Title: Hinton Sets Record, Souped-Up Jets Are Banned Source:
EAA URL Source:http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-09-15_reno.asp Published:Sep 15, 2011 Author:Lane Wallace Post Date:2011-09-16 22:38:25 by X-15 Keywords:None Views:545 Comments:15
September 15, 2011 – This year’s edition of the 48th Reno National Air Races at Stead Field, Nevada, got off to a blazing start as 24-year-old race pilot Steven Hinton, flying the highly modified P-51 Strega, set a new qualifying record of 499.16 mph on the very first day of qualifying in the Unlimited Category. Will Whiteside, flying the P-51 Voodoo, qualified second, and Stewart Dawson qualified third in Rare Bear. Rod Lewis’ powerhouse Sea Fury, 232, flown by retired astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson, turned in the fourth-fastest qualifying time but then had to withdraw from competition due to mechanical difficulties. On the other hand, Gibson’s withdrawal made room for Matt Jackson to join the qualifying pack in the Sea Fury Furias. Furias was on a “waitlist” to race because its entry paperwork arrived late.
Lewis’ Sea Fury will not be the only powerhouse sitting out this year’s races, however. The Jet Class will also be missing several of its top fastest racers, due to a rule change implemented after the rookie Pylon Racing School (PRS) in June. In the past few years, owners of several L-29 Czech training jets, in an effort to beat the larger L-39 jets that had dominated the class, had put larger engines in the planes. But during this year’s PRS, one of the souped-up jets (flown by Heather Penney, daughter of veteran race pilot John Penney) had an overheating problem that almost resulted in the loss of its rudder. So, at least for this year’s event, the race committee has decreed that only jets with stock engines will be allowed to race. The other rule change that might affect this year’s event relates to weather. Last year’s Unlimited Gold Race on Sunday afternoon was finally called due to high winds - the first time that had ever happened. But this year, the Race Committee has already announced that if the surface winds are more than 35 knots, the race will be called in the interests of safety.
Jon Sharp, who holds 15 Reno championship titles in the Formula I and Sport classes, including four consecutive Sport Class victories in his NemesisNXT, officially announced his retirement from racing this past summer. But two of his NXT kit planes, one flown by Kevin Eldredge and one flown by Cristophe Delbos, are entered in this year’s Sport Class competition. So the airplane’s winning legacy might just continue without him.
What else? Well, the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor had to cancel (it, too, had mechanical issues). But the Air Force Thunderbird demonstration team will be performing over the weekend, along with a host of other air show performers. And for those who prefer their old airplanes straight up, the Rolls-Royce Invitational Trophy competition will showcase more than 20 Grand Champion-quality antique, classic, and warbird restorations throughout the week. The Rolls-Royce trophy, which resides at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Museum at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., the rest of the year, will be awarded Sunday before the afternoon racing begins.
The Reno National Air Races run through Sunday. Results will be posted on the event website.
Poster Comment:
Learn about Reno here before you get the disinformation/ignorance/lies from the MSM.
That was a tragic accident, but far less than it could have been. I hope they continue with the air racing tradition. No cultural event, of which I think this qualifies, that's worth doing is always safe.
They should not use such old planes in such a punishing way. This was an accident waiting to happen. Aluminum will fail suddently after a long period of low frequency stress much faster then say steel.
Think of how work harding works; bend the wire coat hanger over and over and le voila! it breaks.
Now, take coat cangers, one steel, one aluminum. Put it in a testing machine that flexes both slightly for a long long period, which could be years.
The aluminum one will break long before the steel one will. To do steel that way could take decades.
They should not use such old planes in such a punishing way. This was an accident waiting to happen. Aluminum will fail suddently after a long period of low frequency stress much faster then say steel.
It's not yet known what kind of failure caused the trim tab to fall off, assuming the photo of the plane with what looks like a missing trim tab is indeed accurate. Material fatigue is a well known concept among pilots, and no doubt the pilots of these type aircraft are well familiar with the issue. I would hope that the hinge would not have been made of aluminum as it is a weaker metal to start with.
Certainly upwards of 500 MPH do create lots of stress, and I'd say if the trim tab falling off caused this accident, then it means the trim tab must have been worked hard/under lots of strain to keep the elevator as it was. If it weren't then I wouldn't think the thing falling off would have been catastrophic. He should have been able to exit the race and land just fine, as all the trim tab does is make it *easier* for the pilot to hold a particular altitude.
You may be right though. I read this was the 3rd P-51 crash at the race since they've been holding it. Maybe the design needs to be reviewed to see if it's capable of doing these kinds of speeds for an extended time.