A question for experts....

[Leo]

longest

How far back do the Budde's go?

[Unregistered]

For those who actually flew the pylons at Reno 2003, my guess is Tom Aberle. There were others on the field however, such as Ray Cote, that were earlier Reno participants than Tom A.

[RandyGoss75]

Ray Cote & Dago Red

Reever- Ray Cote did race Dago in a heat race............

[Unregistered]

Interesting...interesting..

Keep the responses coming to all three questions .....

FYI - No one has nailed all three questions yet. ....In fact, no one is two for three yet. ....In fact....

Everyone is however doing a fine job of searching their memories...my compliments guys.

Hopefully we can get some more responses and perhaps I'll let the cat out of the bag tomorrow in honor of Friday.

That is unless Wayne would like to see this string out a little longer ....anticipation....anticipation....

[AAFO_WSagar]

sup to you... yer thread....

[Reever]

Re: Ray Cote & Dago Red

Originally posted by RandyGoss75
Reever- Ray Cote did race Dago in a heat race............

Thanks Randy, I never knew that Ray Cote flew a heat race in Dago! I remember that he was listed one year as a pilot for #4, but I didn't know he actually raced.

Thanks again,
Reever

[speeddemon]

I think Cote came with the airplane when Preston won Dago in the 'ugly contest' from Rudolph and his Flying Circus.

[Unregistered]

Ok, time to reveal the answers....

None of the questions were trick questions. Number 3 could have two possible answers depending on whether you inlcuded all of the retired pilots present at Reno in 2003 who participated in any of the classes - Unlimted, T-6, F1, Biplane, Sport or Jet.

If, however you simply picked from among those currently active in racing for question #3, the answers to all three questions are very surprising.

1) Who among the active Unlimited pilots (racing in 2003) was the first to go air racing? *Notice, the question does not specify where the pilot first raced or in what class.

We had a couple of correct responses to this question. However, the suppositions as to when and where this pilot first went air racing were off the mark.

Answer - Jimmy Leeward. Leeward's first race was in *1959* at the Fort Wayne Industries Race in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He flew the Schaupp-designed Formula 1, "Mr. Zip". Leeward finished second in the Consolation race behind John Thompson in "Jersey Skeeter". His race average was 161.78 mph.

2) Who among the Unlimited pilots both currently active and retired who were present this year at Reno was the first to go air racing?

Answer - Jimmy Leeward....for the same reasons as above.

3) Who among the race pilots *in all classes* present at Reno in 2003 was the first to go air racing?

Answer A - If you picked from among those currently active in air racing the answer is, once again... Jimmy Leeward.

Surprisning, no? In this case, Leeward is the answer to all three questions...
But, if you interpret question 3 as referring to both active and retired pilots present at Reno 2003 *in all classes*, the answer changes but is weirdly related.

Answer B - Of all the current or retired race pilots walking the ramp at Reno this year, Denny Sherman was the first to go air racing.

He flew the Formula 1, #77 "Lil' Spook at the same Fort Wayne Industries Race in Ft. Wayne, in *1957*, competing in just one heat which he pulled out of on lap 8 with mechanical difficulties. His first race came just two years before Leeward's. The ironic thing is that the very next year at Ft. Wayne, 1958, Sherman raced "Mr Zip". The same F-1 Leeward would race one year later. Sherman finished 4th in Mr. Zip in the Consolation Race at 164. 45 mph.

There you have it..

[AAFO_WSagar]

Wow... interesting thread! *Someone* did their homework on this one...

We have a historian on board... kewl..

Would love to see this sort of thing keep coming....


Wayne

[Unregistered]

JT - The Younger

[Unregistered]

A very interesting thread!

What other air racing notable came out of the Ft. Wayne Indiana area in that same timeframe?

Hint: Like Jimmy Leeward, this person returned to air racing in the mid seventies after a long absence. This person also left the Ft. Wayne area and relocated in the southern U.S. before returning to the sport, just like Jimmy L. and Denny Sherman.

[speeddemon]

I'm thinkin' ol' Bonzo himself......Steve Whittman.

[Unregistered]

Bear is correct that John Dilley was out of the Ft. Wayne area, but not in the late fifties/early sixties timeframe. John first showed up at Reno in the late 70's.

The other notable that I was referring to is the late Jim Miller. Jim actually started his career in 1949 at Cleveland, but achieved much success in the 190 ci (todays F-1) class at the Ft. Wayne races. He placed first in both 1959 and 1960 in #14 "Li'l Gem". Jim sold the aircraft to none other than Denny Sherman and was out of racing until 1973, when he made a spectacular return with his #73 "Texas Gem" pusher. In the interim, Jim developed a highly successful aviation business, specializing in speed mods for Piper Apache's, to name one. Jim had relocated from the Ft. Wayne area to San Antonio, TX by this time as well.

Interestingly, #14 "Li'l Gem" won the first 190 ci championship race at Reno in 1964 while owned by Denny Sherman and flown by Bob Porter. Denny and Bob also placed 1st at Reno 1965 with #39 "Deerfly", the aircraft Bill Stead would later be killed in. #14 went on to great success as Bob Downey's "O'l Tiger".

With his 1990 Reno win in #14 "Pushy Cat", Jim Miller could claim a national championship in the same class in 3 different decades, with a 30 year span between the second and third!