PRS Tuesday

[johnnyrace]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Bob, Tiger and LD felt that I let them down from my pylon cut of Friday that essentially took me out of the running on Saturday gold heat race that would have given me the poll on Sunday. Neither one of them were pleased with the outcome. When the engine started to lay down on lap five I knew we were not going to chase Voodoo down. We got close but no banana. I was lucky to get by Checkmate and Rarebear with the sick engine I had.. The engine was just not making the necessary power to run Voodoo down.When I landed and no one came out to greet me I knew my days of racing Strega were over. Tiger of course had a hundred reasons why I lost the race. . The plane should have easily run Voodoo down, but had no chance in 8 laps with a broken rocker arm. We suffered a broken arm every time I pushed the power up, so it was no surprise when it did the same thing in Sundays final. The rocker arms are apparently only good for 2 years of racing. These had 5 years on them. Po We were doomed from the start with poor planning and worse execution by the pilot. Throw in my outside position on Sundays start there was just no way I was going to catch Steve, even though we clearly had the faster airplane. Just imagine how Strega would have run with a healthy motor. As it was it still finished second. I decided walking back to the pits I was done with the drama of big time air racing. Between the expenses being so high and the constant drama with individuals and organizations I elected to make my retirement official that evening while at dinner with my family. Even if I had the necessary funds today I would not throw it at racing again.. I have raced now for 25 years and it's pretty apparent I am not destined to win this race. I am ever so thankful that I had the opportunity to race so many of these historic aircraft. A win however was just not in the cards. So now we get to see if Tiger after 6 years retired still has his Mojo. He seems to think so and time will certainly tell. I think the new course and age will make his return to racing a very difficult one at best. Not to mention the fact he does not have a spare race motor. Mike posted the other day that he is done building race engines, so I am not sure what Tiger's options might be. Steve and team Voodoo are clearly going to set the pace. Tiger better eat his Wheatees for this one.

As always very candid and very informative...Thanks Matt for all those years of commitment and exciting racing...Hope you decide to race at least one more time!

[GeeBeeZ1931]

Re: PRS Tuesday

so while we're waiting..........

what's a pylong?

I think that's like an Indonesian python.

[GeeBeeZ1931]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Do you mean could Tiger with a stock motor in Strega beat Steven Hinton with a race motor in Voodoo?

The answer is no, a stock motor Strega could not beat a race motor in Voodoo.

But........nothing else out there flying now, other than a race motored Voodoo could beat Strega a stocker.

Voodoo breaks and Tiger doesn't, Tiger wins another one.

Not necessarily. Consider what's gonna happen to a STOCK motor with Tiger pushing it to stay ahead of (or even up with) the other modifieds? And besides Steven won't likely push Voodoo any harder than he has to to stay a little ahead. Say 1/2 to 3/4 of a lap. Don't forget that these two aren't the only Fast Gold planes out there.

[GeeBeeZ1931]

Re: PRS Tuesday

That's true, because nobody else would possibly want to fly Strega in the races.....

I wouldn't bet on it!

[GeeBeeZ1931]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Bob, one of the heartbreakers of the story, Jimmy so wanted to win RENO.. he tried a lot of ways to get funding to get the racer going... talked to me about fan sponsoring, like we'd helped do with Rare Bear.. I wish I'd have been more encouraging! In the end, he sold Cloud Dancer to get the dollars to finish the racer. It had to have broken his heart to give up that plane!

That is how badly he wanted to Win RENO

I really miss Jimmy's spirit..

As far as a lot of us are concerned he was well on his way to that victory when he ran his last race and KNEW just how fast he was going when he went to sleep for the last time.

[GeeBeeZ1931]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Bob, Tiger and LD felt that I let them down from my pylon cut of Friday that essentially took me out of the running on Saturday gold heat race that would have given me the poll on Sunday. Neither one of them were pleased with the outcome. When the engine started to lay down on lap five I knew we were not going to chase Voodoo down. We got close but no banana. I was lucky to get by Checkmate and Rarebear with the sick engine I had.. The engine was just not making the necessary power to run Voodoo down.When I landed and no one came out to greet me I knew my days of racing Strega were over. Tiger of course had a hundred reasons why I lost the race. . The plane should have easily run Voodoo down, but had no chance in 8 laps with a broken rocker arm. We suffered a broken arm every time I pushed the power up, so it was no surprise when it did the same thing in Sundays final. The rocker arms are apparently only good for 2 years of racing. These had 5 years on them. Po We were doomed from the start with poor planning and worse execution by the pilot. Throw in my outside position on Sundays start there was just no way I was going to catch Steve, even though we clearly had the faster airplane. Just imagine how Strega would have run with a healthy motor. As it was it still finished second. I decided walking back to the pits I was done with the drama of big time air racing. Between the expenses being so high and the constant drama with individuals and organizations I elected to make my retirement official that evening while at dinner with my family. Even if I had the necessary funds today I would not throw it at racing again.. I have raced now for 25 years and it's pretty apparent I am not destined to win this race. I am ever so thankful that I had the opportunity to race so many of these historic aircraft. A win however was just not in the cards. So now we get to see if Tiger after 6 years retired still has his Mojo. He seems to think so and time will certainly tell. I think the new course and age will make his return to racing a very difficult one at best. Not to mention the fact he does not have a spare race motor. Mike posted the other day that he is done building race engines, so I am not sure what Tiger's options might be. Steve and team Voodoo are clearly going to set the pace. Tiger better eat his Wheatees for this one.

For one I'm sorry to hear that Matt! You're obviously a great pilot and it'll be sad if you don't race again. Great planes NEED great pilots and not every good pilot is GOOD enough for the very fastest and hardest to fly unlimiteds. Frankly all hormones aside I worry for Tiger if he puts up in a race motored Strega! When Jimmy crashed something in me changed. I NEVER wanted to see anyone come down that way and never want to again. EVER! EVER!

[LoveOldPlanes]

Re: PRS Tuesday

I wouldn't bet on it!

Pretty much exactly my point.....;>

[Big_Jim]

Re: PRS Tuesday

As far as a lot of us are concerned he was well on his way to that victory when he ran his last race and KNEW just how fast he was going when he went to sleep for the last time.

Why does this keep coming up even years after the accident? Telemetry data doesn't lie.

Everyone liked Jimmy. Everyone wants the lasting 'legacy' of the Ghost to be a happy one. And somehow it's easier if we perpetuate this fantasy that everything was okay, that he was gaining on everybody, that he was making his move.

If you truly 'knew' how fast he was going, then you'd know that your sentiment and belief is not true. He wasn't catching them. He wasn't gaining on them. It looked like he was because of the relative speed of him passing the Bear--but the Bear was slowing down. It's all in the numbers.

Miss Jimmy, but don't inflate the legacy falsely.

[Desertdawg]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Bob, Tiger and LD felt that I let them down from my pylon cut of Friday that essentially took me out of the running on Saturday gold heat race that would have given me the poll on Sunday. Neither one of them were pleased with the outcome. When the engine started to lay down on lap five I knew we were not going to chase Voodoo down. We got close but no banana. I was lucky to get by Checkmate and Rarebear with the sick engine I had.. The engine was just not making the necessary power to run Voodoo down.When I landed and no one came out to greet me I knew my days of racing Strega were over. Tiger of course had a hundred reasons why I lost the race. . The plane should have easily run Voodoo down, but had no chance in 8 laps with a broken rocker arm. We suffered a broken arm every time I pushed the power up, so it was no surprise when it did the same thing in Sundays final. The rocker arms are apparently only good for 2 years of racing. These had 5 years on them. Po We were doomed from the start with poor planning and worse execution by the pilot. Throw in my outside position on Sundays start there was just no way I was going to catch Steve, even though we clearly had the faster airplane. Just imagine how Strega would have run with a healthy motor. As it was it still finished second. I decided walking back to the pits I was done with the drama of big time air racing. Between the expenses being so high and the constant drama with individuals and organizations I elected to make my retirement official that evening while at dinner with my family. Even if I had the necessary funds today I would not throw it at racing again.. I have raced now for 25 years and it's pretty apparent I am not destined to win this race. I am ever so thankful that I had the opportunity to race so many of these historic aircraft. A win however was just not in the cards. So now we get to see if Tiger after 6 years retired still has his Mojo. He seems to think so and time will certainly tell. I think the new course and age will make his return to racing a very difficult one at best. Not to mention the fact he does not have a spare race motor. Mike posted the other day that he is done building race engines, so I am not sure what Tiger's options might be. Steve and team Voodoo are clearly going to set the pace. Tiger better eat his Wheatees for this one.

Matt,

The words of a gentlemen.

Thanks again for the 25 years of racing excellence.

[flyingjibus]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Bob, Tiger and LD felt that I let them down from my pylon cut of Friday that essentially took me out of the running on Saturday gold heat race that would have given me the poll on Sunday. Neither one of them were pleased with the outcome. When the engine started to lay down on lap five I knew we were not going to chase Voodoo down. We got close but no banana. I was lucky to get by Checkmate and Rarebear with the sick engine I had.. The engine was just not making the necessary power to run Voodoo down.When I landed and no one came out to greet me I knew my days of racing Strega were over. Tiger of course had a hundred reasons why I lost the race. . The plane should have easily run Voodoo down, but had no chance in 8 laps with a broken rocker arm. We suffered a broken arm every time I pushed the power up, so it was no surprise when it did the same thing in Sundays final. The rocker arms are apparently only good for 2 years of racing. These had 5 years on them. Po We were doomed from the start with poor planning and worse execution by the pilot. Throw in my outside position on Sundays start there was just no way I was going to catch Steve, even though we clearly had the faster airplane. Just imagine how Strega would have run with a healthy motor. As it was it still finished second. I decided walking back to the pits I was done with the drama of big time air racing. Between the expenses being so high and the constant drama with individuals and organizations I elected to make my retirement official that evening while at dinner with my family. Even if I had the necessary funds today I would not throw it at racing again.. I have raced now for 25 years and it's pretty apparent I am not destined to win this race. I am ever so thankful that I had the opportunity to race so many of these historic aircraft. A win however was just not in the cards. So now we get to see if Tiger after 6 years retired still has his Mojo. He seems to think so and time will certainly tell. I think the new course and age will make his return to racing a very difficult one at best. Not to mention the fact he does not have a spare race motor. Mike posted the other day that he is done building race engines, so I am not sure what Tiger's options might be. Steve and team Voodoo are clearly going to set the pace. Tiger better eat his Wheatees for this one.

Wouldn't the canopy departing the plane have a part in everything that happened that week as well? Dont think they can pin that one on you. I enjoyed watching you through the years, thank you for hanging it out there for us.

[GRNDP51]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Wouldn't the canopy departing the plane have a part in everything that happened that week as well? Dont think they can pin that one on you. I enjoyed watching you through the years, thank you for hanging it out there for us.

That's what I was thinking exactly. Forget the Merlin's Matt find out where Furias is (you probably know) and get to racing her again!!! Help put the rounds back on the podium!!

[T. Adams]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Furias is in Wisconsin. Common knowledge, and it will be a LONG time before it is ever seen again.

[supercub]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Why will it be a long time? Are they working on Furias or is it just sitting is pieces?

[CJAM427]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Why will it be a long time? Are they working on Furias or is it just sitting is pieces?

Well the owner pretty much never flies Miss Merced, so if and when Furias is back in flying condition I doubt it will fly much.

[Race5]

Re: PRS Tuesday

Why will it be a long time? Are they working on Furias or is it just sitting is pieces?

Well for one the airplane is badly damaged. Worse than the new owner first thought. He does not have a full time crew working on it either.