Rare Bear Wing Modification

[Unregistered]

The Bear carries enough nitrous for the complete race. They add 400 hp making 4200 HP the final number. The idea is to start the race with the valve wide open just as you flatten out on the course. That's if you need it. I can't believe the team having it in the hanger on ice and not loading it in the plane. The hanger the plane is now in provides for the ability to load and not be viewed. If the Bear was close to Dago you can bet they would have had it loaded and ready to use. The race is for first. No one remembers second place.

[hattend]

Originally posted by Unregistered
The race is for first. No one remembers second place.

Well, after 3 years in hibernation the Bear came out of the cave and got second in 2003. Plus, the engine is healthy! WooHoo!

I'll remember the Bear's second place in 2003...it'll only get better.

Don Hatten
Rare Bear Fansponsor

[Proppeller Smeller]

I find myself going against my better judgement, and answering some of these speculative questions on why we did what we did. Seems like there are an awful lot of armchair race pilots out there, who like to find fault in everything we (the new crew) do and have done.
First off, the entire crew worked incredibly hard getting the Rare Bear back flying again. No small task if you look at where the airplane was a little over a year ago. Kudos to them for busting theyre buts through the year. The plane would have never made it back to the races this year without they're hard work.
Second, we decided as a team we were NOT going to use the nitrous this year unless it proved worthwhile and practical. The fact is, if the motor for whatever reason is not running at it's best, pouring a firehose of nitrous oxide into the motor is not the answer!! We simply weren't going to risk scattering the motor, after just getting the plane operational again after several years of down time. Lyle wanted to ensure the plane lived to race another day, so even second place prize money was looking pretty sweet for us, considering we didn't even have the money to pay for race gas till we started selling merchandise in the pits!
Unfortunately, we had some bad luck race week. We had a few cyinders go south on us, and that really kept us from using any nitrous. Running the squueze isn't real condusive to breaking in new cylinders!!
On Sunday, we were hoping to give Dago Red a little more of a run for her money, but we did the best we could. Those guys just did one hell of a job prepping that airplane, and they have one hell of a stick for a driver! Congrats to that whole team for theyre win, they deserve it! They have set the bar very high indeed.
The good news is, that we now have some prize money, and can afford to really prep the Rare Bear for next year. In any motorsport, at some point it comes down to "How fast can you afford to go". This year, for us, it was second place.
Sorry we couldn't have made it a better race for you race fans this year, but **** happens. That's racing! Were looking forward to building on this year's finish, and being competitive next year. Who knows, with a healthy Rare Bear and September Fury in the mix, we could have a race sometime in the next few years that has the potential of putting the 1991 race to shame! That's what I'm talking about!!

Stacy Thomas

[Peashooter]

Originally posted by Proppeller Smeller
Who knows, with a healthy Rare Bear and September Fury in the mix, we could have a race sometime in the next few years that has the potential of putting the 1991 race to shame! That's what I'm talking about!!

Stacy Thomas

Yeah! Bring it baby. That's why we fans buy the tickets!!!

And as you turn each nut, and bust another knuckle, know that for those of us watching the Bear race, hearing THAT sound, it is all worth it.

Your work, our investment. It's a deal.

Thanks Guys! Peas

[AAFO_WSagar]

Stacy,

I've been biting my lip... To be sure, there are *some* armchair racers out there who want to throw, at the very least, bad vibes... Maybe less than you'd think, hard to tell when they don't sign their messages ey!

I don't think there's an active wrench or pilot or owner in the sport who has anything less than the highest of praise for you guys and what you did!

The comment slamming second place was WAY out of line by "whomever" made it, I could narrow it down a bit and perhaps cause someone some embarrassment but, I'll not do it since it delves into privacy issues.

I warn, I ask, I beg.. it does not seem to matter.. there are those who are just going to come in here, hide in the dark corner and throw out garbage until they entice out of you guys what they want.. that being, a reaction..

I said it there in the hangar more than once.. you guys are the $HIT and you know how I mean that...

You done good Stacy.. walk proud, you all deserve it!

Wayne Sagar

[Kevin L]

Stacey, I sure don't see any reason for you to apologize for not making it a closer race. I was impressed with the effort that the whole crew put out in keeping the Bear in the race all week. It was obvious that you all were worn out by the time Sunday rolled around.

I'm sure the same "arm chair experts" would be griping if you had used the nitrous and damaged the engine.

I think you all did a monstrous job in getting the bear in flying condition at all. I'll sure take second place over a DNF any day. Dago Red was well prepared and clearly the best, this year. The Bear is healthy, and can be fine tuned for another day of competition. I think everyone would like to see a gold final loaded with healthy competitors. Dago, Sep. Fury, Bear, Voodoo, Crit. Mass, Strega, (bring her back Tiger). And may the best plane win.

I'm proud to be a fan sponsor of the bear. When people stop me and ask about my jacket, I am happy to explain it to them and tell them to visit the web site for more info. Who knows, maybe they will buy a shirt or something.

To paraphrase Peashooter, you fix it, we'll fund it.

Kevin Lloyd

[Unregistered]

What Wayne said..... The Bear put on a good show for all of us this year and that team has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
Dethroning Dago is a tall order for anyone right now and will probably take some time.

My 21 yr old nephew saw the Bear race and now he is one of the newest Bear fans. He just loved that beast. That's what it's all about.

GP

[hattend]

To piggy back on what GP said: I had 7 people in my box on Sunday who had never seen the Bear fly... ever.

The Rare Bear now has 7 new fans (to quote one person: "You could have an orgasm listening to the Bear go by" - I kid you not!)

Stacy, you guys keep the Bear healthy and I'll keep sending in cash. I'll have to twist those new fans' arms to grab their wallets too.

Don Hatten
Rare Bear Fan Sponsor

[hattend]

Originally posted by hattend

The Rare Bear now has 7 new fans
Don Hatten
Rare Bear Fan Sponsor

Here are 4 of them (I'm in the straw hat) Two others are off getting autographs and one is taking the picture.

[Proppeller Smeller]

Thanks guys, the team appreciates your support! I forgot to add one thing in my last post, and that's a special thanks to the Critical Mass Air Racing team. Bill Kerchenfaut once said "It's the people" that make air racing so special. Well the Dwelle's are the best. On the monday following the air races, Tom and Ken dropped off six full barrells of VP air race gas, a little donation to the cause!! At about $450 a drum, that was a nice surprise. Looking forward to buying you guys a beer down at Nellis!!

Stacy

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by Proppeller Smeller
I find myself going against my better judgement, and answering some of these speculative questions on why we did what we did. Seems like there are an awful lot of armchair race pilots out there, who like to find fault in everything we (the new crew) do and have done.

Stacy Thomas

I for one don't think its "bad judgement" on your part at all, and I thank you heartily.

Being a non-air racer but with an engineering and mechanical background, I can pretty well sit here and sort the shatz from the shinola. Maybe a little better than the average reader, maybe not always. But I don't have the SPECIFIC and DETAILED answers that you guys do to refute the wild speculations.

One post from you guys can shed enough light to make the critics look pretty foolish.

Thanks again, and don't get the impression that ALL the rail-birds and ramp-rats out here think that all you guys have to do to win is open the bottle valve a little wider. Send anyone that thinks that the reciepts for rebuilding a scattered R-3350. But even the receipts don't tell the whole story when it takes hundreds of man-hours just to *find* rebuildable parts :-/

Anyway, your work is much appreciated.

Steve L.

[Ron101502]

Another thanks to Stacy for keeping us updated on the inner-workings of the Bear and her team. As a "fan sponsor" and fairly serious motorsports fan who knows nothing about round aircraft engines it's inevitable that I try to relate the Bear to what I've learned from other motorsports.

And the "fan sponsor" program is unique to air racing and to the Bear in particular, since it is the only "heavy hitter" team out there without a rich guy footing the bills. I doubt seriously if Dago under current ownership could ever pull this off.

I can go down to the corner bar and talk auto racing with a bunch of other guys and there are alway "armchair crew chiefs" just like football fans have "armchair quarterbacks", but this forum is the only place air race fans can go for a similar experience.

When there are no facts present, speculation among us amateurs will always run rampant trying to fill the information vacuum. When the "real guys" such as yourself set out the facts the speculation (which usually is NOT meant as criticism) will stop.

I have the highest admiration for you volunteers, and if I lived near Reno (almost moved there a few yrs back-too bad it didn't work out) I would be out there doing the grunt work for you licensed mechanics by washing parts, cleaning up, being a gofer or whatever. But at least the "fan" program lets us "wannabes" get a little closed to the action and have a "dog in the fight"

I will make my 2004 Bear contribution in spring of next yr. after my wife has her medical stuff squared away and I am financially clear to do so.

In the meantime, thanks for your posts, and thanks a ton and congratulations on the great job the Bear crew is doing.

Ron Henning

[SneakyPete]

Nitrous

Hey, Steve L. It strikes me as funny when someone like yourself will make a statement about having "common sense and a basic understanding of engines", and then go on to say something completely ignorant about the "lowered-rice-burner-with-blue-headlight-crowd." I think you need "common sense and a basic understanding of engines." Before I go any farther, I just to let everyone know that this is not a personal attack on Steve, but the comment about import car owners and how nitrous is used was over the top.

First of all, the effect that nitrous has on all internally combustion engines is the same. An engine can have four rows of seven cylinders, or it can have 4,6, or 8 cylinders--nitrous will increase power in all of them. The method in which it is applied is what's different. Obviously. a 3350 is plumbed way differently than a 2 liter Honda or small block Chevy. The common denominator here is that nitrous is used as a carrier to add more oxygen to the combustion process. How much you use is up to you. If you want a modest increase in power, you can do it. If you want to see how big an area you can cover with engine parts, then nitrous can certainly do that too. By the way, as far as bottle heaters go, they are used to maintain a more consistent pressure so that you can have repeatable results. Hve you ever used a can of compressed air? If you have, you would know that the more you used it, the colder the can got. As the can got colder, the pressure at the nozzle dropped. A bottle heater is used to counteract that.

As far as the comments about import owners using nitrous goes, you need to do some research. Sure, there are posers who carry a bottle in the trunk and never use it, but there are also those who know how to use it very well. I've seen a fairly docile looking Honda Civic thoroughly embarrass a Viper owner by 4 car lengths at LACR. High 11s in a car (that was driven to and from the track, by the way) is impressive no matter what it is.

Sorry to be so long winded--I just needed to give my two cents.

-Robert W.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the info. I guess that adding 10% horsepower with nitrous means it is a "dry system" and is consistent with what little I know about NOS in drag racing, i.e. it is essentially an intercooler device since to make more power( like the "rice rockets" or Pro Mods) additional fuel and spark retard would be required.

I did a little calculation and at 4000 hp and 2800 rpm the Bear is making around 7500 ft-lbs of torque. Pretty awsome and about the same as a Top Fuel dragster, only the Bear does it for 8-9 minutes!

The Mach tuck problem is another issue altogether. Anybody who has flown a DC-9 (redlined at .84) knows that the mach trim compensator starts working at around .81-.82 and you can do a better job of flying the airplane fast by putting the mach trim compensater to override and hand-fying the airplane and useing pitch trim to conteract mach tuck, but any variation in mach number, even .01-.02, is very evident in back pressure/nose up trim required.

I'm not surprised that this is an issue with the Bear's thick wing and I have even more admiration for Lyle and John for handling the airplane given the ever changing IAS and G changes around the course.

[mayday51]

....current ADVERTISING verbage/common name for NOx systems

...dry system....
"injects" only nitrous, uses existing fuel supply (injection system) to add needed fuel to gain required mixture(s)

wet system.....

injects both nitrous and fuel (single point combined nozzl or multiple point) has an added fuel scource from "natural" for the application