Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

[Pylon1_Mark]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

How long does it take him to get from OK to Stead? Arrival cutoff is noon on Saturday.

I'll ask tonight when I visit

[Race5]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

When we arrived this afternoon at Miss America's hangar, things were pretty quiet with crewman Scotty Butler minding the store. It was obvious that the race motor had yet to arrive but it was just as obvious that everything was ready to go, the parts spread-out in assembly order ready for that last part to arrive (race motor). The plan was to have the motor there at the hangar today... but there was a hiccup that Rick encountered with the remanufactured block from Roush Aviation. Everything was going smoothly until Rick tried to attach the nosecase, then it was discovered that the tolerances were not to those specified & fitment wasn't corrected. All in all, the nosecase was off & on 10 times before fitment was perfect and Rick could move onto the last parts - head & banks, which was where it stood when I left for the evening. Barring any more unforeseen difficulties the race motor should be completed sometime late this evening with Matt Jackson ferrying it up from Texas tomorrow. That's when the magic is going to start... and we plan on being there for the install and hopefully also make it back early Thursday morning (3am?) for that race motor break-in run ;-) So that's the current schedule... get race motor, install, break-in run, test flight(s), then off to Stead for the races. If things go well from here on out, Brent could be at Stead as early as Friday afternoon. If some problems crop up with the plane or the motor, then there remains a little wiggle room - but not much with qualifying starting on Monday.

More tomorrow!!!

How long does it take him to get from OK to Stead? Arrival cutoff is noon on Saturday.

[ZacYates]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

More tomorrow!!!

Waiting patiently and with much excitement!

[Pylon1_Mark]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

When we arrived this afternoon at Miss America's hangar, things were pretty quiet with crewman Scotty Butler minding the store. It was obvious that the race motor had yet to arrive but it was just as obvious that everything was ready to go, the parts spread-out in assembly order ready for that last part to arrive (race motor). The plan was to have the motor there at the hangar today... but there was a hiccup that Rick encountered with the remanufactured block from Roush Aviation. Everything was going smoothly until Rick tried to attach the nosecase, then it was discovered that the tolerances were not to those specified & fitment wasn't corrected. All in all, the nosecase was off & on 10 times before fitment was perfect and Rick could move onto the last parts - head & banks, which was where it stood when I left for the evening. Barring any more unforeseen difficulties the race motor should be completed sometime late this evening with Matt Jackson ferrying it up from Texas tomorrow. That's when the magic is going to start... and we plan on being there for the install and hopefully also make it back early Thursday morning (3am?) for that race motor break-in run ;-) So that's the current schedule... get race motor, install, break-in run, test flight(s), then off to Stead for the races. If things go well from here on out, Brent could be at Stead as early as Friday afternoon. If some problems crop up with the plane or the motor, then there remains a little wiggle room - but not much with qualifying starting on Monday.

More tomorrow!!!

[GeeBeeZ1931]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Would be very curious to know if/how a race block differs from a stocker. I assume there's some magic that happens, but I can't recall ever reading about race prepping the block specifically.

I believe he was asking about the bare block itself as it was done separately at a different facility before assembly.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Some of the race Merlins have hardened Allison rods.

This does have Allison rods that have gone very fast in the past.

Will

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Some of the race Merlins have hardened Allison rods.

[GRNDP51]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Well.. it is a race motor... but all those details would need to come from Mr Shanholtzer. I know once he gets here he's not going to have a lot of time to answer a lot of questions, but I'll get what I can

Would be very curious to know if/how a race block differs from a stocker. I assume there's some magic that happens, but I can't recall ever reading about race prepping the block specifically.

[ZacYates]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Thank you Mark, another fascinating (and much appreciated) update.

[Pylon1_Mark]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Was the block with Roush being "race-prepped" or just "prepped"?

Well.. it is a race motor... but all those details would need to come from Mr Shanholtzer. I know once he gets here he's not going to have a lot of time to answer a lot of questions, but I'll get what I can

[GRNDP51]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Great update Mark, thank you. Glad to see they're taking precautions on the things they found during the test.

Was the block with Roush being "race-prepped" or just "prepped"?

[Gibbs]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Hello Mark, thank you very much for your detailed informations - always a pleasure to read!

Greetings from Germany
Gibbs

[Reever]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

Great report Mark! Wish they had test stand time. Is what it is.

[Pylon1_Mark]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening



We're about one week away from Reno 2022 and with anticipation starting to reach a fever pitch, we wanted to update everyone on Team Miss America's current status. As the photo above shows, on 9/3/22 Miss America sits partially assembled in her hangar in anticipation of installing the new race motor and ancillaries. Although this may seem all last minute and on the surface - it is, but the current situation is one caused by unforeseen delays that engine builder Rick Shanholtzer tried his best to avoid. As hard as we try, sometimes those little bumps along the way are simply unavoidable.



We all know that Rick builds the motors for Miss A and has since the beginning. Just like any engine builder, some of the components used to rebuild the motor have to be prepared by other vendors (like bearings, pistons, etc.). The major hold-up this year was the engine block for Miss America's merlin powerplant. This was sent to Roush Aviation for machine work well over four months ago. Last week when we visited the team, the merlin block was still somewhere in transit with expected delivery later that next week. The good news here is that the block arrived at Rick Shanholtzer's shop as anticipated. Along with the help of Matt Jackson both are now working hard at getting the engine put back together. Barring any unforeseen major issues, the motor should be arriving at Miss America's hangar Monday or Tuesday of next week. Not the ideal situation by a long shot, but the crew remains confident that all will come together with Brent & Miss America arriving at Stead Airport on Friday of next week prior to qualifications. Just to drive that point home the team showed me a picture of Miss America's race motor from last year just after it arrived from Rick's shop... dated 9/5/2021. So, like last year it's well within the team's ability to make this happen just like they've done many times before.



In our previous update we told you about the test flight we took and how it appeared everything was spot-on. The airplane showed no attitude changes as speed increased and the high-G turns showed the aircraft tracking perfectly. However, during the last two weeks a couple of things did crop up following the test flight that I was unaware of. The first issue was that the post-flight test inspection showed the rudder had become slightly out-of-trim. The crew decided that a full inspection of all cables, pullies, and associated mechanics was needed - as well as re-centering the trim for the rudder. No anomalies were discovered during the inspection, everything was as it should be. With no discernable cause, after this final adjustment the crew did all that could be done up to this point and will be watching the rudder trim closely during race week.


Note: Motor shown in pictures above is Miss America's "stock" Merlin

The other issue that came up after the test flight was actually an issue that first appeared last year following the races and involves the rear of the aircraft. Specifically, the rivet attachments on the sheet metal skin. Close inspection showed that the sheet metal skin on the bottom of the stab was showing signs of separating from the rivets used to attach it to the horizonal stabilizer structural members. This was only occurring near the rear of the stab, about 6 inches up from where the elevators attach to the stab... and only on the bottom of the stab. Not wanting to take any chances, the team decided to drill out and replace the rivets with new... then spot paint over for that fresh look. As you can see in the photos below - the repair looks flawless. You might also notice in the second & third photos a rather large mass of lead bolted to the rear of the vertical stabilizer. This was done to offset the battery relocation from its stock location to the engine bay.

With that said we do plan on more updates next week... the race motor scheduled to arrive, installation into the aircraft, final assembly, and engine testing on the agenda (with time becoming a major factor now engine testing will be done after it's installed in Miss A - not on a test stand) that's something we certainly DO NOT want to miss!

[GRNDP51]

Re: Miss America: RENO AIR RACES 2022 - Exciting Things Happening

As we push through this heartbreaking day, I wanted to wish a best of luck and blessings to Doc and Team Miss A as they put time on the race engine here really soon. I pray the Air Racing Gods watch over you the next few weeks. Go Get 'Em Doc.