the gems amidst the stuff that was important at the time but nobody will ever care about in the future. That Skyraider shot is one of the gems, I think...

[Zac Yates]

I thought the FW-190 competing a couple of years back was cool, but that is awesome! Great shots Neal! From memory there are a couple of Skyraiders with that paint scheme, which one was this?

[Neal Nurmi]

This would have been Jimmy McMillan in Bu. 124156. http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a1regist ... 24156.html

At least three pilots ran Spads at Reno in the 1980s -- Wiley Sanders ran this one a couple of years later. They were pretty majestic cruising around the pylons, and surprisingly fast, too.

[Zac Yates]

Thanks, Neal.

[Taylor Stevenson]

Anyone know the Skyraider's top speed at Reno?

[Neal Nurmi]

I just looked it up. Both McMillan and Cullum ran around 325 mph, both in the single qualifying lap and in the 6 lap races.

For comparison, B-25s on the course in 1885 and 1986 ran 240-260mph when qualifying.

McMillan brought a very nice P-51 to Reno the next year and ran 325 to 330mph -- pretty much the same as he did in the Spad.

Here's Race 125 on the course at Reno:

[Zac Yates]

For comparison, B-25s on the course in 1885

Was that the year Doc Brown and Marty McFly crewed?

Another cool photo, thanks Neal!

[Neal Nurmi]

Thank you Zac, and I have no idea.

Race 143 ran the course armed, and still went 20mph faster than #125. They build them strong in Breckenridge...