Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

[BellCobraIV]

They were done in both ways, using stock bits off the shelf but modified as well as entirely custom made pieces. Both worked equally as well, one style was a bit better than the other.. And, Bell Cobra IV, YOU are right..

With really good fixturing and proper machinery the parts could be good enough so that sets could have been made with TIR in the 0.00025" to 0.0005" neighborhood.

So yeah, it can be done.

[Pylon1_Mark]

Brent Hiesy - speaking about Miss America & Reno 2022
This will be the fastest she'll ever have gone. We have a very special motor being built for her, cooling system is new, all the systems have been replaced in the airplane. This is Miss America 2.0 (two point oh) - it'll be the best it's ever been.



We're less than one month away from Reno 2022 and final preparations are nearing completion at Wiley Post Airport for team Miss America. Systems checks are now completed and the aircraft is ready for installation of the main components to arrive from Rick Shanholtzer, the race motor, supercharger, & aftercooler. After talking with team members Greg & Scotty Butler we thoroughly expect Miss America to be deep into the motor swap on our next visit. However, on this week's visit Miss A was still ready to take to the skies and apparently Brent had something in mind that I was totally unaware of.

When I got to the hangar Saturday morning Brent had just pulled up and was walking towards the front door. He stopped, then turned to meet me at my car - then greeted me and also payed his heartfelt condolences for my loss of my wife earlier in the week (bad news travels fast). I still had to gather my camera gear & such, so I followed him by a couple of minutes and when I walked in I soon discovered what Brent had in mind "get Miss A ready... I'm going to take Mark up". Talk about an unexpected trill!!! This was going to be epic!!



You Can't do that in Dago Red!
quote from Scotty Butler - 08/13/2022

After we departed Wiley Post Airport we then headed out west and climbed to about 6,500 feet. After about 10 minutes of level flight Brent placed the aircraft in a nose-down attitude and added some power to gain airspeed, he wanted to test if/how much the trim needed adjustment as airspeed increases. The test proved successful, in fact Brent said no trim or stick forces were needed during the dive as there was no attitude changes at all, the nose of the aircraft never pitched up even in the slightest. This is due to one of the modifications we haven't been able to talk about just yet, but will be able to share following the races this year. Regardless, with this test successfully completed Brent decided to do one more - to see how well the aircraft tracks during a high-G turn. Still at speed we rolled left (I included a couple of pictures of that below and in the 2nd picture it seemed as if Brent was using the water tower as the pylon - old habits die hard :-) ) and pulled hard through the turn. About 10 to 20 seconds later we executed another high G turn - in both instances the onset & release of the G forces were smooth with the aircraft tracking perfectly throughout the maneuver. Following that we headed back to Wiley Post where Brent made an exceptional two-point landing - and I took the next 24 hours trying to wipe that grin off my face ;-)

All in all it was a monster dose of awesome for this air race fan as well as a successful day of testing for Brent & Miss America. To be included in this process was an unexpected treat, and noticing that the process of draining the oil out of the crankcase to put back into the oil tank didn't start until after I arrived (Miss A had not been flown in a couple of weeks and putting the drained oil back in the main tank would have been done before Brent got there if he was planning on taking her up) told me this was something not planned, Brent did it to cheer me up on a weekend that was bound to be a tuffie... and it worked in spades! Kerch always said it was the people who make air racing great - and he was right!



As I was leaving, the crew was washing Miss A but she'll soon be back in the hangar and ready for that race engine, supercharger, aftercooler & nose case to be installed. After that, Miss A will be transformed into that racer she's always been come September - and for this year - it'll be the best it's ever been!

[RAD2LTR]

Now that was one heck of an update! It does look like they addressed some of the fit issues I noted last year. The ailerons seem to sit more evenly, the tail area seems smoother, overall the fit of everything seems better this year.

I'm really excited for this years races. There should be some awesome racing in all the classes, but Unlimited Gold is shaping up to be a memorable one.

Thanks for the update,
Will

[GRNDP51]

One of the best updates yet Mark! Very classy of Brent and the team to give you a special day.

Miss A is looking fantastic. Can't wait for more updates when the race parts make their way over!

[mitchcarley]

Mark,
I'd call it a Win-Win!
Best wishes!
Go Brent Go!

[Lockheed Bob]

I didn't know it had 2 seats. Does that add weight?

[AAFO_WSagar]

Man I'll print and frame that picture of your grin!!

[GRNDP51]

I didn't know it had 2 seats. Does that add weight?

Should just be a jump seat that's probably removed during Reno. I don't think there is significant infrastructure that would add weight when the jump seat is pulled out.

[GeeBeeZ1931]

"All in all it was a monster dose of awesome for this air race fan as well as a successful day of testing for Brent & Miss America. To be included in this process was an unexpected treat, and noticing that the process of draining the oil out of the crankcase to put back into the oil tank didn't start until after I arrived (Miss A had not been flown in a couple of weeks and putting the drained oil back in the main tank would have been done before Brent got there if he was planning on taking her up) told me this was something not planned, Brent did it to cheer me up on a weekend that was bound to be a tuffie... and it worked in spades! Kerch always said it was the people who make air racing great - and he was right!"

What you said. That was just a super thing he did for you. So nice to see someone important do nice things for others like this.

[BellCobraIV]

Brent Hiesy - speaking about Miss America & Reno 2022
This will be the fastest she'll ever have gone. We have a very special motor being built for her, cooling system is new, all the systems have been replaced in the airplane. This is Miss America 2.0 (two point oh) - it'll be the best it's ever been.



We're less than one month away from Reno 2022 and final preparations are nearing completion at Wiley Post Airport for team Miss America. Systems checks are now completed and the aircraft is ready for installation of the main components to arrive from Rick Shanholtzer, the race motor, supercharger, & aftercooler. After talking with team members Greg & Scotty Butler we thoroughly expect Miss America to be deep into the motor swap on our next visit. However, on this week's visit Miss A was still ready to take to the skies and apparently Brent had something in mind that I was totally unaware of.

When I got to the hangar Saturday morning Brent had just pulled up and was walking towards the front door. He stopped, then turned to meet me at my car - then greeted me and also payed his heartfelt condolences for my loss of my wife earlier in the week (bad news travels fast). I still had to gather my camera gear & such, so I followed him by a couple of minutes and when I walked in I soon discovered what Brent had in mind "get Miss A ready... I'm going to take Mark up". Talk about an unexpected trill!!! This was going to be epic!!



You Can't do that in Dago Red!
quote from Scotty Butler - 08/13/2022

After we departed Wiley Post Airport we then headed out west and climbed to about 6,500 feet. After about 10 minutes of level flight Brent placed the aircraft in a nose-down attitude and added some power to gain airspeed, he wanted to test if/how much the trim needed adjustment as airspeed increases. The test proved successful, in fact Brent said no trim or stick forces were needed during the dive as there was no attitude changes at all, the nose of the aircraft never pitched up even in the slightest. This is due to one of the modifications we haven't been able to talk about just yet, but will be able to share following the races this year. Regardless, with this test successfully completed Brent decided to do one more - to see how well the aircraft tracks during a high-G turn. Still at speed we rolled left (I included a couple of pictures of that below and in the 2nd picture it seemed as if Brent was using the water tower as the pylon - old habits die hard :-) ) and pulled hard through the turn. About 10 to 20 seconds later we executed another high G turn - in both instances the onset & release of the G forces were smooth with the aircraft tracking perfectly throughout the maneuver. Following that we headed back to Wiley Post where Brent made an exceptional two-point landing - and I took the next 24 hours trying to wipe that grin off my face ;-)

All in all it was a monster dose of awesome for this air race fan as well as a successful day of testing for Brent & Miss America. To be included in this process was an unexpected treat, and noticing that the process of draining the oil out of the crankcase to put back into the oil tank didn't start until after I arrived (Miss A had not been flown in a couple of weeks and putting the drained oil back in the main tank would have been done before Brent got there if he was planning on taking her up) told me this was something not planned, Brent did it to cheer me up on a weekend that was bound to be a tuffie... and it worked in spades! Kerch always said it was the people who make air racing great - and he was right!



As I was leaving, the crew was washing Miss A but she'll soon be back in the hangar and ready for that race engine, supercharger, aftercooler & nose case to be installed. After that, Miss A will be transformed into that racer she's always been come September - and for this year - it'll be the best it's ever been!

Miss A sure does look better than ever! A far cry from when Howie came by my Dad's hangar at Van Nuys and offered my best friend and I lunch if we would touch up the paint job with the little bottles of Testors Red, White, and Blue. None of which actually matched the paint on the plane. Looked like it had some bizarre case of spectral measles.