Re: Unlimited News!
RARA's COO has been making a serious effort to fix previous wrongs. I first met him at the NAG banquet back in March, and then again at Chino two weeks ago. The fact that Miss A will be back says a lot for that. Had someone suggested that Miss A would be back prior to the NAG banquet, I would have laughed. Still, when I was sitting next to Pete Law, and heard him say that he had done a new cooling system for Miss A, I was shocked. Later on, Tony (RARA COO) introduced himself and made the announcement that they would be back. I was totally shocked. When I ran into him again at Chino, he shocked me again with the news that Mike Brown would be back with Goldfinger.
Part of the issue with Strega and Voodoo is that the owners want big $$$$ to show up. From the sound of it, it seemed like they each wanted the same amount as the whole Unlimited purse.
As for getting Czech Mate back, it seems like there really isn't anyone too excited to fly it. Sherm Smoot said he was done racing it at the NAG dinner two years ago, and Jay didn't seem all that thrilled to try racing it again. At this point it might be less a case of the owner feeling snubbed by RARA, and more a case of there being no one to fly it. (Pure speculation there)
The cool thing I see is the interest museums are showing in bringing their birds out to race. I spoke with Mike Pfleger at Chino about racing the Wildcat again and he was all for it, but wasn't sure if the museum would give him the go ahead. We almost had a Zero racing, but apparently it will only be a static display. I think the Griffon powered Spitfire is a go still. There is also a P63 Kingcobra slated to race this year.
Are there any 500+ mph birds racing? Nope, not that I know of. Do we have the possibility of some awesome racing at 460ish? You bet! Personally I'd love to see Miss A win this year since it is perhaps the oldest racer still wearing essentially the same paint scheme as it did in the early '60s (Miss Merced would be the next oldest followed by Cloud Dancer I think.) It would be fantastic to see such an iconic racer take the gold more than 50 years after it made its first appearance at Reno.
Will
Originally posted by CubersWrist
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Part of the issue with Strega and Voodoo is that the owners want big $$$$ to show up. From the sound of it, it seemed like they each wanted the same amount as the whole Unlimited purse.
As for getting Czech Mate back, it seems like there really isn't anyone too excited to fly it. Sherm Smoot said he was done racing it at the NAG dinner two years ago, and Jay didn't seem all that thrilled to try racing it again. At this point it might be less a case of the owner feeling snubbed by RARA, and more a case of there being no one to fly it. (Pure speculation there)
The cool thing I see is the interest museums are showing in bringing their birds out to race. I spoke with Mike Pfleger at Chino about racing the Wildcat again and he was all for it, but wasn't sure if the museum would give him the go ahead. We almost had a Zero racing, but apparently it will only be a static display. I think the Griffon powered Spitfire is a go still. There is also a P63 Kingcobra slated to race this year.
Are there any 500+ mph birds racing? Nope, not that I know of. Do we have the possibility of some awesome racing at 460ish? You bet! Personally I'd love to see Miss A win this year since it is perhaps the oldest racer still wearing essentially the same paint scheme as it did in the early '60s (Miss Merced would be the next oldest followed by Cloud Dancer I think.) It would be fantastic to see such an iconic racer take the gold more than 50 years after it made its first appearance at Reno.
Will
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