February Blahs!

[Peashooter]

Dudes: Isn't there any news from the various racing camps? Gawd, it's quiet out there! What's going on at Ione, Bakersfield, Chino, Tulsa, anywhere? Heck, even Sani Hut's quiet.

Will either Critical Mass or Furias be back in '05? What's up with American Spirit and Daryl's monster? How 'bout Frost Bite?

C'mon, are you guys out west stuck in the snow on I-80?

It's gonna be a long 7 months... Peas

[Stevo]

Re: February Blahs!

I haven't heard any news on the Unlimiteds... for the sport class I've heard that there are three new Nemesis' either finished or close to being finished... then there's Scotty's Unleashed, she's getting a new paint job, a telemetry/data logging system and a new cowling. Not much but that's all the news I've got.

[Peashooter]

Re: February Blahs!

Thanks for the fix, Stevo! I have been watching Scotty's progress with a mix of amusement and amazement. After taking our Long EZ up through final primer, I KNOW what sanding is all about. My bro and I did it for 9 months -- aargh! But it was worth every stroke and busted knuckle. (Not to mention my youthful summers in a boat yard occasionally sanding/painting the bottoms of racing sailboats. YUCK!!!)

http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/attachment.php?attachmentid=2770

[T. Adams]

Re: February Blahs!

I really have the blahs. I've even stumped do doing some nature photography, and trying to shoot Bald Eagles, (with a camera, that is!!).

The first auto race I can shoot is at the end of April, and the first airshow is mid June!!!!!!! Got to love the nice midwest weather.

[AirDOGGe]

Re: February Blahs!

Heck, even Sani Hut's quiet.

Lol.....Few things are more disturbing to me as hearing "sounds" from a Sani-hut (and we all know what kind I speak of)...I prefer the silent type

But yes, aside from the great news about Strega and the good/bad news of White Lightning, it has been quiet in the unlimited world. I just cross my fingers & toes and hope that "no news is good news".

[Stevo]

Re: February Blahs!

I really have the blahs. I've even stumped do doing some nature photography, and trying to shoot Bald Eagles

Find your nearest R/C airplane club and give that a try. There's a thread on RCUniverse for the best scale photo... see if you can come up with something that meets their rules .

[T. Adams]

Re: February Blahs!

I actually build 1/48th, and some 1/72 scale static display models. I have not built one in the past 15 years though. I think I have close to 20-30 unbuilt kits. I may have to get busy again.

I never did get into the RC stuff. I'll watch, but I just cringe at the thought of something I have put hundreds of hours into crashing.

[Propellerhead]

Re: February Blahs!

I remember one RCer telling me that there was one thing you could count on, eventually your airplane WILL crash. And that'll be followed by your compadres saying something along the lines of: "That sure was a good flyin' airplane!"

I'll stick to quarter scale plastic. I'm pretty good at emptying my wallet with that hobby already. No need to exacerbate that process any further.

Rob

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: February Blahs!

Will either Critical Mass or Furias be back in '05? What's up with American Spirit and Daryl's monster? How 'bout Frost Bite?

Don't know anything about the rest but as of a few days ago, Critical Mass remained in the Dwelle family, the airplane has a new prop that only needs to be put on the airplane and that very likely, for this year, at least, they will concentrate on fielding two T-6 entries and no Unlimited effort..

The good news of this is that, one, they did find a new prop and two, it is not really for sale, actively, at least and from what I understand, she's nearly ready to fly sans a few days of hard effort to get her ready to kick the tires and light the fires...

On the strictly no "real" solid information front, I've heard that it is not real likely that we'll see Frostbite any time soon.

I think both Cobra and I have had standing phone messages into Jack's office for years with no reply... if they are doing anything with the airplane, they sure don't want to talk about it..

[Victor Archer]

Re: February Blahs!

The first auto race I can shoot is at the end of April, and the first airshow is mid June!!!!!!! Got to love the nice midwest weather.

Hey Tim mabe this will warm you up a little.
NHRA Winter Nationals last weekend.
Tony Schumacher Runs 4.452 sec. @ 334.65mph
(new national speed record).
Tony Schumacher's incremental times:
60ft-0.832 of a second,
330ft-2.117 sec,
660ft-3.028 sec @ 275.45mph,
1,000ft-3.789 sec

P.S. still have my Charger

[Peashooter]

Re: February Blahs!

Speaking of top fuelers, did anyone see the episode of Mail Call in which F. Lee Ermey ran a WW-II mil-spec jeep against the Army top fueler? "Gunny" even put a drag chute (hand thrown) on the Jeep. It was hilarious!

Back to airplanes; I recall reading that Precious went back to FL. Anybody know if the long-promised speed mods are happening?

[T. Adams]

Re: February Blahs!

Hey Tim mabe this will warm you up a little.
NHRA Winter Nationals last weekend.
Tony Schumacher Runs 4.452 sec. @ 334.65mph
(new national speed record).
Tony Schumacher's incremental times:
60ft-0.832 of a second,
330ft-2.117 sec,
660ft-3.028 sec @ 275.45mph,
1,000ft-3.789 sec

P.S. still have my Charger

I saw that, no matter what the NHRA does every year to try to slow the cars down, the crews always seem to find a way to go faster.

[Ron101502]

Re: February Blahs!

Remember the rev limiters for the nitro cars don't go into effect for 2 more races. Should keep speed about 330 and not affect et much.

[T. Adams]

Re: February Blahs!

Remember the rev limiters for the nitro cars don't go into effect for 2 more races. Should keep speed about 330 and not affect et much.

They are not limiting the engine rpm's at all, they are changing how fast they can spin the blower. As the NHRA has lowered the nitro percent, the crews started spinning the blowers faster and faster. There was talk of letting a higher percentage of nitro back in, with the lowered blower speed limits, but that did not take place. We'll seee what happens I guess in a couple of races.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Racing dilema

All of the "restrictor plate" stuff, be it in any motorsport, angers some fans but having watched a really sad specal on one of the cable channels about racing drivers and their safety... had a particularly gut wrenching segment about Dale Ernhart... *snif...still!*

The reason they impliment all this stuff is that the "go faster" technology moves ahead ever faster than the "save the driver" technology...

We've had the discussion on this board in the past where I sort of, at least, advocated restrictor plate racing in the Unlimited division... <playing devil's advocate here somewhat so don't kill me too hard>...

If there are such limitations, speeds become more manageble and we have less crashes, right? And if we have less crashes, in the end, we lose less drivers/pilots... right?

At what point do the regulaters step up and say... ENOUGH! You guys are going too fast... ??

Which is, what they are trying to do, obstensibly, to save drivers..

Man, I'll tell ya, after losing a couple people I've known to crashes, I'm all for that! I can't get a good picture of any pilot whom I know well when they race because of my concern for their safety makes me tremble...

At what point does the regulation make the competition less entertaining? Does it make it less entertaining?

I realize, we lose *something* in the never ending quest for speed, at least in the mechanical end of things but, if there is no regulation, with our vastly increasing knowledge and smarts, where does it end?

I'm just afraid if the regulatary bodies don't do anything, we wind up with our motorsports as a "bloodsport" as they used to be in the "old days"...

It's really sad when a brilliant life is snuffed out by a tragedy that can be avoided...

Am I way off base??

Anyway, I think a lot about the above... I love competition, don't get me wrong, nothing better than a real duel at speed, either from behind the wheel or in the stands, but getting hurt, or watching others get hurt SUCKS!