January, 1992

Volume lll Number
Januaryl gS2
1
ru
^F'#trIIJH
ffi ffifi ffiffi[r*e
Hep Porter in the Wagner Shoestring at Reno '9 i
with the newest and best paint yet. Neal Nurmi Photc
FORMULA FORUM
Membership
in IF1 is open to
pilots, owners, crews, and
technical people active in
'{fl4k:
lnternational
Formula One
E.
Formula
Air
Racing.
Rules package and application
8i8/960-5027
available from the secretary,
Roger Sturgess. Send a check
WARD GARLAND
for $7.50, payable to IFl to
cover cost of printing and
mailing.
Formula Forum @ ,rgz
International Formula One Pylon
Air Racing Inc. All rights
CLASS OFFICIALS AND
DIRECTORS FOR 1992
International
Formula One Pylon Air Racing,
Inc., A Texas Non-Profit
Corporation. Member of the
International Council of Air
Shows and the Air Racing
Council of the United States.
Articles appearing herein are the
opinion of the authors and not
necessarily the opinion
of
tF1
Contributions should be
sent to the Editor,
Bill
Rogers
at 926 Rawhide Place,
Newbury Park, CA 91320.
Phone or FAX 805/498-0846, or
via PC floppies in WP or
ASCii.
DAVE MORSS
Pilot Committee.
San Carlos,
Formula Forum is the official
Inc.
Operations Director.
42528 7th St. East
Lancaster, CA 93535
805/945-5583
10O4 Springfield Drive
reserved.
publication of
STU LUCE
Promotions Director.
455 Park Shadow Court
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
CA
94070
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
4t51593-1448
JIM MILLER
BRUCE BOHANNON
President.
1727 Fawncrest
San Antonio,
TX
78248
Technical Committee.
28OO Red Bud
Alvin, TX 77511
713l33t-8847
5t2/493-1516
HOOT GIBSON
SCOTT GARLAND
Vice President.
Procedure Committee.
18522 Barbuda [.ane
Houston,
TX
77058
P.O. Box 2831
Corona,
CA
91718
7131333-1820
7141218-3342
ROGER STURGESS
TOM DeHART
Secretary/Treasurer.
290O Sagamore.Way
Los Angeles, CA 90065
2131258-1727
Technical Director.
P.O.Box 352
Standard,
8..s.I{,pscl,
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY 1992
CA
2091532-66W
95373
Jim IVIiIler
PRtrSII}ETdT'S PAGE
It's only two days bef*re Christmas and the
New Year rvill soon be upon us. I wish you
all the greatest sufeess in the l{ew Year.
tr am presently working olt three races for
the upcoming year. I still can't get the fiflal
OK for the Waeo, Texas race in April but
I'm still hop*ful. Have been lalking with
the people in Albuquerque abeut a race in
May but nothing definite yet. ^& raee at El
Paso, Texas the third week in October looks
good at this tim*.
trn the past, our tech inspection reports at
Reno have been kept secret from other
cornpstitors: thcse inspection repofrs must
be rnade available t* all members of our
group. will instruet our Secretary to
publish a pamphlet of all inspections and
pertinent data on every Formula One at
Rerle this pest year. This should be done
after R*no evsry year in the f*t{:re. Anyone
who objeets to this pr*cedure should call
me, and I'11 certainly be a good listener.
I
I w*t:ld liki: tn elreo$rage all cur members,
Our Tech Commitfee Chair*ran is working
very closely with our new Tech Director to
clarify sorne existing rules and to bring
about ssrne rl*w more stringent inspecticri
procedures. We hope to have something
published oe this real scon.
especially sur new memb*rs tel take a more
activepart in our Forrnula One organization.
Please write or call with your thoughts. Our
&irect*rs wish t* d* what the majcrify of
cur rr:embers rvant.
ffis*$##"
Cassutt Special
I
designed and
built by Tom Cassutt in 1 954. No
space for this h*f*re. {D.Carter}
FORMULA FORUM " JANUARY
1992
FIFTH COLUMIY
Editorial
This is the first issue of 1992 and.I would
like to wish everyone a happy and successful
New Year and to thank the people who
helped put this together. Carol Rogers, who
does most of the typing and proofreading;
Roger and Grace Sturgess, who help with
distribution; and
all the writers and
photographers whose names have appeared
with their contributions, especially the
regulars who come through every issue.
We have had a few comments,
mostly
positive, and do not plan major changes
from the current format. Again we welcome
contributions in any form, that touch on
Formula One and if you have any news give
us a call. I apologize for the photo quality
last month we had some production
problems which we should have resolved
now. The 2-year-old computer is being
upgraded with more memory and a disc
stacker in order to run Word Perfect@ for
Windows@. We hope that this will keep us
from having to buy a bigger one until the
economy improves!
-
With our commute, we have 2 hours less
free time so, for the first time in many
years, I am not a director of International
Formula One. Instead we will be
concentrating on the Formula Forum and on
Air Racing Council of the
United States as its President. Jim Miller
represents Formula One, while Stu Luce is
NAG President. Bob Hugo is the PRPA
B iplane representative.
building the
We held an ARCUS meeting at ICAS and
covered many topics of interest to all
classes. Initial funding was provided to put
the organization on a business basis. It is
one of our goals to have US air racing
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY
1992
recognized at the international sporting level
Aeronautics
Association.
quite
Membership
expensive and we are looking at ways of
funding the fee. Some classes are not on as
businesslike a footing as IFl and find it
difficult to justify the substantial contribution
required.
as before via the National
is
One advantage of an editor is that one has
the opportunity to see the other inputs and
use them as inspiration
editorial
comments. I cannot let Jim Millers views
on Tech Inspection go without providing the
rebuttal. Never in the twenty odd years that
have been involved, has the Technical
Director made inspection results available
for
I
for
general inspection without express
permission of the owner of that aircraft,
unless a technical violation was found.
Obviously we need confidence that the team
is doing an accurate and complete job. But
all we need to know is that an aircraft and
piilot meets the requirements of the rules.
We have no business second guessing the
detailed results of inspections. The next
request will be for pilot's medical records
and tax returns. If anyone wants to know
the weight of an airplane or the cam profile
of the engine they should have the courtesy
to ask the owner. I have never heard of any
racing group publishing detailed inspection
results for other competitors.
I urge you to call Jim
and the other directors
to ask them to withdraw this unwise and
divisive proposal. It would be more useful
for the membership to see Executive
Committee and Directors Meeting minutes
with voting records. Lets get involved in
the organization, before we get into each
other's shorts.
SECRE,TARY STUFF
To all, a happy new year and may your
individual recession be small. I am afraid
that the financial doldrums will produce less
money for racing but I am hopeful that we
will
have more events
in '92.
The major
racing organizations will have to come
together to formulate a combined policy in
the areas of marketing (ICAS) and TV
presentations. ARCUS, hopefully, will be
the vehicle for these means of cooperation.
You will be getting the annual membership
renewal form in a few days and I expect the
78 members that shelled out their hard
earned $50 last year to do so again in the
next month.
Roger Sturgess
ODDS ANI)
Congratulations are due to Trish Sharp who
successfully completed her first solo on
October 28, L991.
New owner of #69, Miss Reno is Troy
Channing of San Ramon, CA
If
the Silver Bullet jet team can find
a
replacement sponsor for Coors, Kathy Gray
continue with the team. In any case
Kathy has booked several shows with her
Seata jet. At ICAS she was voted best solo
jet act for 1991 in the Bullet.
will
I
have decided to purge, with the Presidents
approval, the aeroplane numbers list. This
now opens up the available list to about
forty:- 6,'1,9, 13, 15, 23,32,36,38,39,
40, 42, 45, 46, 48, 49,50, 51 , 52, 53, 54,
59, 60, 6t, 65, 67 , 68, 74, 71, 72, 73, 74,
75,79,80, 82, 83, 84, 96,93,94,97,99.
If you see your number in this list then I
either screwed up or you haven't registered
it for over two years and you have lost it.
To obtain any of these numbers call me at
(213) 258-1727 and then send $25 with your
membership renewal... this is on a "first
come" basis.
Greg Riddle is now at 5227 Belvedere Wuy,
Ontario CA91762, Home {714) 465-6803,
Work (714) 726-7797. Need a crew call
Greg. Had a note from Tom Tellefson, of
Graphtech, a Kevlar, Carbon and whatever
man who has friends in Florida that want
him to build. Go for it Tom.
Cheers Rog.
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY 1992
Ray Cote is busily at work building another
racer. He is completing the project that
Kathy and George Kirstner started.
Stu Luce and Eileen Edwards
were
married January 1 in Hawaii.
Congratulations and best wishes
future from IFl.
for
the
Page 2 profile is Art williams' "Stinger",
now raced by Deke Slayton. The drawing is
by Bob Hirsch who has 3-Views of many of
the F1's. A listing is available from him at
8439 Dale St. Buena Park, CA 90620.
Preliminary Formula Forum publication
schedule for 1992 is as follows:
Last Inputs Mail Date
March
May
July
21
Feb
Apr 24
Jun 19
September Aug 2l
November Oct 23
Mlar 2
May 4
Iw
29
Aug 31
Nov 2
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Happy New Year to all. Now it's time to
get down to business. Many of you are
wondering what is in store from the new
Technical Director. Those who aren't
wondering, start. As Tech Director of IF1
it is my responsibility to see to the pre- and
post-race inspections, recruit and train new
personnel, investigate new ways to inspect
aircraft and expedite that procedure. If you
were hoping the new Tech Director would
belong to the "good ole boy club", forget it.
Everyone plays by the same rules and that's
how I intend to run the Tech Inspections.
This means that your airplanes must meet
ALL the specifications set forth in the IF1
Rules. This is the "formula" for our race
class. If you are not sure about your plane
meeting the formula design rules, call me
and I'11 do my best to set you straight. I
don't have all the answers but I can find
them if you ask.
One last point, just because your plane
passed the last 15 inspections at Reno
doesn't mean you will pass this year. Get
out your tape and double check your
aircraft again. This year at Reno, and
elsewhere our inspections will be different.
I have been talking to a lot of the pilots and
builders as well as the Rules Committee.
'We
have come up with some good ideas to
help everyone concerned. Here are some of
the things we've been talking about:
1. Fuel will be regulated by the IFl Tech
Team. If you want gas, come see us.
2.
There will be a Tech Station. A11 Tech
Operations willbe carried out at this station.
No more running from plane to plane. Have
your plane and crew ready.
FORMULA FORUM. JANUARY
1992
Tom DeHart
3. Your plane will be weighed at least
once, probably twice during the course of
the race.
4.
There will be a new procedure to
measure your cam profile. Instead of
shimming the valve in order to compress the
hydraulic lifter, we will be installing an
adjustable push rod that will ride on the
outside of the cam follower. This will
eliminate any of the guess work involved
while trying to bleed down the lifter with
shims. The measurement will still be taken
at the valve retainer "as per our rules". I
think this is the best way to be fair to
everyone.
I
could easily take up a page with all the
suggestions for inspections but Bill asked me
to keep it to a half page. Since 1989 I've
been working with the IF1 Tech Crews and,
I have the highest respect for the people in
our organization. It is my sincere hope that
some day I might earn that same respect.
Please call me and offer your input, it's
your organization, (209) 532-6ffi7 after 7.
FOR SALE
Information on aircraft for sale or wanted
shouW be sent to Hoot Gibson at 18522
Barbuda Lane, Houston, TX77A58
713/333-1820
Gem 26O and Pushy Cat The complete kit
manufacturing program for the above
aircraft; this includes all tooling, drawings,
data, design and manufacturing rights.
Contact Jim Miller
Home: (512) 493-7516 atter 5:30 PM
We have other aircrafi for sale but ran out
space. See the November issue or call Hoot
Bill Rogers
DRAWING BOARI)
#3 NEMESIS DESIGN ANALYSIS
to write something
about his new plane in July, we were treated
to a piece by Nemesis PR Department. This
is an attempt to provide a more technical
analysis of the design.
When we asked Jon
Jon had a difficult challenge ahead of him
since his competitor, Jim Miller weighs
about 50 lbs. less and has a projected frontal
area, seated of about 30% less. Although
weight is required to bring Jim up to 160
lbs., ballast can be located more optimally
than if it is attached to one's person.
Jon's background as a composite engineer
allowed Team Nemesis to take full
advantage of the stiffness/strength/weight
payoffs of an all composite design. In fact
the original idea was to utilize a modified
Shoestring fuselage frame and use composite
skins over the top. This was discarded when
they became convinced that skin panels
integrally stiffened with foam cores would
easily handle loads for less weight.
The entire aircraft is made of graphite epoxy
IM7 with foam core. This composite is
state-of-the-art in the big airplane business.
Jon managed to get his material as Lockheed
surplus.
Another unique idea is the transportation
configuration. Rather than the wing, the aft
fuselage is removed at a vertical lap splice
behind the cockpit, together with the
cowling. The aircraft sits on its wheels on
the trailer held by a ground handling
bulkhead attached to the fuselage splice.
This eliminates allthe steps, gaps and taping
associated with the wing to fuselage joint.
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY
1992
The airplane itself is of conveutional tractor
minimum length
configuration with
gear.
is
18'11" while the
Length
landing
span is 20'6" for an aspect ratio of 6.37, a
relatively high number but not nearly as
radical as the Groves. The wing is the key
to the design, utilizing a modified NASA
a
GW
section
of an
amazing
l4Vo
thickness/chord ratio. There are2A year old
wood wings with 9Vo. Why so thick?
-
The rest of the plane fuselage, wheel
pants, landing gear legs all use a variation of
this section. The only conventional sections
appear on the horizontal and vertical tails.
Apparently only because they were built
some time ago.
The airplane weighed 507 lbs. at rollout and
is probably a little heavier after paint and
prop
utilizes an
wheel pants.
ratio
fineness
and
improve
the
to
extension
the engine is tilted over about 5 No one
else picked up on this apparently, according
to Jon, but he insists that it was done only to
better fit a minimum cowl. The fuel tank
uses a unique filling system but is vented to
dynamic atmospheric pressure and feeds by
gravity. See page 10
It
ll.5'
.
The molds are now in existence and two
others are planned. What could be done
different$ to make it better? The splice
could be canted so that any section in
bending would only have a few fasteners in
it. A smaller pilot would allow a reduced
fuselage cross section and frontal area. Get
25 lbs of weight out. With all due respect
to NASA, I have to believe that a thinner
wing of similar section would be faster.
Now if Hep Porter put such a wing on #44,
how would that do?
FEATURE
Andrea Dramesi
Many of us have been in racing for a while
and have forgotten those first impressions
that got us hooked. Andrea is ne'w member
of Dave Morss's crew and offers these
impressions of us as seen through the fresh
eyes of a newcomer. M.
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO THE
RENO AIR RACES
was stuck in a general aviation rut. I had
no idea what air racing was. I had no idea
what an open ended wrench was. And I had
no idea what the difference was between a
T-6 and a P-51 other than the noise it made
when it flew by. I knew aviation had more
to offer; I just wasn't sure where. Then I
was invited to uew at the Reno Air Races
and was again inspired.
I
Formula One (F1) racing
is
truly an
everyman's or woman's sport introduced for
those who realized, that the likes of RARE
BEAR was not going to be under the
Christmas tree. For as little as $10,000 you
could have a race ready and proven F1
plane. A11 F1 planes are built to the same
standards governing weight, horsepower,
wing area and so on. They generally spring
from an old design, usually a Cassutt, and
are modified from there. Having learned
this and the fact that speeds range anywhere
from 19A-27O mph, my first question
formed. Why don't they all go the same
speed? This is where the real competition
starts. Tricks of the trade from years of
experience gain between 2-20 mph. Each
"tweaku on an engine each passing year
might promise that competitive edge. For
someone to gain 20 mph over last year's
time is an heroic gain which is not unheard
More than likely, however, its year
of.
FORMULA FORUM . JANUARY 1992
after year of small "tweaks" on the same
tried and true plane which makes a winner like last year. Its unusual that an unproven
dark horse would pull forward to win - like
this year. But that's what racing is all
about.
What kind of people are these pilots who
race? Anyone from professional pilots to
car salesmen, big grisly men and young
women who must add lead weights to their
seat to compensate for their own slight
frames. All pilots are not snobs even when
they win. They're not egomaniacs and are
ready to help those who need it with tools,
advice, support, or a cold drink. They're
seriously concerned with their safety as a
whole, yet have the sense of humor to
appreciate a good joke when its played on
them. Some can be fairly high strung
around Reno, but contrary to popular belief,
its the crew that keeps them in line and not
the other way around.
Dedicated crews can be found working at
the hangar long after everyone else is gone.
As a new crew member, one learns how to
wet sand, wash, wax, and tape a wing. For
someone who couldn't tell the difference
between a socket wrench and a screw driver,
the opportunity to crew is truly
an
education. Now I can clean and put together
a cylinder with the best of them. It is still
probably easier to be a crew member than
hold a crew together. But when its all said
and done, you can soar with the eagles, fly
with the furkeys, or go 'wang" chickens (a
carnival game downstairs at Circus Circus)
with the best of them. Pilots are those
foregoing accuracy for distance. Crew
members are those with finesse and all the
stuffed animals they can carry.
FEATTJRE
Cont.
As for the actuai racing. First they qualify
the plane technically. Second they qualify
the pilot by his demonstration of rolls, six G
furns, emergeacy procedures, fr:rmation
flying and passing teehniques. F'iaally, the
plane and pilot qualify together for speed.
Heat races throughout the week determine
positions for the fi*al Gold, $ilver, and
Bronze races. The fastest eight planes race
in t}e Sold, the sec*ald fastest eight in the
Silver and so on. The Fl race has a
standing start to eight laps around a
triangular six pylon course. Penalties are
incurred for improper passlag, and iow
and/or dangerous flying.
There are winners for lxLch of the Gold,
Silver, and Bronze races. This offers a
chance for everyone involved to have a good
race and makes for better racers and races in
the future
I'm not sure what motivates Fl people, but
sponsorship r&eging from nil to
minirnal, they manage to increase their
with
speeds each year.
This year at Reno was the fastest Fl race in
history. So evea if you can identify the
POND RACER fuom more than fifty feet
away aad ycu are locking for new aviation
avenues or airways, look to Air Racing.
There's lots of encouragemefit and
inspiration springrng from those F1 pilots,
crews, and their organization. See you at
Reno.
l.rii'l1;t-.j ,.{
r
-'
3
!{
ff
Bob Drew, back in the Gold in #3
shows 18" wing deflection and
something funny happening t0 the
prop,or is it the Al wimer Bhoto?
FORMULA FORUM . JANUARY
1992
GROLIND SUPPORT
As a result of our recent success, I've had
lots of inquiries about the use of our ground
support equipment. We have two pieces of
equipment that have made our "at the race
site" duties easier and more importantly
added to reliability and safety.
First off we will describe our towing dolly.
It has long been a concern that towing, with
a couple of guys holding the tail, behind a
truck drastically increased your chances of
tail, vehicle or people damage. So we
decided to up our chances of getting through
the perils of ground transportation. We
manufactured
our Mobile
Ground
Transportation Support Unit using a two
wheel dolly, common at any local hardware
store and modifying it to meet our needs.
V/e first cut off the flat lifting portion of the
dolly, so when we laid horizontally nothing
would jam into our airplane. We next
purchased 2 trailer hitch receptacles and I
hitch ball. One hitch turned upside down
and welded to the dolly, the other welded to
a tube that would hook to our tow truck.
The hitch ball was then attached to a padded
fiberglass "splash" of bottom of the
fuselage. The hitch and ball would allow
infinite swiveling and movement of our
aircraft, great for tight turns. Then with the
addition of a welded-to-the-do1ly caster and
a "T" handle, presto, now you push your
prized racer around the hanger with less
chance of wingtip or
tail impacts. The price
of this whole system was about $80.
The next piece of equipment is probably the
best $150I've every spent on reliability and
safety. This being our fueling unit. We
in our travels about the air race
circuit, experienced many fuel anomalies, be
it water, the biggest offender or unwanted
have,
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY
1992
Jon Sharp
particles in the fuel. We have over the
years, filled 5 gallon cans from the fuel
truck several times during the course of a
race week, lugging them back and forth,
wondering if the fuel truck would be by
today. Most recently at Reno, we were
provided a drum with fuel, the drum being
labelled 'H2O'. No thanks!
We built a fueling unit with a 15 gallon
tank, a hand pump, a water/particle filter, a
two wheel dolly and a fire extinguisher just
in case. The 15 gallon barrel was selected
for its compact size and 15 gallons of fuel
will go through the entire race week with
one trip to the truck. Nice! The hand pump
is great; no more lifting five gallon cans
over your head, aiming a nozzle that leaks,
into your tank or funnel, all the while
spilling fuel on your paint job; not to
mention the fire hazard.
The best feature of this unit and the real
purpose of the exercise is the neat filter
made by Velcon Co. It separates and traps
water and particles, yes water. When the
filter is full of water it merely disallows the
flow of fuel. So when the pump gets hard
to furn, we replace the filter and we're back
in business knowing that our engines won't
have water or debris to deal with.
The dolly can be found at hardware stores,
while I purchased the pump (with hose),
barrel and most importantly the Velcon
Water Separating Filter with adapter from:
Petro-Lock Co.
45315 No. Trevor Ave.
Lancaster, CA
(805) 948-6M4
,4dditional info.from Jon at (845)723-7636
10
REFLECTIOI{S. . TIoNs. .uoNs.
RUNT RACERS
While recently pouring over old files in
search of obscure details and viewpoints of
earlier Formula One races, I was both
amused by the hyperbole of the aviation
press of the day, and amazed at the myriad
small changes in the sport and the
misconceptions I had been harboring of
some early competitors views. Their general
optimism appeared without foundation in
reality.
Senateur du Kentucky favori
'course de la mort!"
"Le
de la
A Kentucky senator the favorite in a race of
death? That's what the headlines in
a
French newspaper said in mid-'76. Then a
few days later, a second Paris headline:
"Sullivan, vainqueur du Grand Prix
France-avion a rejoint Jimmy Carter.
"
de
The
victor in that race of death ild,
coincidentally, a supporter of Democratic
presidential nominee Jimmy Carter was, of
course, Bill Sullivan a Democratic state
senator from Kentucky. He brought home a
batch of "le honeurs" being the first (and
only) American to win the French Formula
One Grand Prix air race in his Cassutt, #51,
N-51WS, which he had been racing with
modest success in this country since 1970.
And the September 1947 issue of FLYING
magazine ran an amusing article (amusement
the
unintended) on the 'Runt Racers
the
smallest man-carrying airplanes
told
author
excitedly
in
which
the
world!"
the world that "Tiny bug-like planes will
roar over Cleveland on l-abor Day weekend
in a battle royal designed to restore the
in
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY 1992
.rloNs
Al Wimer
importance of the skilled pilot in National
Air Races competition. Mammoth highspeed craft will be stuck in a back seat
during the Goodyear Trophy Race, while
some of the country's best pilots race in runt
planes for a $25,000 prize." Those big ones
were gone - the new wave of runts was
here....this was heady stuff!
However, the descriptive adjective "runt"
was soon out of favor, seemingly giving way
to terms less offensive to the sensibilities of
magazine readers of the period. A
December '47 article in the same magazine
summarized the earlier Goodyear races of
that year with the title, "Prize
Pygmies". ..there was an attention
grabber...others followed rapidly in the
ensuing months with such colorful labeling
as "mosquito racers", "dwarf every-man's
machines", and somewhere in here such
sensible words as "sleek" and "tiny" began
to creep into print. It would appear that by
1949 the descriptive term for the class that
settled into general usage was "midget". It
stuck. Even the most shrill of the hucksters
gave way to common sense on this point.
Among the many articles on this new race
class appearing in print from the pens of
major participants were two by Tony LeVier
and one by Art Chester. Chester's piece,
written during his tenure as president of the
then air racing organization, PRPA,
appeared in the July '48 issue of AIR
PROGRESS. LeVier's first, also written
while he was heading up PRPA, a position
to which he succeeded following Chester's
untimely death at San Diego in June, was
published in the September '49 edition of
SKYWAYS.
11
Ref,lecti$ns"
*
-
Conf.
Both reflected incredible optirnisrn about the
midget class's future in air racing. I-elfier
said, "This rnay be the last year for the big,
war-surplus planes at the National Air
Races. The reason for &is derrise is sirnpl*
- they're too erpea$iv* for the average pilot
to keep. and "angels" Iike GIen McCar&y
and Jimmy Stewart are gettiag few and far
between... "actually, I'm sure that the ticketbuying public will b* much better cff whsrr
these heavy. super souped-up F 51's and
Corsairs have flown their last competitive
race. \Me've dreamed up somethiug now
that should rnake a rnuch better show..."
(underlining is the author's)"
In his article, Chester wrote: "Five kegs of
nails weigh within a split-ounce of the
*ideal' midget, as prescribed by the rules
committee of the PRFA. That's 500
pounds. Your I' x tr?' hedroom firg
coaft.ins aearly d*uble {his figures} tfue area
of our 6$squar**for* wings" Th* midg*t
racer already has bcited to the poirt where
the pilot's w*igt* alon* ffiay $pe$ th*
difference betwsea fiashing first around the
final pyt*n, and ixhaling t&e ex-haust fumes
of the wi*ner...""
But we h*.ve scarcely embarked upon the
post-war revival of this in-your-lap thriller.
I-ast year at Ctreveland 15 tiny planes, most
of them hastily prepared, showed up to enter
the Goodyear, tlis new classic"...No matter
who wins, the public,
increasing
numbers, will thrill tc nddget raciag duriag
the years ts fome".. "rve guatrantee to furnish
chilling turns and roarirg fiaishes...we fly
wide open, right in tleir laps.. ". "
in
Thcugk both urere pilots of remrarkable skill
and experience, neither was particularly
clairvoyaat; but optimism, b*ing what it is,
would appear to be one of the essential
ingredients of ut racers' makeups.
Eternally optimistic would probably best
describe this special breed of pilots that
seems to thrall to some element of air racing
experience that acts upon them trike a
tnrcatic upon an addict. The spell of it a1l
and consuming confidence in winning are
t** lrard to break" Senething i* the tracer's
eryxrier*e, what*v*r it is, is tf,ffit?l],
pr*,f*uad and s*enringly erters dim and outof-touch alcoves of the soul. Unquestianably
the rest *f as * we who love the sport afid
adrnire thcse whCI race their beautiful little
machines * ar* better eff for it.
lnternational Bacer - Cassutt #51
has raced as N51WS, G-BVGM, &
F-PYNM in three countries {Wimer}
FORMULA FORLh/t . JANUARY 1992
12
RACE RLII\.DOWI\
The International Council of Air Shows
(ICAS) convention was held December 5-7
in Las Vegas, with Promotions Director, Stu
and Tech Rules Chief, Bruce Bohannon
representing IFl. We ran the IF1 booth,
showed our video, and talked F1 to anyone
from any show that would listen. The first
thing you find out is that not only do
promoter's have a lack of interest in air
racing -- they also don't know anything
about
We have to sell air racing all the
time and most of the races come from
contacts made and nurtured over a period of
years. Many shows would have us if we
were not so expensive compared to other
it.
acts.
Ideally if each aircraft could obtain their
own sponsorship to pay the bills, getting
races would be much easier. I plan to have
a piece on this in the next issue, with useful
information from another racer's
perspective.
There are aerobatic acts, hot dog vendors,
other racing groups and military demo teams
all wanting a piece of the action. Each one
has a booth and each one is selling as we
are. It is a good thing that we are not trying
to make a living at this as are many of the
others. ICAS is confusing, it is fun, and it
is hard work.
As you may remember 1992 is the first year
of our contract with Bill Berle and he is
working with us to obtain sponsored races so
that he has a basis for a televised series.
We had a somewhat shaky initial attempt at
Stockton, but we all learned a lot and things
should be easier next time.
FORMULA FORUM - JANUARY 1992
Stu Luce
We have several good prospects for next
year and we are working with the following
shows for 1992:
Boulder City, NV March 28-29
This is the Angel Flight show and they have
the Thunderbirds. They would like us if we
can find our own funding. Bob Holbrook
and Bill Berle are working this.
'Waco,
TX
Aptll2-3
Jim Miller is working this one. See page
3
Denver, CO
June 6-7
This is the Unlimited race. Front Range
would love us if we can find our own
funding. We have been talking to Chris
Riggs of NARA about this, since he is
sponsoring a part of the show. It would also
be a good event for Bill Berle's TV.
Reno, NV
Firm
Sept. 13-20
Stockton, CA
October 1O-11
Also a Thunderbird show, but Sunday only.
They would like us for Saturday; details are
under discussion.
Other Interest:
Albuquerque,
El Paso,
TX
NM
May
October 18
Note to other publications: Most of the
dates shown here are tentative; they are for
membership planning purposes only.
They should not be published elsewhere
unless indicated os Firm. Ed.
IFI
t3
CALEI\DAR OF
IFl EVEI\TS
September 13-24 Reno,NV
1992
NCAR
FIRM
PYLON AIR RACING - THE WORLD'S FASTEST MOTORSPORT
FORMULA FOR{IM
lnternational Formula One Pylon Air Racing
926 Rawhide Place,
Newbury Park, CA 913.24
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E.
ormula