#5 Voodoo, a highly modified P-51D powered by an Allison-rodded V-1650 Packard Merlin. Pilot Steven Hinton, Jr. qualified the airplane on Monday with a single lap of 475.027 mph, putting him on the pole for the first Gold heat race. No issues or “gremlins” appeared during the week and all was in readiness for the Friday race.

During the Friday race Voodoo was not seriously challenged, winning with a speed of 471.703 mph, with 2nd place Czech Mate finishing some 14 seconds (a quarter of a lap) behind, with a speed of 454.368 mph. The Saturday Gold race had the same result; however it was clear the guys were saving their “stuff” for the Sunday final. Voodoo posted a speed of 453.148 with Czech Mate second at 447.835 mph, but only 0.525 seconds behind in the six lap race. The eight lap Sunday Gold Final was again won by Voodoo, this time with a speed of 460.306 mph while Czech Mate was in second at 450.582 mph, 10.833 seconds behind.

Starting from the pole each day, Hinton’s strategy was to enter the course running 110 inHgA manifold pressure and with the engine turning 3,400 rpm. This gave him a commanding lead for the first lap or so, and then he would reduce power by about 10 inHgA every couple of laps. By the end of the race he was running 80 inHgA, with copious amounts of horsepower available should any of the other racers mount a challenge. This strategy minimizes wear and tear on the engine and thereby reduces the cost of preparing the engine for next year. Note that in the past Voodoo has run the engine as high as 142 inHgA and 3,600 rpm, so there is a lot of capability still available.

Reno time keepers do not publish the racers individual lap times, however your author was able to develop unofficial speeds for Voodoo during Sunday’s Gold final by using camera EXIF data from images taken each time Voodoo rounded pylon #2. In order, these were 477.15, 462.01, 462.01, 454.79, 454.79 and 441.01 mph, (all accurate to about +/-3.75 mph, the posted average speed for the race was 460.306 mph), which clearly shows Hinton’s steady hand and precise course, as well as the effect of the stepped power reductions.

This year’s enhancements to the aircraft were largely related to improving internal systems, specifically the cooling system, as well as reconfiguring the flaps. Historically the team had experienced at least one cracked coolant header tank each year, and last year it caused a Mayday and DNF in the final Gold heat, when about half of the coolant was lost due to another cracked header tank.

During the off-season the team adapted a reconfigured coolant system as used by their arch rival Strega. This features removing and discarding the “horsecollar” header tank installed in front of the engine and piping the hot coolant to a new steel header tank located high in the fuselage, directly behind the pilot and aft firewall. To maintain coolant pressure within the cylinder banks, back pressure chokes are fitted at the head outlets, thereby preventing excessive vapor formation. As the coolant is a 50:50 mixture of glycol and water, vapor formation could become a real problem at low pressure.

This year the Merlin was built by Vintage V-12s, and featured not only the Allison connecting rods, installed in the positions as given in the Merlin manuals, stock main bearing caps (not steel), and special race pistons with 5.50:1 compression ratio, rather than the 6.00:1 in a stock engine. The reduced compression ratio definitely reduces loads on the bearings and helps keep the bottom of the engine happy. It is also claimed that the lowered compression ratio allows the engine to develop more torque; however it will take the installation of an instrumented drive shaft to know for sure. The propeller reduction gear ratio is 0.420:1, as original on the Merlin transport series engines.

#86 Czech Mate. It was good to have this mighty racer back at Reno after skipping 2015, though the new pilot James Consalvi had problems getting to Reno. On the way up the propeller became erratic, with speed fluctuating +/-100 rpm. As a result he set down in Bakersfield. Fortunately, the Sanders Brothers were able to provide a new prop governor, which was quickly flown to him and installed. Consalvi then raced for Stead Field/Reno, getting there a mere 15 minutes before the arrival deadline.

The airplanes internal systems had been reworked with the goal being to improve oil cooler effectiveness and reduce the associated cooling drag. On Tuesday Consalvi, qualified the racer at 444.121 mph, very creditable for his first time out in the little beast, which compares to Czech Mate’s best ever of 466.910 mph back in 2009.

The racer started life as a Yak-11 trainer, however years of work have evolved it into a highly modified racer, now powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB3, modified propeller and supporting systems to match. In the recent past the wing was completely rebuilt to improve its structural capability when the aircraft is operating at speeds well over 450 mph.

#8 Dreadnought, a Sea Fury T.Mk.20, re-powered with a Pratt & Whitney R-4360, piloted this year by Brian Sanders. This big and heavy airplane takes the approach of being pretty, and very dependable. As a result Dreadnought often finishes in the money when one or more of the leaders have problems. Back in 1986 Dreadnought set a new qualifying record at 452.737 mph, so qualifying at 440.432 mph this year did not show the full potential of the racer, though it was better than the 432.860 mph posted last year. During Monday’s qualifying run the engine began to run rough. Overnight the crew found a cracked sparkplug and another fouled. They replaced all 56 plugs, three ignition coils and some leads. No other problems during the week.

#71 Sawbones, was the only Wright R-3350-26WA powered Sea Fury at the races this year. Again flown by Shuttle Astronaut Curt Brown, he qualified at a higher speed than last year 421.318 verses 417.949 mph, but raced at about 417 mph through the week, giving a good solid forth place finish in each of the three days of racing.

During the off season the airplanes nose was reconfigured by enlarging the spinner, with the goal of reducing drag. Also, the propeller diameter was reduced from 13’-6” to 13’-1”, although the diameter information painted on the blades was not updated. It appears that the effort was successful, given the increase in qualifying speed; however the amount was not too impressive.

#924G.This is a Sea Fury T.Mk.20 powered by an original Bristol Centaurus 18-cylinder sleeve valve engine. This year it was flown by Dennis Sanders, who qualified the racer at 386.154 mph, and in the subsequent Gold heat races finished each in last place. Probably not a bad idea as there was no way the engine/airplane combination was going to be able to challenge any of the other Gold racers.

#114 Argonaut, a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB3 powered Sea Fury FB Mk.11 flown by rookie Joel Swager, who won his first race on the opening day of Unlimited racing. He then bumped up into the Gold for the rest of the week, where he had a close race with Dennis Sanders in #924G on Saturday, but finished well ahead of his Sanders Brothers stable mate in Sunday’s Gold final.

During his qualifying runs on Tuesday Swager ran two laps in the 351-353 mph range, which was all the big bird could do as the ADI system was found to not be working. Pete Law investigated and determined that the water regulator was the problem. Fortunately, Czech Mate, the other R-2800 powered racer on the field, also has a Pete Law ADI system and they were able to borrow a spare water regulator. Joel took Argonaut out for the final Unlimited qualifying session on Wednesday and posted a speed of 383.488 mph with everything working, and putting himself on the pole for the Friday Silver heat.

#92 Lylia, a Russian Yak-11 fitted with a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 that started life as an improved R-1830-54 as used on late model B-24 bombers. During the off-season a lot of work went into this engine and the airframe. Changes included fitting a new supercharger impeller, a new carburetor, longer propeller blades with pitch changes, and a new exhaust collector with a single outlet under the aft cowling, and an ADI injection system.

In addition a bigger spinner was fabricated, resulting in a smaller cooling air inlet slot, as well as a new spinner afterbody to improve airflow. With all of these changes there was a dramatic performance improvement compared to last year, where the airplane qualified at 305.133 mph. This year Lylia qualified at 362.723! This may be the largest year-to-year increase in speed ever seen at Reno. This speed was put to good use, as Lylia finished 2nd in the first heat race and won both of the following races; speeds were 367.385, 372.770 and 376.174 mph respectively. Dusty flew a smooth and low course each day and finished well ahead of the planes following him.

#0 Wee Willy, now a stock P-51D Mustang, this airplane carries the serial number of the famous Red Barron, the Rolls-Royce Griffon powered P-51 that at one time held the propeller driven world speed record. The aircraft was provided by the Planes of Fame Air Museum and flown by Robert Patterson. He qualified at 357.594 mph and had three very close races with the Museum’s P-51A Mrs. Virginia, who he was behind on Friday, ahead of on Saturday, and behind in the Sunday Silver final. The difference in times was only 0.236, 3.853 and 0.686 seconds. Wee Willy’s speeds for the three races were 344.834, 352.307 and 351.182 mph respectively.

#14 Mrs. Virginia, a stock Allison powered P-51A Mustang provided by the Planes of Fame Museum and flown by John Maloney. John qualified the plane at 356.032 mph, much better than the last time this airframe competed at Reno, back in 1981, when it was qualified at 350.400 mph. It was the same V-1710-89 JRS-built engine as raced 35 years ago, but it was run much harder back then, at a reported 75 inHgA at 3,200 rpm. Interestingly, the higher speeds this year were achieved running at 55 inHgA at 2,950 rpm. This replicates a findings on the Polar Bear P-51A a few years ago when a qualifying run using 3,200 rpm was tried and found to result in a slower speed than when running at 3,000 rpm. The problem is the 3-blade Curtiss Electric propeller; it just does not do well at high rpm and high speed. During the week Mrs. Virginia battled it out with the other Planes of Fame competitor, Wee Willy, for bragging rights – or it may have been one of those “it’s my/your turn,” things. In any case the fans got to see two very competitive and differently powered airplanes (Allison verses Merlin) going at it. They sounded, and looked good!

#44 Sparky/Blondie, a stock Merlin powered P-51D flown by Brant Seghetti. The racer has been repainted for this year, losing its “Jelly Belly” motif and being identified on the port side, as “Blondie,” while the off side retained the previous “Sparky” nose art. Brant qualified his racer at 343.195 mph, much better than the 310.362 mph posted last year and even better than the 329.638 mph posted in 2014.

Racing in the Silver heats all week Sparky/Blondie always finished fifth. The only racer he beat was The Rebel on Friday, where he ran 316.322 verses 315.994 mph, a difference of 0.471 seconds. On Saturday and Sunday he finished in last place, with speeds of 306.049 and 321.309 mph respectively.

#12 The Rebel, a stock Merlin powered P-51D was qualified by Doug Matthews at 342.307 mph, much better than last year’s 303.723 mph. Doug shared piloting duties with John Currenti, who piloted the racer during the Friday and Saturday Silver heats, where he posted speeds of 315.994 and 334.574 mph, finishing in sixth and fourth places respectively. For the Sunday Silver final Doug Matthews was again at the controls and finished in fourth place at 350.342 mph. This race was very competitive between three Mustangs, with the P-51A Mrs. Virginia edging out P-51Ds Wee Willy and The Rebel, their speeds were 351.602, 351.182 and 350.342 mph respectively.

Bob Hoover – 1922-2016, RIP

On October 25, 2016 the air racing community, and aviation in general, lost one of its pilots with the “Right Stuff;” Robert “Bob” Anderson Hoover. Bob, who was 94 at the time of his passing, is known as the “pilot’s pilot,” had been a patriarch of the Reno Air Races, where for decades he was the pace and safety pilot for the Unlimited Division. His words, “Gentlemen, you have a race,” are legendary. He was a true gentleman and friend to all. During his last couple of years he was instrumental in assisting the Aerospace Museum of California in its STEM program, focusing on exciting, motivating, and providing opportunities for youth to gain the knowledge and experience that would bring them into the world of aerospace, where he had excelled his whole life though.

The stories of Bob’s life fill many books. He was a fighter pilot early in WWII, where he was shot down in Germany while flying a Spitfire. He spent some 18 months in a prison camp, but was finally able to escape; he stole a FW 190, which he then flew back to an Allied country. He was the backup pilot to Chuck Yeager for the XS-1 first supersonic flight, where he flew chase. Hoover became a civilian in 1948, working as a test/demonstration pilot for North American Aviation. In the early 1960s he began flying air shows and was seen performing for millions of people, which he did until the mid 1990s. His brightly painted Ole Yeller, P-51D Mustang was seen all over the country, and fortunately is still shown in its original livery by its present owner: A fitting tribute to one of the outstanding men of aviation.

Bill Kerchenfaut – 1942-2016, RIP

This year, for the first time since 1968, Bill Kerchenfaut did not attend the Reno Air Races, where he had previously been crew chief on seven highly modified Unlimited air racers. On November 11, 2016 we were shocked to hear that Bill, who claimed to be, “Just a Little Guy with a Screwdriver,” had passed away. Bill was a legend for his innovations and leadership, as well as the numerous records set with his airplanes. He was on the crew of Conquest I when Darryl Greenamyer brought the world speed record back to the USA with a speed of 483 mph in 1969; he was crew chief on Dago Red in 2003 when Skip Holm set the fastest lap record at Reno, with a speed of 507 mph. He was versatile, crewing airplanes powered by the Centaurus, the R-2800, R-3350 and Merlin, and understood empirical aeronautics and the underlying science in a way that few do. Besides, he was a really great guy, and a member of the Aircraft Engine Historical Society. He will be missed.