i dream of jeannie

[nitroyank]

2003: ok all this talk about qualifying at 450.

reno 1980 or 81.... i was a long haired beer trodden, sunburned, piston poppin, prop pitchin' hillbilly, with a dab o' avgas behind each ear, and admittedly, had been severely exposed to many a bikini and a budweiser, but i seem to hazily recall Jeannie cranking out a qual time at or near 450.. was it the all the sun or is this memory just another "good things seem to get better with time" trip?
sayitwasreallyso.

[Unregistered]

A quick check or www.airrace.org shows Skip establishing a new qualifying record in Jeannie in 1981 at 450.085 mph. Curiously, he won the Gold also piloting Race #69, but then called Georgia Mae at 431.288. Anybody know what gives with the name change? A mistake in the records, or was there a "transaction" at the races? Peas.

[nitroyank]

ah ha.

i thought i remembered that.
you can imagine how cool that was back then, especially when over 20 years later we're eagerly looking forward to similar qualifying times.

I learned about Jeannie from my dad, who had been attending reno since #1 in 64? - he witnessed Mira Slovak thrash the pylons in the big bad radial! i'll bet he can still hear it too. Race 69 was bare metal with a touch of red trim and yes, it seems there was a sale pending (georgia mae), and the sanders team was involved. call me crazy, but it also seems skip holm was hired to fly her at the last minute.
Funny thing, for a 20 year old kid alot of this really sunk in!
Back then, the soon to become legends "destefani mods"..strega, dago and stilletto were coming together..as well as mr. hintons (?) R4360 super corsair "miss bud light" ? It also seems 80 or 81 that the hispano bf109 ground looped at stage center..and Lefty shortened some ranchers fencepost by a few feet with his left wingtip too..
ahh memories. THANKS GUYS.

[Unregistered]

I'm not clear why Jeanie turning a 450 lap back in 81 has any thing to do with this year and the possibility of dago turning a 500 lap?

[The Phantom Samurai]

Jeannie and Georgia Mae...

Yep, that's a goof in the records, plain and simple. Although Jeannie and Georgia Mae shared the same race number (Race 69) and at the time were owned by the same person (Wiley Sanders), they are two different aircraft. Jeannie went on to become Jimmy Leeward's Spectre, and lastly, the Leeward Air Ranch Special (LARS). The former Georgia Mae is now a stock aircraft known as Barbara Jean and currently living in Minnesota, I believe.

TPS

[Unregistered]

in todays air racing a 450 top speed is only middle of the gold speed. Todays superstangs such as dago, strega, and voodoo can turn 450 laps with a stock engine. My bet for this year is if everyone stays healthy(which is almost never) there will be at least 4 planes above 470 on sunday. if that does happen, a 450 speed would put you in the middle of pack probably somewhere behind dreadnaught. I will also predict that dago will qualify above 505. That plane was slick as snot before, but now those wings are emaculate as well as the fuse.

[Reever]

"Galloping Ghost, Miss Candace, Jeannie, Spectre, LARS or just 69", it would be great to see that a/c back at Reno. The way it looks, that will never happen.

But, I should never say never!