Racing begins for real

Jun 09, 2023

The racing adventure has really started. Chad and Jason have just about all the panels off the airplane. The engine cowl is off, the spark plugs are out and the covers on the back of the magnetos and the supercharger are off. The airplane is ready for technical inspection. This inspection makes sure that the airplane is ready and safe for racing. The airplane is in good condition. Now we will put the panels back on and do the secret racing upgrades to make the plane go faster.

All this work is easier to write about than getting the work done. We advance the timing on the magnetos and put in new spark plugs. We put on a new air box and seal the fitting where the air box goes into the bottom of the carburetor. That’s it for the engine but there is more to do to make the airplane go faster. It is important to get weight further back in the tail to help the balance of the airplane. We move the battery further back in the fuselage and add more weight in the tail. This shifts the balance of the airplane further back and helps with the handling of the airplane.

The airplane is closed back up and the race propeller is installed. Now the most important work begins. The cleaner the airframe the faster the plane goes. We start cleaning off bugs and oil and shine the wings with a special wax. This cleaning will go on the rest of the week. We also put on stickers from sponsors that helped fund the racing adventure. The cleaning is supposed to help reduce drag. The stickers seem to add drag. Doesn’t make much sense, but without sponsors to help finance this adventure we wouldn’t be out here racing.

The flying starts on Monday. Each class of racer gets some time on the course during the day. The T-6 class has racers flying on the course and doing some practice starts to get ready for the races that will begin on Thursday. Chad is getting some good times going around the course. The last qualifying session begins and with little time remaining the engine starts to run rough. Chad makes an emergency landing and Jason and I wonder what could be wrong.

An impressive show of camaraderie begins. The other T-6 pilots come by and offer encouragement and suggestions about what might be wrong with the engine. Other mechanics offer suggestions, tools and help. One guy comes over with a spare carburetor and says we can use it if we find something wrong with ours. We pull the sparkplugs, check the compression, pull all the screens going into the carburetor, check the fuel pump, readjust the timing and check the mixture setting. We make a minor adjustment to the mixture and the airplane goes back together. Everything checks out and Race 22 will have to start in last place because the emergency didn’t let us get qualified. This show of sportsmanship and friendship by the other racing crews was one of the most memorable experiences I ever had. The generosity was unbelievable.

After all that work, the rest of Chad’s crew shows up. Ten people from Louisiana show up to help with the cleaning and keeping the racer going. I wish they had been there when all the work on the engine was being done. We get to race on Friday and Chad moves up one space in the race. Now all this help goes to work cleaning and taping up the airplane. Many hands make light work really works. Most of the people there now are either farmers or pilots. After a day of racing we gather around the crew trailer and spend the rest of the day talking about farming and flying. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Saturday is the final race in the Bronze class of T-6s. Chad starts in fourth place and passes two other planes during the race and ends in second place. The winner Chris Lefave flew a speed of 220.82 miles per hour and Chad flew 220.37 miles per hour. If there had been one more lap, we would have won. It was an exciting race. The announcers called out in delight as Chad passed two planes and made it very competitive nearly catching number 1 on the last lap! The announcers also called out that Chad was a farmer and all the crew was made up of farmers. A guy came by to see what was going on. He said he was a farmer in Canada and he had to see what a race team of all farmers would look like.

Our excitement was over and we spent Sunday putting the plane back into stock configuration for the trip back home. Home is still 1,400 air miles away.

It’s a combination of relief and elation that we are through racing. This racing adventure started out to be a learning experience. Chad was going to race and learn what it took to fly in the Reno Air Races. He got the total experience for the races. He won second place in the Bronze class. His race was probably one of the most exciting races of the entire week. It is hard enough to pass another plane, but he passed two in the same race and with possibly another he could have won.

An adventure is not over until everything is done. Now comes the task of getting the airplane ready to go back to Louisiana. Jason Allen has worked hard all week and really shined as crew chief. Now we have the whole crew helping. We change the race propeller, move the battery, remove the weights, take off the tape around the canopy and prepare the trailer for driving it back home.

This process doesn’t take long. Chad has a super bunch of helpers. Peggy and Charles Tucker, Keith Powers, Randy Dukes, Bobby Holt, John Day, Coates Head, Darrell VandeVen, Carl Hill, and John Hilderbrand swarm over the plane and everything is completed to get the plane back home. Now is the easiest part of the adventure. We spend Sunday watching the other races and just enjoying the great show that is the Reno Air Races. Sunday night we all go to the banquet to see Chad get his trophy. What a trip.

Chad and Jason are flying the T-6 Monday morning and everyone else is leaving on an airliner. I’m the only one facing a three-day drive. Several people say they feel guilty about me having to drive by myself. I’ve heard that before. “I fell guilty about you having to drive by yourself.” “Not guilty enough to ride with me though.” “Yea, I don’t feel that guilty.”

Carl Hill says he is going to ride back with me. Wow, that is a relief. We leave Monday morning. An extra driver is a blessing. I tell everyone that Carl has no respect for the speed limit or the police. That’s just what we need to make good time on this trip. He is seeing things that he didn’t know he had on his bucket list until now. We make it back to Louisiana in two days and I fly back home.

Now all there is left to do is decide if we are going back. I’m just thankful that I took some small steps to get involved in this adventure. This has been a fulfillment of a dream or at least part of it. Israelmore Ayivor says, “Don’t be unwilling to take those little steps, in them reside great journeys.”

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