FORMULA FORUM THE IF1 JOURNAL

Transcription

1 FORMULA FORUM THE IF1 JOURNAL NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

2 FORMULA FORUM IF1 INC. Formula Forum 2009 International Formula One Pylon Air Racing, Inc. All rights reserved. Formula Forum is the official publication of International Formula One Pylon Air Racing, Inc., a Texas non-profit corporation. Member of the Air Racing Council of the United States. Published bi-monthly. DISCLAIMER FORUM CONTRIBUTIONS MEMBERSHIP RULES WEBSITE COVER PHOTO Articles appearing herein may be edited and are the opinion of the authors and not necessarily the opinion of IF1 Inc. Send contributions to: Editor, Lista Duren 3233 Via Alicante #48 La Jolla, CA Phone: Cell: lduren@pacbell.net All contributions remain property of Formula Forum. Membership in IF1 is open to pilots, owners, crews and technical people active in Formula One Air Racing for $60/yr. Anyone may join as a non-voting Associate Member, $35/yr. Applications available from the secretary or on-line. For IF1 Technical and Procedure rules, check on-line at: Jim Cunningham, Webmaster jjam_n262@netzero.net Thom Richard holds off Steve Senegal in Heat 1A at Reno, September Thom held on to win both the heat and the Gold final. Photo by Neal Nurmi. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SMOKEY YOUNG President Peyton Dr. C136 Chino Hills, CA flies2fast@aol.com GARY DAVIS Vice President Merlin Dr. Sanger, TX texasflyer@hotmail.com MARK A. JOHNSON Secretary/Treasurer 1670 Yosemite Ave. #104 Simi Valley, CA markajohnson59@yahoo. com DIRECTORS BOB BEMENT Operations Director 7320 Old Stage Trail Kelsey, CA rbement@wildblue.net Volume XX Number 6 TOM DEHART Technical Director 5220 Walton Dr. Klamath Falls, OR flyfastflylow@fireserve.net GARY AUSTIN Technical Rules Committee Chairperson P.O. Box Midland, TX retroaviation@aol.com ED DUTREAUX Procedure Rules Committee Chairperson 840 Jefferson Ct. San Mateo, CA edutro@astound.net KIRK MURPHY Pilot Committee Chairperson 6140 Christa Lynn Pl. Prescott, AZ murphyk79@aol.com JAY JONES Promotions Committee Chairperson P.O. Box 761 Buena Vista, CO jay@quadnickel.com CONTENTS 3 President s Page Smokey Young 5 Vice President s Report Gary Davis 5 Promotions Jay Jones 6 Race Report Bill Rogers IF1 Awards 16 Pilot s Notes Kirk Murphy 17 Operations Brief Bob Bement 17 Sec/Treas Input Mark Johnson 18 Letter Ray Sherwood 18 Tech Tips Tom DeHart 19 IF1 Family News 20 Gary Austin IF1 Marketplace 2 FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

3 Another year at Reno has come and gone and it was a good year for International Formula One. We saw some great racing this year at all levels culminating with a major upset in the Gold final. Congratulations to pilot Thom Richard and owner Tim Neubert for your well deserved victory in Invictus. Team Tiara put on a fine presence at the races this year with their well prepared airplanes and professional pit set-up. While it s easy to finish Reno and breathe a sigh of relief, the respite will have to be short lived. There are several issues we need to address as a group, several of which were discussed during our annual meeting. The new IF1 Board of Directors will convene their first meeting later in November. We will discuss lessons learned from this year s air races and begin formulating a game plan for the upcoming Class Presidents meeting. Issues to be raised will vary from mundane to serious. For example, a need for a Port-o-Let at the approach end of Runway 8 came up this year. When we stage for multiple heats, crews can spend up to an hour waiting to get on the runway and man up. With both male and female crew, photographers and officials congregating in the approach end, a somewhat more modest approach to physiological relief may be in order. On the more serious side we need to address parking and access to our race trailers. More than one crew member was chased down by either an FAA or Reno official while trying to retrieve tools or spare parts from their trailer. Any individual lessons learned from Reno this year that you would like to share would be greatly appreciated. If you experienced or saw something that either IF1 or RARA can do better, feel free to shoot me an with your ideas and suggestions. The open forum during our annual meeting gave all of us an opportunity to discuss the possibility of either modifying or relaxing some of our technical rules. With one exception it seemed that all of the active owners and pilots are in favor of the Technical Rules Committee addressing several of our current rules. At the November board meeting the Technical Rules Committee chair will be tasked with examining some of our rules with an eye toward modifications that may open our racing to more people. The committee chairman will work with his committee to present the board with recommendations in early January. The board will then decide whether to place these recommendations out for membership vote. Remember, this is your organization and I expect that the Technical Rules Committee will seek a great deal of input from the membership. The goal is to make Formula One air racing more accessible and more competitive. Your ideas will help. As a board and as an organization we balance a fine line between training, enforcement of standards, and inclusiveness. Several incidents during the races this year exposed what may be weaknesses in our PRS training program and the continuing evaluation of racers throughout their careers. In particular I witnessed on one occasion a race pilot s complete lack of understanding of basic President s Page Smokey Young Photo by Bill Rogers the Technical Rules Committee chair will be tasked with examining some of our rules with an eye toward modifi cations that may open our racing to more people. FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

4 I would encourage all of our racers to seek out the opportunity to get formalized formation training through an EAA or FAA approved organization. Larry Mashowski discusses overtaking and passing with Philip Goforth before Heat 1C. formation flying geometry. The FAA has asked on several occasions why we don t include formation flying in our PRS syllabus. There are a multitude of reasons. Primarily our airplanes are not designed to be flown in formation. The carbon fiber propellers do not respond well to rapid and constant changes in power required to maintain formation position. In addition we lack a suitable number of two place trainers from which to teach formation flying. Other race classes require a formal display of formation flying competency in order to attain a race license. I would like to see us avoid that. However we cannot let someone on the course who does not understand the basics of closure and how to control it. I would encourage all of our racers to seek out the opportunity to get formalized formation training through an EAA or FAA approved organization. In addition we may need to look at some very thorough formation academics as part of our PRS curriculum. After the 2007 races the FAA became much more involved in monitoring both PRS and the races. Accidents and incidents have come under thorough review. Unfortunately Formula One has not had the greatest safety record. By my informal count, since 2003, Formula One has had four powerplant failures which required an abort off the race course. In three of these situations, a poorly executed emergency landing resulted in serious injury to the pilot and substantial damage to the aircraft. In addition we have had a midair collision which resulted in one fatality and an inflight airframe failure which resulted in another. We all need to be flying our airplanes during the off season. You should be intimately familiar with all aspects of your plane s performance to include aerobatic capability and glide characteristics with the engine running or stopped. We continue to preach showing up to the races race ready. This means the pilot as well as the airplane. We cannot afford to allow someone on the course who is not prepared to race; the stakes are too high. It doesn t matter if that person is a good guy or has raced with us for several years without killing himself or someone else. I can assure everyone that pilot performance at both PRS and the races will be closely monitored in the future. With all that being said we look forward to preparing the organization for the year Please, as always, feel free to me your comments and suggestions. Smokey Young 4 Photo by Lista Duren FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

5 As I compose my last column as IF1 Vice President, many thoughts come to mind. Thinking about the last nine years of air racing reminds me of Charles Dickens quote It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. I ve had a blast racing, but there is no doubt that these have been difficult and challenging years for International Formula One. I wish every success to Doug Bodine as the incoming IF1 Vice President as there are certainly more challenges to come. Over all, 2009 was a great year and I would like to offer congratulations to Team Invictus. Tim Neubert and Thom Richard both have every reason to be proud of their new title and of their team s work to get Invictus ready to race this year. As always, thanks should go to many people. Over the years, the list What is on the horizon for IF1? That is always the question. What we have in the works is always subject to approval, timing, and logistics. So here goes. First on my desk is a possible race outside of Toronto, Canada. This will be a big one with four race classes, to be held late June of next year. Details are being worked now, so as soon as things become firm, we will tell you more. Next is a possible race in South Texas after Reno. This will be with IF1 and Biplane classes. A lot has to be worked out on this one, but it looks possible. incudes: my extraordinary crew, IF1 Tech and IF1 Ops, Pilot Committee, PRS instructors, and on site pilot evaluators IF1 board members, pilot/owners, IF1 stalwarts Ward Garland and Ray Cote, the many IF1 volunteers, and last but certainly not least, my lovely and supportive wife Donna Davis. IF1 and Pylon Air Racing really is a family affair and these are but a few of the folks that have made air racing such a gratifying adventure for me. THANKS! Blue Skies and Tailwinds, Gary Davis or pancake breakfast and do what we always do: talk up airracing and Formula One, but take along a membership application. Give people a chance to join IF1. With a larger membership we can have a bigger voice in making things happen. If you have an airshow or fly-in, let us know so we can join up with you for a larger presence. Happy flying, Jay Jones Vice President s Report Gary Davis Photo by Bill Rogers Promotions Jay Jones Photo by Jim Peterson The thing we all need to work on is exposure for IF1. Go to your local EAA gathering, airport fly-in, Photo by Lista Duren Jay Jones gets help disassembling #45 Quadnickel after Sunday s Gold race. FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

6 Reno 2009 Race Report Bill Rogers Photo by Lista Duren Photo by Lista Duren every plane that came in the door passed tech and started in the fi nal races For me Reno finally ended when I read the cheerful report from Adrian Coop Cooper on our website on October 1st. He is home and on the way to a full recovery. His accident in the Bronze race was one of the few things to detract from an otherwise outstanding event perfect weather with little or no wind, almost a full field which was so well prepared that every plane that came in the door passed tech and started in the final races, something I cannot ever remember happening before. Not only that, not a single plane was lapped and we had some terrific racing with the winners never a forgone conclusion. Tech began on Saturday, September 12th with 19 of the 23 entries present; Sonny Swenson, Michael Kenner and Bill Garrison arrived by evening. The only airplane missing was Mark Johnson s refurbished #26 Tree Top Flyer which looks great in the program; he decided to scratch when carb problems could not be solved in time. No serious tech issues surfaced and we had the pleasure of hosting an FAA Inspector who followed our inspectors to see if we really kept to our published check lists. A new item this year was a check of data plates. The Team News section covered most team developments in the September Forum, so I will only hit the highlights here. Steve Temple s Madness had a new cowl and a rebuilt aileron system. Bill Garrison s Dancing Queen and Elliot Seguin s Wasabi had new cowls with longer prop extensions. Back after an absence were Miss Demeanor, Slingshot and a beautifully refurbished #54, now Miss Min in the hands of Jim Jordan. The magic tapered, Stephen Pearce-designed, Steve Hill-built prop was now on Jethro Bodine s Yellow Peril. The only new plane was Philip Goforth s slick #69 Knotty Girl built with the wing from Aloha and the tail from Jay Jones Quadnickel. The most bizarre mod was a camera mount on Thom Richard s NAC plane Invictus to house a big HD camera right in front of the canopy. Roger Sturgess ran the numbers and determined it safe but prudently it was only used in practice, producing spectacular footage. New this year was a propping class, held at FAA insistence for all the crews and taught by Bob Bement. Our hangar this year featured numerous pit flooring schemes bare concrete is no longer acceptable apparently, and matching checkered tile or carpet is de-rigeur for the top teams. We had a couple of flying sessions Sunday to re-qualify pilots and complete race course work for the three rookies and Goforth s new plane. The early stint was during the Reno BIG brief, now stretched to a mindboggling 90 minutes. The 11 a.m. session featured a significant cross wind which dissuaded a few pilots. Jim Jordan had been experiencing a rough running engine and when he poured the coals to it, it quit, forcing him to abort the take off. QUALIFYING Monday was cooler with a slight breeze and we were scheduled first with one long 70-minute session. We still had three people to complete qual flights which delayed proceedings, especially when Phil Goforth s plane, due to pull the 6G, would not start and Steve Temple s radio failed. 6 FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

7 Coop Cooper got his tail wheel stuck in a runway groove on landing, which pitched him into the gravel on the right of the runway, damaging the prop and the wheel pants slightly. Elliot Seguin completed a perfect emergency landing on 32 when the engine lost power on takeoff. It was diagnosed as a carb/ mixture issue. Six aircraft posted times but Ed Dutreaux s was unintentional and he pulled his time. Later Phil got his plane running and successfully completed his G-maneuver. A front went through overnight, but Tuesday was calm and cooler and a repeat of the Monday schedule. Phil Goforth still had laps to complete, got the plane running but immediately aborted and was stuck on the runway for some time. RARA insistence that their people are the only ones allowed on the runway caused a major hold up when they did not respond eventually the Starter s truck went out to recover the plane. Miss Min would not run again and Jethro Bodine s #92 lost a mag and shut down. The long session allowed everyone to qualify except the three with problems. Goforth in #69 returned to complete his laps. We had only 30 minutes on Wednesday and only Bodine, Jordan and Peters went out to post a time. All solved their problems and got on the board. Most improved were Dan Peters, 20 mph faster; Elliot Seguin, 11 mph faster; and Bill Garrison 5 mph faster. Everyone else was within 4 mph of last year except Steve Senegal s race-winner Endeavor which was mysteriously 6 mph off last year s pace, perhaps foretelling problems he was to have later in the week. by Bill Rogers Qualifying Times (Official Results) Pilot Plane Time Speed 1 Steve Senegal, San Bruno, CA 2 Thom Richard Kissimee, FL 3 Lachlan Onslow Armidale, AU 4 Gary Davis Sanger, TX 5 Doug Bodine Rapid City, SD 6 Steve Temple Incline Village, NV 7 Smokey Young Chino Hills, CA 8 Jay Jones Buena Vista, CO 9 Steve Senegal, San Bruno, CA 10 Thom Richard Kissimee, FL 11 Ed Dutreaux San Mateo, CA 12 James Jordan Las Vegas, NV 13 Bill Garrison Haven, KS 14 Brian Reberry Boise, ID 15 Carl Swenson, Jr. Conroe, TX 16 John Hall Spring Branch, TX 17 Michael Kenner Pacoima, CA 18 Philip Goforth Midland, TX 19 Larry Mashowski Okotoks, AB 20 Adrian Cooper Vancouver, BC 21 Elliot Seguin Rosamond, CA 22 Dan Peters Longmont, CO #11 Endeavor Arnold AR-6 N672DH #1 Invictus Cassutt NX603R #12 Outrageous Cassutt Mod N25VS #50 Scarlet Screamer Cassutt Mod N135R #92 Yellow Peril Cassutt Mod N17517 #87 Madness GR-7 Panther N687RB #3 Sly Dog Wagner N8EW #45 Quadnickel Cassutt IIIM N53014 #96 Miss Demeanor Cassutt N96SR #40 Miss USA Cassutt #33 Slingshot Cassutt #54 Miss Min Cassutt N5381 N33ED N54ML #22 Dancing Queen Cassutt N122DQ #13 N-A-Rush Cassutt IIIM N81SS #17 Annie Cassutt IIIM N45889 #98 What s Up Doc Cassutt N4377D #21 Blackjack Cassutt IIIM N85GN #69 Knotty Girl Stratocaster N591A #78 Lime Lite Cassutt IIIM C-FNZP #9 miss t witchie Cassutt C-FDXO #68 Wasabi Cassutt #66 Route 66 Cassutt IIIM N26ES N99UX : : : To compare your Reno speeds to results prior to 2003 (when course length was recalculated) multiply them by FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

8 Heat 1C Philip Goforth Starting Grid Photo by Bill Rogers Wed., Sept. 16th, 11:45 a.m. 75 F. 5mph South crosswind First off the ground was Canadian Larry Mashowski with rookie Philip Goforth, Michael Kenner and the second Canadian Adrian Coop Cooper closing fast. The much improved planes of Elliot Seguin and Dan Peters followed. Philip was learning how to race and hounded Larry for the entire competition, never quite completing a pass, but he need not have worried as Larry somehow managed to cut Pylon 6 and Home on lap 2, knocking him back to fourth in the final results. Cutting Home was hailed as a first by RARA but some of us remember Dan Mortensen s Rutan biplane doing the same thing in the days of racing Bipes. Behind the battling duo, Blackjack and miss t witchie did not let them get away and finished close behind, putting on one of the best races we have seen in a Bronze heat in some time. Even at the back, Wasabi only just held off Route 66 and these two were not lapped. After the race Coop s crew found a loose oil line, the culprit for his overheating issues, he thought.. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 69 Philip Goforth Michael Kenner Adrian Cooper Larry Mashowski * 5 68 Elliot Seguin Dan Peters * #78 cut pylon 6 and home, lap 2 Heat 1B Ed Dutreaux Starting Grid Photo bybill Rogers Wed., Sept. 16th, 12:40 p.m. 85 F. Minimal South crosswind If this grid looks odd, it is because Steve Senegal and Thom Richard both had faster planes in the Gold heat and did not want to end up with two aircraft in the Gold, selecting spots on the last row. This was an advantage for Ed Dutreaux who chose pole and although off second behind Bill Garrison, took the front spot on the pace lap and was never headed, to win with a 14 second lead. Brian Reberry took off third with Thom Richard on the outside. Sonny Swenson, rookie Jim Jordan, John Hall and Steve Senegal followed. Brian closed right up on Bill and after a tussle with Sonny, Thom joined them to make another excellent race for second. Steve passed John and Jim on the pace and set off after Sonny; he caught him on Lap 5 and finally made the pass for 5th on the last lap. Jim and John motored round in order. After this race the ramp was locked down for Bluebird practice and three of our airplanes were trapped at the fueling truck for two hours. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 33 Ed Dutreaux Bill Garrison Brian Reberry Thom Richard Steve Senegal Carl Swenson Jim Jordan John Hall FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

9 Thursday, September 17th, 8:30 a.m. 61 F. Calm We were to run after the Bipes and there were no surprises when the top qualifiers took their expected grid spots. Thom Richard got the jump on Steve Senegal since the heavier Endeavor takes time to get going. Gary Davis was next ahead of rookie Australian Lachie Onslow, with Jethro Bodine, Jay Jones, Smokey Young and another slow starter, Steve Temple, in the back. Lachie was overwhelmed by Jay and Jethro on the pace lap, but closed on Jay with his faster machine. At the front Thom held off Steve lap after lap, flying a precise line, forcing Steve to go the long way round. All the yanking and banking bled the speed off Endeavor and Steve was forced to take second a fraction behind. Gary flew a lonely race in third, slowing slightly at the end when part of his four-branch exhaust cracked, damaging the cowl and burning a plug wire. Jethro too held a solid fourth after his short battle with Jay on the first lap. PRS teaches you how to fly the pylons but does not give you much experience about what to do when there is another plane in the way. Lachie, who was just trying to stay out of trouble in his first race, stayed outside Jay, frustrating Smokey and Steve behind. This turned into an epic four-plane fight not the best place for Lachie to learn how to race airplanes. Smokey finally got by Lachie on lap 4 and took Jay on the last lap for 5th. Steve never did pass Lachie and filed a protest against him for blocking. hearing all sides, was upheld. In view of Lachie s inexperience, the results were not changed but Lachie was to be given last choice of grid position in the next heat. To compound his problems, after the race Lachie was told by RARA that although they had accepted his entry as complete, his insurance paper was on the wrong form and new signatures would be needed not so easy to do across the world and over the date line. He was grounded until this was resolved and missed the Friday Heat, but was able to fly in Sunday s Gold. Let s hope RARA fixes this kind of unacceptable performance in the future. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 1 Thom Richard Steve Senegal Gary Davis Doug Bodine Smokey Young Jay Jones Lachlan Onslow Steve Temple Photo by Bill Rogers Heat 1A Thom Richard Starting Grid Smokey Young closes in on Jay Jones during Heat 1A. This protest was considered by the IF1 Contest Committee and after Photo by Neal Nurmi FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

10 Heat 2C Michael Kenner Photo by Bill Rogers Thursday, September 17th, 9:30 a.m. 65 F. Calm Philip s Knotty Girl is not that fast off the ground and Michael led Coop and Larry before he could get her to Pylon 1. Philip was able to pass Larry on the pace lap and caught up to Coop by lap 3. This time Dan led Elliot off the line and pulled away throughout the race. In front Michael cruised to an easy win and Philip figured how to pass, cleanly taking Coop on lap 5 at pylon 2. He was closing on Michael as Coop and Larry fell back when the checkers flew. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 21 Michael Kenner Philip Goforth Adrian Cooper Larry Mashowski Dan Peters Elliot Seguin Starting Grid Heat 2B Ed Dutreaux Starting Grid 10 Photo by Bill Rogers Friday, September 18th, 8:00 a.m. 60 F. Calm Once again Bill was first off with Dancing Queen with Brian, Ed, Steve, Thom, Sonny, Jim and John trailing. It stayed like this for a while but #13, Photo by Lista Duren FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009 Photo by Birgitta Nurmi #33, #96, and #40 were all closing on the vulnerable Bill. On lap 5, Ed passed high over both Brian and Bill to take the lead. The other four had another good race for second, but no one was able to make a pass. The front five pulled away from Sonny and Jim while John fell steadily behind. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 33 Ed Dutreaux Bill Garrison Brian Reberry Steve Senegal Thom Richard Carl Swenson Jim Jordan John Hall

11 Friday, September 18th, 9:00 a.m. 65 F. Calm Due to his RARA paperwork problems Lachies #12 was not permitted to start. Off the line Thom lead Gary with Steve third. Then came Jethro, Smokey, Jay and Steve. At the first pylon Steve saw he was off line for pylon 2 and turned right, dropping behind Jethro. Steve recovered and retook the position on lap 3; pretty far back now, he came up to #50 by the 5th lap but Gary is rock solid right on the pylons and Steve was unable to improve his third position. Once again Jay had Smokey and Steve on his tail and held them off until lap 5 when both of them moved around, dropping him to the back. The judges had caught Jay cutting 2 on lap 1 so his race time was further degraded in the final result. For the last couple of laps Steve hounded Smokey trying to use the long wings of Madness to his advantage in the corners, but was unable to close the deal. Another good race. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 1 Thom Richard Gary Davis Steve Senegal Doug Bodine Smokey Young Steve Temple Jay Jones * 8 12 Lachlan Onslow DNS** * #45 cut pylon 2 on lap 1 ** #12 DNS, paperwork issues Photo by Bill Rogers Heat 2A Thom Richard Starting Grid Steve Temple attempts to pass Smokey Young in Heat 2A. Previous page, top: Elliot Seguin and Larry Mashowski line up before the Heat 2C start. Photo by Lista Duren Previous page, bottom: Ed Dutreaux rounds a pylon after retaking the lead in lap 5 of Heat 2B. FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

12 Top Wrench Steve Tumlin #87 Madness Tom DeHart, Jack Suierveld, and Jay Jones ran a lively awards evening IF1 Awards Crew Chief of the Year: Ted Lemen, #45 Quadnickel The crew chief is responsible for everything that goes on in that plane, whether it fl ies or not. This award goes to a man who s been fl ying under the wire for a long time -- we ve seen his face for years and years. Ted Lemen leads Jay Jones crew, shown below on the fi retruck in 2008 after winning a Silver Heat. Steve Tumlin travels with his own mechanic s chair, which provides a colorful record of the teams he s crewed for: #69 Miss B Haven, #57 Aggressor, #82 Plane Mantis, #81 Carbon Slipper, #12 Outrageous, and this year, #87 Madness. Congratulations to IF1 alum Dave Morss and wife Karen on the occasion of Dave s 200th race. The trophy reads In recognition of 29 years of racing in 5 classes and competing in 200 races and counting. RARA Sept Photo by Birgitta Nurmi FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009 Photos by Lista Duren except as noted.

13 Rookie of the Year Jim Jordan, #54 Miss Min Top Crew: #54 Miss Min Left: Jim Jordan and Mindy Watkins (Miss Min herself) Above: Crew Ron Izatt Below: CrewDave Massey, Dave Hallmark and Ron Izatt prep Miss Min for qualifying. Steve Mountain describes the trophy he built to honor the crews who go above and beyond. He says This was something special to give because crews try to help the next guy. Crew people are very much core in this sport. Right, Bill Rogers inspects Madness on Sunday before race week. P&M Trophy Steve Temple #87 Madness Photos by Lista Duren It wasn t going to be awarded this year, but Steve Temple s IF1 followers insisted that he had earned it. You ve got to bring it back, though, said Jay Jones as he awarded it. Steve graciously accepted this dubious honor. FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

14 Bronze Race Saturday, September 19th, 8:30 a.m. 60 F. Calm John Hall Starting Grid Photo by Bill Rogers Race final pairings are made from fastest race times and grid position selection order is based on the points system in our rules designed to penalize sandbagging. The racers decided not to employ alternates. Drama started early when Miss Min started but shut down with a nonfunctional mag immediately before the flag dropped. Jim was pulled to the side from pole and Larry led the field at the off with John, Coop, Dan and Elliot behind. John was immediately on Larry s tail and they had a good race for the lead until he passed for good on lap 4. Coop held third but began to slow with Dan closing and Elliot dropping back. Coop was smoking a little and then on the 7th lap he pulled up suddenly from the back of the course and headed for 14; the engine stopped and he dropped rapidly landing hard about 50 yards short of the approach end of the runway. Coop hurt his back and suffered some internal bruising but is expected to recover fully. miss t witchy was not so lucky, suffering substantial airframe damage, while the engine broke the #2 connecting rod, punching a hole in the top of the engine apparently the piston stopped moving due to overheating. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 98 John Hall Larry Mashowski Dan Peters Elliot Seguin Adrian Cooper DNF* 6 54 Jim Jordan DNS** * #9 DNF lap 7 -- Engine failure ** #54 DNS -- Mag failure Silver Race Saturday, September 19th, 8:00 a.m. 60 F. Calm Thom Richard Starting Grid Photo by Bill Rogers Once again Bill took the lead, this time from Steve, Ed, Brian and Thom, with Sonny high as usual, Michael underneath and Philip at the back. By the start of the race Thom was by Brian and leaning on Ed, and Michael s #21 was past Sonny. The big mover was Thom who got by Ed on Lap 1, next lap he passed Steve who in the confusion also fell behind Ed. At the back Sonny had made it back past Blackjack to hold 6th with Philip still last. On lap 3 Thom passed Bill into the lead, never to be headed, while on lap 4 Steve passed both Ed and Bill for second. Dancing Queen began to slow and Brian was able to get by into fourth. I will be surprised if you can follow this without making a lap chart great racing with all the passing and Thom was a very happy winner when I took him and main rival Steve down to the start for the Gold. Post race, Michael was found to have cut pylon 5 on lap 6 and dropped to last. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 40 Thom Richard Steve Senegal Ed Dutreaux Brian Reberry Bill Garrison Carl Swenson Philip Goforth Michael Kenner * * #21 cut Pylon #5, lap 6 14 FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

15 Sunday, September 20th, 9:03 a.m. 55 F. Calm It was immediately obvious that something was wrong with Steve s Endeavor. He came off the ground in third behind Gary with Thom leading and Smokey passed him on the pace lap; by the end of lap 2 he was at the back and making nasty popping sounds. Another lap and he pulled up none too soon, landing safely with the race traffic. It took a while and the yellow caution flag was shown for a Mayday in progress. On takeoff Smokey was 4th with Jethro, Jay, Steve and Lachie finally making another start. Thom, laying down consistent 240 mph laps in Tim Neubert s Invictus, cruised to an easy victory, his second of the day, ahead of Gary. Behind Gary, Jethro was closing on Smokey, while at the race start Steve was working on Jay and passed him on Lap 1. He then closed and by lap 4 was in a 3 plane battle for 3rd with #3 and #92. This continued for the rest of the race until at the last corner of the last lap Smokey and Jethro went very wide, almost to the deadline, and a surprised Steve slashed In all an outstanding Reno, great racing, perfect weather: almost too calm as wake turbulence was a real issue as it hung in the air. We never had significant wind from the W or NW so used runway 8 for operations. The alternate plan for a 32 launch onto the back of the course will have to wait another year. Post-race tech inspection looked at push rods and rockers from the race winners and Steve Senegal s Miss Demeanor the lucky wild card winner. No discrepancies were found. Photo by Ken Linde through to take third by a second. In back Lachie closed on Jay but could not get by. There was some discussion about passing under yellow flag conditions but, unlike NASCAR, in air racing the flag is cautionary only. Pl Race Pilot Speed 1 1 Thom Richard Gary Davis Steve Temple Smokey Young Doug Bodine Jay Jones Lachlan Onslow Steve Senegal DNF* * #11 DNF lap 4 - Rough engine IF1 alumni were everywhere. Jason Somes helped Kirk Murphy with pilot quals. Ray Sherwood was around all week; George Budde came for the meeting. We saw Ralph and Kathy Wise, Ib Hansen, Robbie Grove, Scotty Crandlemire, David Hoover (working hard on his UL Yak). Ed and Lynn Bowes were there and it was interesting to see Miss Lynn introduced to Miss Min (Mindy Watkins). The Bipes had a short field and fully 1/3 were IF1 alumni. Our alumni also did well in other classes. Gold Race Thom Richard Starting Grid FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER Photo by Bill Rogers #3 Sly Dog pulls around #11 Endeavor on the pace lap. Wrap-up

16 Pilot s Notes Kirk Murphy Photo by Lista Duren I would love to see a dozen people at rookie school next year like we had in We are the sport and its future depends on all of us. Heat 2A pilots meet to select starting positions. Another year of Formula One Racing is now in the history books. By now I imagine everyone has made it home and maybe a few people have even unpacked their trailers. I was very pleased with the turnout this year considering my fears this summer. We were so close to a full field AGAIN. I d like to thank everyone who showed up and participated. For the most part this was a fairly uneventful September. There was a lot of great racing, some of the best I ve ever seen. There were countless laps where four airplanes were battling in one gaggle. It was exciting from the ground and I m sure much more exciting in the air. These situations are bound to happen and they are part of racing. Formation skill, discipline, predictability and ability or lack thereof is magnified in these close racing environments. To keep this sport safe and enjoyable for everyone we need to be sure that we all possess excellent formation flying skills. This is not something anyone is born with or retains forever. Formation flying must become second nature and must be practiced all year long. I encourage everyone to spend more time during this off-season working with friends and fellow racers so we can all become better at this. Most everyone is aware of the loss of engine power/smoke in the cockpit/ mayday/engine failure/forced landing that Race 9 experienced in the Formula One Bronze race. Thankfully the pilot is going to be OK! There is a lot we can all learn from this situation. First off, IT DOES HAP- PEN. For all of us who race, it is not if, but WHEN the engine is going to blow, the prop is going to fail, the canopy is going to depart etc. etc.; the possibilities are endless. This has been said again and again you must have a plan. Adrian was forced to deal with multiple problems, first reduction in power, followed by smoke in the cockpit, followed by loss of power, followed by no runway to land on. Everyone needs to look at this incident, and think: How will I handle the emergency WHEN it happens to me. Looking to the future, we need to start now recruiting more people into this wonderful sport. Formula One has continued to hang on and we need to move forward and encourage more people to participate. Talk to people at air shows, call your friends with Cassutts and let s get more people involved. I would love to see a dozen people at rookie school next year like we had in We are the sport and its future depends on all of us. Lastly I would like to thank all of the volunteers, from those who work in the gift shop, to the hard-working devoted Tech and Ops crews. Without them we would just be a bunch of dumb pilots with nowhere to race! Kirk Murphy Photo by Bill Rogers 16 FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

17 Thank you for another great time in Reno. I would like to thank the folks on the Operations Crew: Jeff Gunn and Scott Garland. All the great guys on the Tech team that did double duty by assisting Operations: Tom, Bob, Dave, Rick, Ron, Mark, thank you! As usual, you guys make me look good. The two previous years at Reno have forced us to make some changes, but we can make it for the positive growth of IF1. We have a lot of progress to make as an organization; we need to keep up good communication and move forward. The Board is here for We had a good year at Reno. My plane didn t cooperate so I didn t get to bring it up to the races. My disappointment soon dissolved as I saw everyone and racing started. We convened our Annual General Member meeting this year on September 16 at Reno. We held the annual election as put forth in the IF1 bylaws. After a call for final nominations from the floor, we had the call for ballots and the invitation for an IF1 member to observe the ballot counting process. John Hall and Steve Senegal volunteered to observe the ballot count. V.P. Gary Davis and I counted and tabulated the ballots. These terms will be effective November 15, Thanks to everyone who participated. These ballots will be retained for six months as required in the Bylaws. I am pleased to announce the results of the 2009 election. the Membership, so please, if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, seek out a Board Member they are your voice. We had nearly a full field with 22 planes this year; next year let s shoot for 30 and hopefully for more races during the year. I would personally like the thank the new Mrs. DeHart for the great job of organizing, at the very last minute, food for the IF1 Banquet, while simultaneously planning her own wedding. GOOD JOB! Fly Safe, Bob Bement Welcome aboard to the newly elected officers, and thanks to all who are continuing to serve. Our current membership status is as follows: 69 full members, 27 associate members and 30 complementary members. We had some new members sign up at Reno. Vice President Doug Bodine Secretary/Treasurer Mark Johnson Pilot Committee Kirk Murphy, Chair Promotions Chair Jay Jones Operations Director Bob Bement Mark Johnson Operations Brief Bob Bement Photo bylista Duren Secretary/Treasurer Input ELECTION RESULTS Mark Johnson Photo by Lista Duren Technical Director Tom DeHart Tech Rules Committee Jack Suierveld, Chair Dave Roelofs Thom Richard Procedure Rules Committee Ed Dutreaux, Chair Brian Reberry Bill Rogers FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

18 Letter Ray Sherwood Photo by Lista Duren It is my opinion that the 2009 IF1 Races were the best ever. The competition was close and there was no predicted winner which exhibits competition and that s good for our class. I was, however, disappointed by one IF1 competitor s decision to attempt to race with a cracked propeller. Since I have first hand experience with this problem, I thought it prudent to explain the disasters of losing a prop blade. Unfortunately I was not capable of convincing the individual of the seriousness of his problem and he elected to leave the prop on the airplane and continue to race. Safety is paramount to me, but if the individual elects to put his safety at risk, that s his problem, but if that blade separated and hit one of the ground guys or came loose in the air and caused another racer a problem, I d have a hard time sleeping at night. I enjoy a good night s sleep, so I elected to inform Tom DeHart of what I perceived to be a serious problem. Tom and several of the Tech guys looked the prop over and informed the individual that in the interest of safety, he could not fly that prop. My concern is that we have people in our organization who fail to display good judgment. In the old days, Ward Garland might just have said, pack it up and go home. We do not need poor judgment in our organization this sport is hazardous enough. Ray Sherwood Tech Tips Tom DeHart Photo by Lista Duren Everybody passed pre- and post-race inspections with no problems. Thanks to all teams for being prepared since we have fewer people on Tech now, and a special thanks to those who helped with Tech. Next issue, we expect to have information from the FAA on the accident. Rick Turnbull checks cylinder capacity on #3 Sly Dog 18 Photo by Lista Duren FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

19 IF1 Family News Photos by Lista Duren Jay Jones daughter, Allison, won two silver medals in the UCI Paralympic Cycling Road World Championship at Bogono, Italy in early September. Then she hurried to Reno to watch her dad race, too. Thanks for supporting our wedding. We were amazed to have so many people at the wedding: parents, brother, sisters, friends better than we could have imagined. Lord bless us. Tom and Tammy tied the knot on Wednesday evening. Photo by Will Newman IF1 Birthdays at Reno: Jack Pomerlau (left) blows out candles at the IF1 banquet. Maggie Richard (below) celebrates in Team Tiara stye at the Breitling tent with friend Lydia Gilmore. Carol and Bill Rogers (above) looked trim and happy at the IF1 banquet. Photos by Lista Duren Adrian Cooper (left) ate hospital food instead of banquet food, but was able to travel home soon after the rest of us left Reno. At least he got a backrub from Birgitta and enjoyed a full week of racing before his accident. He writes, I am hoping to be strong enough to use tools and spend most of the day at the hangar by January. Meanwhile, I do go to the airport for lunch with my buddies occasionally and also to supervise some work on my new hangar. FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

20 Gary Austin Photo by Lista Duren The following profi le is based on an interview with Birgitta Nurmi at PRS Gary Austin poses with Maybee s Baby at PRS It is with great sadness that I must inform the membership of the death of our friend and fellow racer Gary Austin. Gary died at his home on October 26, What I will remember most about Gary is the grit and enthusiasm he showed as a rookie race pilot flying his Cassutt Maybee s Baby all the way to Reno and then racing round the course like a veteran. He was an outstanding pilot, a gifted mechanic, and a great friend to Formula One. As IF1 s Technical Rules Committee Chairman Gary had a great impact on our sport. He will be missed. As you read this, please take a moment to remember our friend. Smokey Young Gary described being around airplanes all his life because his father was an A & P mechanic. Not surprisingly, airplanes became his life, and like so many in Formula One, he began a life-long love affair with aviation at a young age. Gary vividly remembered his first time at the Reno races in His grandfather lived in Reno and Gary s father planned family visits in September. Father and son soon found that the air races were a great way to spend time together. They became an annual event until 1985 when his grandfather died and the visits to Reno ceased. However Gary found that he really could not stay away. In 1994 and 1995 he was back as the crew chief for Fred Johnson s T-6. At that time he had already been working as an A & P mechanic for approximately six years. Gary deeply loved aviation. It was in his bones. But his true passion was reserved for the warbirds. In fact for most of his 22 years as an A & P mechanic, he worked on warbirds. He regarded Nelson Ezell as his mentor and was proud to have worked for Ezell Aviation for five years. In addition, he crewed for Stewart Dawson and Howard Pardue between 1997 and With much hope and enthusiasm, Gary started his own business restoring and maintaining warbirds. However he soon realized that the business end of restoration was not as appealing as the work itself. As luck would have it, in 2004, the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) called and asked him to work for them. It took him no more than a few minutes to shift gears and make a decision. He happily closed up shop. Ten days later he was on the road as the new crew chief for the B24 and B 29 Squadron. He was thrilled and in his element. 20 Photo by Naomi West FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009 But Gary could not forget the Reno air races that he had loved so much.

21 When I was a kid coming to the races, all of my heroes were the guys in the fire truck. He realized that he still fervently longed to participate. He remembered when he was with Stewart Dawson and Dawson won a heat race, Gary was invited along on the fire truck for the ride. Right on the spot he decided that his real goal was to become a flying participant and ride the fire truck. That goal was not unrealistic. Gary had a good friend by the name of Dusty Dowd, no stranger to the world of Formula One, who also just happened to have an old Cassutt sitting around. With mounting excitement in his voice, Gary talked about that old Cassutt s most remarkable history. He added: Today (June 14, 2007) was the first time that Maybee s Baby went around the pylons in thirty nine years. With a grin on his face, Gary outlined how Dusty was not at all impressed with the fact that he was planning on trailering the airplane from Texas to Nevada. Dusty firmly insisted that Gary fly the Cassutt to Reno. He explained to this young would-be race pilot that Steve Whitman, Bill Falck and Dusty himself, all used to fly their planes from air race to air race so Gary had better share the experience. Gary continued I wanted to honor his wishes but I knew I wasn t going to like it. And yeah, it was a miserable, painful experience. It was uncomfortable. But I resolved that I was going to do it and I did. Many of us remember Gary s pained arrival after he had flown from Midland, Texas to Reno in 9½ hours making six stops along the way. This vignette illustrates the person Gary was, and how we, the Formula One community, came to know him. He was not only an extremely capable airplane mechanic and a superb pilot, but perhaps even more importantly we knew him as a person with integrity and professional attitude. His enthusiasm was infectious. He was thrilled to find himself a member of that select group he had so long admired air race pilots. He knew at this time in his life that he was as good a pilot as any member of this celebrated and illustrious group. We will remember his familiar figure around the hangar. We will remember and miss his enthusiasm, his remarkable body of knowledge and his unfailing willingness to lend a hand where ever and when ever needed. Birgitta Nurmi Remembrances Gary Austin rounds a pylon in Maybee s Baby during PRS 2007 before the plane received race number 64. We knew [Gary] as a peron with integrity and professional attitude. His enthusiasm was infectious. The CAF held a memorial service for Gary on November 6, A recording in 8 parts is posted at org/?page=cms/announcements&featuresid=282 Also, see the article Gary wrote about his Shoestring project called Another Solution in the Formula Forum, March Photo by Naomi West FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

22 IF1 Marketplace AIRCRAFT FOR SALE CASSUTT WANTED Looking for an entry level, basic Formula One airplane to race at Reno. Must comply with IF1 technical rules. Contact Ira Saligman: (610) (Philadelphia) Ads are free as a service to members Prior to purchase of any aircraft, please contact the Technical Director for any IF1 rules or compliance items that may apply. Modified Cassutt IIIM Turnkey operation with spare parts. Too many to list here. Rebuilt race motor 3 years ago. Custom 4:1 tuned exhaust. New canopy, cowling, firewall, oil tank, and gear in 06. Plane was taken from last in IF1 at 187 mph to 222 mph in 4 years of racing. Placed 4th in Silver in 08! Custom trailer sold together or separately. $32,000 with trailer; $28,000 without. Located in Boise. for more pictures. Contact: Brian Reberry (208) brian@reberryairracing.com Miss Demeanor, N96SR, Race 96 Race ready FLYING Formula one: Battery, Alternator, Starter, GPS, GRT EIS, MicroAir Radio and encoding transponder, NEW CYLINDERS AND PISTONS IN 2005, ENGINE OVERHAUL by LyCon in 2006 W/ NEW CASE, CRANKSHAFT, VALVES, ETC. Twisted Composites race prop. Sturba cruise prop. Uninstalled tapered horizontal stabilizer and elevators, produced by Craig Catto, designed to fly with Miss Demeanor s tapered wing. Sport fly during the year, race at Reno in September. Win the Silver, fly in the Gold! All for $35,500 Contact: Steve Senegal (650) ssenegal@sanbrunocable.com Cassutt Racer Aircraft Kit/Project Plans. One piece wood spar. Welded fuselage frame (factory welded). Rudder complete Horizontal Stab to be completed. All wing ribs complete. Aircraft plywood for wing covering. Fiberglass canopy frame. Steel landing gear with Goodyear brakes, tires & tubes. Sufficient aircraft tubing, wood and plywood to complete the project. $3900 Contact: Laslo Zamolyi, Jr. Home: Cell: zamalama@aol.com EAA Chap. 70, EAA Technical Counselor 22 FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER 2009

23 Ads are free as a service to members PROJECT PARTS & PRODUCTS CASSUTT PROJECT Stock wing, aluminum gear, cleveland brakes. Contact: George Budde (405) patbudde@earthlink.net Carbon Race Prop 54x65 Twisted Composite carbon race prop with balancing kit. Used only 12 times and in excellent shape. $ Contact: Adrian Coop Cooper cooperairracing@gmail.com NAC Aircraft Display Mat (20ftx20ft) Plastic vinyl windscreen material with steel grommet boarder. Available colors: yellow, red, orange, green, blue, white, and black. Storage Bag Included Price: $ plus ground shipping Contact Tim Neubert TNeubert@airportnac.com CASSUTT PARTS National Aeronautics has Cassutt parts including Aluminum and Steel landing gear legs. cassutt.lornet.com Contact: Ib or Sue Hansen (303) cassutts@aol.com Graphite Race Props Run One or Follow One Twisted Composites, LLC Contact: Steve Hill (505) or (505) carbonprop@mac.com IF1 Marketplace Cassutt Projects and Inventory Cassutt 111M, 90% complete. Needs cowl and wing finished. Includes REBUILT engine. Cassutt 111M fully welded with tail assembly. Cassutt 111M wing needs skin. Cassutt 111M wing complete. Misc inventory: engine parts (3 O-200 engines), airframe parts and instruments, one sport prop. $15K for all. Contact: Gary and Linda Elliott for pics and inventory list: lfelliott@att.com NEW COMPOSITE PARTS Light Weight 9 Spinners, $90 Wheel Pants, $350. CASSUTT PARTS: Assorted Tail Feathers, call for Quote. LED Flashlights:Super Bright, Compact Size. Up to 155 hrs of run time on 2 AA Batteries, $32. 10% Discount to IF1 members Contact: Ray Sherwood (530) rayyjayy@aol.com AIR RACING BOOKS by Robert Hirsch Aircraft of Air Racing s Golden Age , 2 Volumes, 1071 pages, 158 scale drawings: $75 + $10 S&H Wedell-Williams Air Service $20 + $3 S&H Schneider Trophy Racers Goodyear and Formula One Racing (thru 1995): $45 + $5 S&H for both or $25 + $3 S&H for one Free S&H to IF1 Members Make Checks to Maria Hirsch 8439 Dale St., Buena Park, CA Contact: Maria Hirsch (714) If you have aircraft or other items for sale, or updates to your listing, please Doug Bodine: jethro@rushmore.com FORMULA FORUM, NOVEMBER

24 Thom Richard pulls ahead of Carl Swenson duing Heat 1B at Reno, September, 2009 FORMULA FORUM 3233 Via Alicante #48 La Jolla, CA PACK UP AND HEAD FOR RENO! Photo by Neal Nurmi