'BUCK SHOTS'

[Leo]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Nice!
Scholl also brought B-25 Pacific Princess in '85.
In one of the heat races Puss 'N Boots beat blue Max, and passed the home pylon with the bomb bay doors open!

[Dialtapper]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

That would be Roy Domke, a friend of Will's from Santa Rosa.

Thanks, Chris - Glad that photo brought back some good memories. I knew that was you working alongside Will on the Yak (but didn't recognize your crewmate in the red t-shirt). Yep-always cool seeing the boss in the trenches w/his troops.

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Thanks, Chris, for the crew ID (-I'll edit the info into the orig. image post). Appreciate the ID assist & good comms.

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Big Sky Showdown!".......

RACE: Sun. 9/20/87-Reno NCAR-UNL Gold Start- The big-boy 'Heavy-Metal Thoroughbreds' come roarin'-by Lemon Valley as they jockey f/position on their way past Outer 2 Pylon as the start of Reno '87's big Sunday race final gets underway.

Viewing L-R: We see a stack of 3 P-51s w/Gary Levitz-#38 Miss Ashley (top), & Scott Sherman-#84 Stiletto (middle) & Del Williams-#55 Pegasus (below), then Lyle Shelton's F8F #77 Rare Bear, Bill 'Tiger' Destefani's P-51-#7 Strega & Lefty Gardner's Mustang-#25 Thunderbird (high), Rick Brickert in Super Sea Fury-#8 Dreadnought & John Maloney in #1 Super Corsair at right. (Not included in the picture-Alan Preston in P-51 #4 Dago Red.)

Reno '87 was both- "Season of The Witch" & "Year of The Tiger", w/Bill Destefani & #7 Strega finally winning his team's first Reno UNL Gold Championship Trophy after years of teething troubles, by posting a new race record speed of 452.559-av/mph f/the 8-lap showdown.

Maydays put out Thunderbird on Lap-1, Rare Bear on Lap-2, and Stiletto on Lap-3. Dreadnought finished 2nd @ 449.747, Dago Red came in 3rd @ 439.455 and Super Corsair was 4th @ 416.905. Pegasus & Miss Ashley completed 7 laps & placed 5th (386.892) & 6th (375.824) respectively.

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Looking Back"... Dago Red Sunset

Mon. 9/9/85- After the first day of Reno '85 Qualifications & Practice, Frank Taylor's fast & elegant P-51D Mustang UNL Class air racer- #4-DAGO RED faces the setting sun goin' down behind Stead Field.

With the late & great- Rick Brickert returning f/his second-year as team race pilot, #4 was 3rd-fastest qualifier @ 442.008-mph & finished 3rd in Sunday's Reno '85 Gold final @ 426.848-av/mph.

DBD

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

'HOTEL'-Mustang Racer!

North American Aviation's WW2-designed P-51 Mustang ranks as one of history's most-famous of all piston-engined propeller fighter aircraft built, w/the type's D-model being the epitome of this NAA design & most-prolific of WW2's surviving pursuits still flying today. Mustangs also continue to thrive as the dominant type in air racing's Unlimited Class, though they've seen a big challenge by the post-WW2 British Hawker Sea Fury,-whose flying population has grown rapidly in recent years.

But the rarest of all Mustang variants is without a doubt- the lightweight P-51H interceptor model. Of only 555-built, less than a half-dozen survive today, w/only two being flying examples: Mike Coutches' N551H - based in Hayward, CA. & the Whittington Brothers' NX49WB.

Owing to their extreme rarity,-now just what do ya think the odds are of actually seeing one of these sweet aero hod rods being flown out on an Unlimited racecourse? Incredibly-Very Good!, apparently, as both of them have been racers in the past. That's what I really-love about air racing - you just never-know what's gonna show up, & another reason why many consider 'the world's-fastest motorsport' to be one of aviation's premiere airshow events!

Coutches raced his H-Mustang as #51 in the legendary 1970 California 1000 enduro event at Mojave, CA. on 11/15/70. Mike had to pull-out on the 17th-lap of the 66-lap 1,000-mile contest w/a burnt piston & hasn't returned his plane to competition since.

Don & Bill Whittington's H-51's racing career began as Race #3 (N313H), when prev. owner- Bill Hogan finished 3rd in the 1969 Florida Cross-Country Race on 9/13/69, flying from Frederick, MD. to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. (Hogan, BTW, also prev.-owned Mike Coutches' H as N1108H). The Whittingtons race-debuted their 'Hotel Mustang' at Reno '78 as Race #94 -in company w/their P-51D #09 "Precious Metal". Don flew their team's D-model Gold racer, while brother Bill flew the H - which was painted-up in 2-tone RAF camo to represent the sole P-51H sent to Britain- KN987.

At Reno '78, Bill Whittington qualified #94 as 16th-fastest @ 346.900-mph, & he handily-won Friday's 5-lap Medallion Trophy Race #1 @ 350.386-av/mph. Bumping-up into the Consolation Race, Bill's P-51H suffered a broken prop seal at the start, and he overshot his mayday landing on RW-26 & had to ground-loop the Mustang w/resulting damage.

Amazingly, after rebuild, the Whittington H-Mustang returned to the pylons at Reno '83, this time wearing Race #8 (though officially designated as- 'Race #08',-in deference to #8 Dreadnought) & fitted w/a 5-bladed Rotol propeller unit (ala-XP-51G, of which only 2 examples were built). Now how cool is THAT?!!!

At Reno '83, Bill Whittington qualified the 'H' 14th-fastest @ 371.315-mph. He finished 6th in Friday's 6-lap Silver Heat #1 @ 364.651-av/mph but had to pull-out during the last lap of Saturday's Silver Heat #2 while running 3rd, f/a 6th-place heat finish. Bill Whittington & #08 came in second during Sunday's UNL Bronze 6-lap final @ 394.503-av/mph.

The Whittington P-51H is still regularly flown, and makes occasional appearances at regional airshows. This unique & rare airplane was a really-special treat to see racing around the pylons, though understandably,-it was never really pushed very hard. (BTW-f/ref.- the military P-51H's maximum top speed was rated at 487-mph @ 25,000 feet - the fastest of all Mustangs).

BIG THANKS to Don & Bill Whittington & their crew for bringing this beautiful baby to go racing! BRAVO!, Gentlemen!!!

Here's a selection of 'Buck Shots' capturing the Whittington Brothers' magnificent P-51H during its' last year of competition @ Reno '83...

DBD

[W J Pearce]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Sorry to drift OT but can someone tell me what is up with the tail wheel on the H? I have never found an answer.

If you look at Bucky's photos above (and thanks a million for posting such amazing shots of an amazing bird) you can see that the tail wheel gear doors have been removed. It also seemed to be SOP for the AF and ANG to remove the doors and lock the tail wheel down on the H. Why?

Whittington's H was still without the doors in 2007 (most recent photo I've seen) but Coutches is not like this and seems to have never been.

Here is an AF H with the tail gear hanging out:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/tomhvt/AIRCRAFT/82FG/p51h526a.jpg

Thanks,

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Hi Bill-

You've presented a good question there. I do recall seeing a great B&W ANG P-51H formation air-to-air photo awhile back, that showed at least three or more planes flying a stacked echelon (facing to right in photo), where every one of the aircraft had an extended tailwheel hanging out (mains were up). I can't recall whether the tailwheel doors were removed or not, (though I seem to think they were indeed removed) & wondered- "what's up with that?"

Your post & photo attachment reminded me of that shot. Would love to hear some feedback from other site-goers as well for an explanation. Thanks for bringing that up, Bill.

DBD

[Race 29]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Bucky, thanks again for sharing your awesome photos! The H model is my favorite mustang variant, but of course because of they are so rare, it's hard to find good pictures of them. I've been fortunate to see both the Whittingtons and Mike Coutches "Hotel's" fly. I've heard that the Whittingtons have sold their H model. Any info on the sale and who it went to?

Race 29

[Big_Jim]

Re: \\\'BUCK SHOTS\\\'

Bucky, thanks again for sharing your awesome photos! The H model is my favorite mustang variant, but of course because of they are so rare, it\\\'s hard to find good pictures of them. I\\\'ve been fortunate to see both the Whittingtons and Mike Coutches \\\"Hotel\\\'s\\\" fly. I\\\'ve heard that the Whittingtons have sold their H model. Any info on the sale and who it went to?

Race 29

I saw something about a \"sale reported\", but have not seen anything to back it up. Last I knew it was in New Mexico with Bill. Flies fairly regularly. So if it was sold it must have been pretty recent.

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Remembrance".......

DBD

[T. Adams]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

There is a picture of Zueschel and RB-51 in this month's Hot Rod.

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

Thanks f/the Hot Rod Mag issue tip,Tim - will head down the hill to snag myself a copy!

DBD

(P.S. I gotta say- I don't know why it is, but 'Zeuschel' has got to be THE most misspelled surname in air racing, I bet.)

[Big_Jim]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"Remembrance".......

DBD

Man...way too many names on that gear door...and with the exception of Uncle Bill, I had met all of them.

[BuckyD]

Re: 'BUCK SHOTS'

"19-09 Super-Stangs @ The Wash Rack".........

Wed. 9/14/88-Reno NCAR- John Dilley/Tom Kelly's radical P-51D Learstang- #19 Vendetta shares the Stead Field wash rack w/Don Whittington's Griffon Mixmaster Mustang- #09 Precious Metal, during the last day of Reno '88 Qualifications.

DBD