Warbird Information Exchange

I sure hope Strega is fixed. I've been following the races for nearly 20 years now and the race today was unlike anything I've ever seen.

Even if Tiger has to start from the back tomorrow he'll give it everything. This is pretty much his last show. I love Steveo, but I'd like to see Tiger win just one more.

-Andrew

I hope she's fixed too - word is that when Tiger looked back at the gauges after crossing the finish line, induction temp was pegged. Also heard only ran the motor for 40 seconds before shutting down last night. Could all be BS - was looking forward to seeing them start 1-2 tho. Now he'll have to get by Precious Metal first

_________________
Chris

Sounds like Strega is officially out - motor is apparently toast

_________________
Chris

I made an all too brief pit stop in Reno on Friday morning and I must say that from my amateur experiences with internet forums, I can assure you (in general) that thinking you may know someone by what they type on a keyboard and meeting them in person, are more times than not, a completely different experience and to my pleasure an experience that was far beyond anything I would have expected.

I met three fantastic fellows in person for the first time that we all know from this forum and beyond. To say they were enthusiastic, dedicated, committed to their profession, courteous, considerate and generous with their time is an extreme understatement. I simply was expecting nothing more than to just shake their hands and get out of their way, but what I was given instead from each one of them was something that I'll cherish and hold in the highest level of respect and gratitude. These three guys were not expected to offer so much to anyone who happened to walk up to them, myself included, but there was not one person that I witnessed that didn't receive full dedicated attention and a wealth of knowledge about the airplanes they were standing next to. I thought I knew a little bit about these old airplanes. Not even close compared to these three gents.

All I can say is thank you all so very much for your time. It mean't a lot and made the effort to seek you guys out very much worth it.


If you can take your eyes off of that fantastic piece of artwork behind the fellow standing there. I know it's hard to do. That's Chuck Wahl. To say he's a class act is quite the understatement. The hospitality he extended to me and my appreciation is simply more than I could type here. Chuck is as well connected and respected in the warbird community as one can get. An example: I shook hands with more big names in the warbird world than I even knew existed. Not like I'm star struck or anything, but I was certainly impressed with the way many of these folks would come up to Chuck and strike up a conversation about the airplanes and what Chuck is doing at his restoration base. All great folks and wonderful to listen to. (Steve Hinton, Rod Lewis The Ezels, and so on) all down to earth, all good folks. Neat to sit there and listen to their conversations. The highlight was not the VIP treatment Chuck gave me, but to be allowed to sit in that wonderful airplane and daydream a bit. Perfection at it's finest and quite understandable why Chuck's work is consistently award winning. Thank you Chuck.


I certainly wasn't expecting the hospitality, time and effort that I received from Brad Pilgrim and his lovely wife. I had only a handshake in mind but what I got was beyond anything I would have imagined. After shaking hands Brad ask me if I would like to "get on up here and take a better look", hesitant at first I came to my senses and accepted his kind offer. The care, attention to detail and presentation that Brad had on display serves no justice to the photo I'm posting. That Corsair in the photo is impossible to explain in words. You just have to see it in person as it's simply fantastic in every way. Nothing was left out of the perfection to detail. For someone to take the time and effort (and trust) to allow a perfect stranger to climb onboard his artwork tells you something about the man you could never comprehend on an internet forum. A class act, hard working, good looking couple right there. Great, great folks. Thank you seems so little to offer back to Brad.


Taigh Ramey was everything I knew he would be and much more. Big smile, big presence and a big heart. The time he gave me and the tour of his PV-2 was nothing more than amazing and appreciated. He knows his stuff and he knows how to explain it to a guy (me) who knows very little. His dedication and enthusiasm for his airplane was very real and nice to see. A hard working man and dedicated to keeping that airplane flying and displayed to all that enjoy it. It's an understatement the amount of work and dedication Taigh and his folks put into keeping that PV-2 flying. A monster of an airplane and absolutely beautiful and authentic and you just have to go see it and sit inside it for a few minutes to realize the time and effort it took to get it to look exactly like what it would have looked like in the 40's. It was a pleasure to spend some time chatting with Taigh. Again words cannot explain the man and his passion. A true gentleman all the way.

Best I not go any further as not to embarrass or insult the guys any longer

I cannot state enough to any and all that if you ever attend an airshow that these guys are attending, please do yourself a favor and go shake their hands and give them a big thanks for a job well done. You'll get back so much more than you could ever give. Be prepared to learn things you never knew about warbirds and be shown hospitality at a level that is quite rare these days. True gentlemen, true class and guys that can make you smile till it hurts.

I thank you Chuck, Brad and Taigh for your time. Much appreciated

Mark

BTW there was some nice racing going on as well

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

Voodoo won.
Bear broke after 1st lap.
Tiger officially retired from air racing.
Strega apparently burned a piston.

Anyone get some photos of the AT-6 "Heave Ho" on display at Reno? Pretty cool to see one painted in authentic WWII fighter squadron "hack" markings, being that of a Texan used by the 355th FS. The aircraft belongs to Pacific Fighters/Muszala's, and previously had WWII Luke AAF markings.

I've been in love with all three of those Navy birds in your post, Mark, and they are all perfect examples of the passion/commitment behind those you mention with each aircraft. Its been great to have such gentlemen be a part of this forum over the years.

Some additional detail:



Chech Mate got second clean; Precious Metal took 3rd but RARA said he busted the crowd line and DQ'd him. Thom can't get a break (IMHO). Puts Dreadnaught in 3rd.

Argonaut took forever to start; finally got going after everyone else taxied out - Brian had to shut it down a lap after RB and landed on the old runway to the southwest and went out of sight behind a hill. Was good to see his prop turning as he got to the end, as one of the Sport class guys ground looped over there just before.

_________________
Chris

There is more to this than meets the eye. To give detail: On a pylon, it takes 3 people watching from differing angles to make sure the pylon wasn't cut. A fourth person sits a distance away to make sure of the proper ID of each aircraft. The entire group must agree on a cut before it can be called a cut. A protest or challenge can be lodged against their judgments. You can present evidence to have the ruling reversed.

A showline cut means that you drifted past the property line, and a single person decides if there was an infraction, which aircraft it was and then calls it in. There is only one view of the location, even though the distance supervised extends past the limits of the human eye to define and judge many elements of distance. Worse yet, as it is a safety violation....there is zero methods to contest a showline cut called against an aircraft. They say it happened, you are stuck with it...no matter what proof you have to prove them wrong.

Thom has an onboard camera watching outwards when he flies. This is a link to that video, his brief explanation of the issue and what to look for. Judge for yourself, and please share to any friends who may be even slightly interested in the subject.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wxSq0XS7BM&feature=youtu.be

Great post Mark Allen. I think the enthusiasm you showed is probably thanks enough for these fine gentlemen given the descriptions you gave of them. Great people.

I got to meet Stew Dawson at this year's POF airshow. I'm an east coast guy and about as far outside of the warbird community as a person can get, but a business trip gave me a chance to make the show. Middle of the afternoon I'm standing under a B-25 and notice this guy and his wife to my right...I'm thinking "I could swear I've seen that guy before!"

They're a great couple...easy to talk to, very personable. Almost made me a Bear fan right there. Almost.

The alleged infraction is at the 9.23 mark. Absolutely no violation, video is crystal clear on that. FaceBook is on fire about the issue this morning.

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

If this is such a huge deal to RARA/FAA and it's implications are one of no recourse for the racer if someone calls you on it...they ought to have a camera(s) placed along the boundary line for review.

Watching the video and knowing it is at the 9.23 mark and comparing it to all the other passes up the crowd line, I'd say the guy got hosed.

The same goes for Tiger on Saturday. He ran Steve down, passed him by a spinner at the finish, and they DQ by saying he busted the 250 ft. minimum around pylon 8. Every lap Czech Mate had yesterday in the Gold final showed him higher than Tiger was on the final Saturday pass. What happens? Nothing, no call.

Thanks for all the great updates guys.

Made me feel like I was there, hopefully next year.

Phil

_________________
A man's got to know his limitations.

The alleged infraction is at about the 8:30 mark as he rounds Pylon 2 going to Pylon 3. He does get pretty wide there.

As soon as the infraction was reported to the team, Thom pulled the video and reviewed it on the laptop. His first position was that he had screwed up and made the cut, and wanted to see it for himself. (I believe his record is that in all his racing, in every class, he has never made a cut of any kind.) In addition, he had already raced the Bronze and Silver races to be able to race Gold- so he had been on the course repeatedly over the weekend. He was used to the course under race pressure by then. Thom reviewed it repeatedly before taking it to RARA...who also watched it. RARA then stood by the rule that said "No review or challenge against a showline cut". Even the people from RARA who saw it thought he flew a clean race. Showlines don't have the same multi person crew agreeing on making a call for a cut- and yet they are not allowed to be challenged. It has put the team in a very difficult position.