November, 2001

FOR/IIIIULA
FORUIII
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
2OO1
Rememb-r& e-l l-zool
THE
IFl JOURNAL
FORMULA FORUM
VOLUME XII
NUMBER 6
For rules, send a check for
$7.50, payable to IFl to cover
cost of printing and mailing.
JEFF GUNN
Operations Director
866 Santa Cruz St.
Corona, CA 92882
909 734-2925
gunnjb@sce.com
EXECUTIVO
Formula Forum
tFt tNc.
@
COMMITTEE
2001
International Formula One
Air Racing, Inc. A11
rights reserved.
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Racing, Inc.,
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TONYWRIGHT,JT.
Vice President
TOM DeHART
Technical Director
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President
Articles appearing herein are
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WILL DENNIS
IFl,Inc..
Secretary
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DIRECTORS
F
1
raygladyscote@aol.com
ANITAINTANTE
Promotions Director
97298.300fth St
Kewanee, tr- 61443
309/8s3-5328
MEMBERSH!P
RAY COTE
Technical Committee
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Membership in IFI is open to
pilots, owners, cr€ws, and
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Members $50, Non-voting
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Will Dennis.
COVER PHOTO
With the flag at half staff, Will Dennis taris
by, part of the lF1 contribution to the
National Day of Mourning on Friday, prior to
cancellation of the races. Al \lYimer Photo
FORMULA FORUM, NOWMBER
2OO1
CONTENTS
3. President's Page
4. 5ft Column - Editorial
5. Reno 2001
8. Reno Racers
925/827-2604
BSTIMES5@aol.com
David Hoover
Bill Rogers
Bill Rogers
10. Promotions and Marketing Anita Infante
Steve Hill
12. Tech Tips - Propellers
14. Odds and _
15. For Sale
President's Page
David
Hoover
It was hard to get motivated to write this
issue's President's Page because of the
events on September l lth, and the
subsequent cancellation of this year's
races. My most sincere condolences go
out to all those that lost their lives on the
llth, and to their families and friends.
I have to applaud RARA's efforts. They
pulled out all the stops and were in hourly
contact with Nevada State Senators, the
FAA, and EAA trying to do whatever it
would take to get clearance for the races
to continue. Most F1's that were trailered
to Reno were packed up and gone by
Saturday afternoon, and those that flew in
were housed in the big hangar until VFR
flying was legal again.
A consequence ofthe races being
cancelled is that it has had a devastating
effect on RARA's finances. RARA bases
most of it's yearly revenues and purse
payouts from pre-sold tickets, and
walk-in ticket sales. No races : No
revenues. As of mid-October, RARA was
at least 1.5 million dollars in the hole.
They are getting dozens of letters daily
frompeople wanting full refunds from
their ticket purchases. A result ofthese
lost revenues was the fact that no pilots in
any class received any money. When I
received this information about two
weeks after the cancellation of the races, I
notified the piloVowners via email of the
situation. Every single response I received
back was supportive and understandable
of RARA's situation. Lets hope that the
other classes are as supportive as Formula
One. RARA did offer to fully refund race
entry fees to those that asked, or the pilots
could donate that money back to RARA
to help them financially. I know that a lot
of our pilots elected to contribute their
entry fees back to RARA to help them
out. For those pilots that had their race
insurance through Bob Cannon, he
offered full refunds as well. I have been
assured by RARA that we
will
be racing
in2002.
Reno 2001 would have been a banner
year for RARA and Formula One; ticket
sales were up over 20%o;the crowds
would have been huge; Fl had26
airplanes show up, the highest number
of airplanes of any class. Six rookies
were there, and all were pilot qualified
by Monday. They all flew very well and
their planes looked great. I think that the
Slon Racing Seminar had a lot to do
with that. 12 pilots got qualiffing times
on Monday. The weather was
spectacular and everything was running
smoothly. I feel bad for the Rookies.
They were just getting the flavor of the
Reno experience when everything
stopped on Tuesday. Every single one of
them said it was still a great experience
for them and they all plan to be back
next year. Look for Fl to possibly have
30 entries next year.
I want to welcome the new Board
members that were elected at Reno this
year. They include: Scotty Crandlemire
(Vice President), Bill Rogers
(Procedures), and Gary Hubler ( Tech
Rules). Thank you to the outgoing
Directors, Tony Wright, Jr., Ray
Sherwood, and Ray Cote for their hard
work and dedication. All ofthe other
Directors were re-elected into their
previous positions.
Look for a complete facelift of the
website soon. Ray Debs has volunteered
to take over the site and spruce it up. For
a preview of Ray's work, see his website
at (www.aerophile.org). On another
note, I want to personally wish Robert
Jones the best of luck on his upcoming
wedding in December.
God Bless
America
FORMUI,A FORUM, NOWMBER
David
2OO1
sth
column
Bill Rogers
Editorial
It is impossible to imagine what it was
like to sit at your desk in the World
Trade Center, with your coffee, and to
feel the building shudder with the impact
of a manned missile or to be huddled in
the back of a doomed plane - your
survival dependent on fate; your life in
the hands of an evil dastard so filled
with hate that he cares not even for
himself. It did not matter to them that
not only Americans were casualties, and
so the world mourns with us. Our hearts
and prayers go out to the victims in New
York, Washington, and Pennsylvani4
their rescuers and their survivors.
All of us in IFl
are involved in aviation
to some degree or other, and aviation
seems to have taken the brunt of the
repercussions of September 1ltr, so far.
United and American flight crews and
passengers were first to experience this
new horror. Some are dependent on
aviation for a living - crop dusting
businesses were shut down for a period
and several people fly for the airlines.
Others had their aircraft trapped on tle
ground by FAA restrictions. Airports
and the akcraft industry are directly
affected. Our hearts go out to the
aviation community
as
well.
Unforhrnately it's not over yet, and we
are committed to lead a crusade against a
scattered band of international terrorists.
The military is on a war footing and my
son, David, is a gunner on a US Air
Force rescue helicopter. His wing is
responsible for the Middle East, and he
has already had tours in Kuwait and
Turkey before all this, waiting for an F16 to lose an engine over Iraq. He will
be shipping out soon and possibly
involved in any action in that area. Our
hearts and prayers go out to those who
must go in harms way to protect what is
left of our freedom.
FORMAI.A FORAM, NOWMBER
2OO1
RARA is facing an enofinous financial
crisis, and one can only hope that the
racers, the fans and all the Reno
businesses involved, directly or
indirectly, support them to ensure a
2002 everfi. I have often said, that
whatever we may think, the most
important person in air racing is the
promoter. Without RARA, there is no
Reno; without Reno how much air
racing will we have? RARA did their
best, but this event affecting the world
community is so much bigger than our
show. With everl'thing shut down,I was
heartened by the stories from fans and
enthusiasts who fought their way to
Reno with epic drives and nerve racking
airline flights. The casinos and
hospitality businesses were hard hit - a
fact visible even as we hung on in Reno
hoping that restrictions would be lifted.
Our best wishes go out to them too.
As the ripples spread out through the
economy, an economy that has also been
damaged, the reduced discretionary
advertizing budget will impact
motorsports sponsorships. We found it
difficult before September 11e, but
already major automobile racing series
and even the top teams are feeling the
financial pressure. Airshows are being
cancelled, even organizations that use
airports for non-aviation events are
being run off by security concerns.
Our sympathies too for our rookies they worked so hard and were better
prepared than any oftheir predecessors,
only to sit in the hangar. But like
Americq let's come back determined to
sweep up the glass, find a better balance
between security and practicalrty, and
get on with the pursuit of happiness.
Bill
Reno 2001
Bill Rogers
This is usually called the Reno Race
Report, but the tragic events of Sept. 1ltr
directly impacted the air races even
before the Trade Center buildings fell,
and there were to be no races. As air
traffrc was shut down in the wake of the
terrorist attacks, so were we shut down,
except for a few aborted minutes on
Thursday - but more of that later.
It would have been agrcatyear. Thanks
to the efforts of David Hoover, Scotty
Crandlemire, Charlie Greer and the rest
of the Directors, we had the best entry in
about 10 years. Apart from the 25
people listed last month, Bobby Budde
appeared at the RARA office, money in
hand with a late entry. Although the list
was full, he was allowed in as an
alternate, since we try not to tum anyone
away and there is usually some attrition.
A large crop of well-prepared rookies,
thanks to the PRS, appeared raring to go.
Two foreign entries, the retums of Dan
Borgstrom and Stephen Alexander, kept
us Intemational.
THE ENTRY
From the original entry of 25, Birch
Entriken was the only one to withdraw.
He had repaired "Scarlet Screamer" after
his accident at Truckee, and wheeled it
into the hangar for a short time on
Saturday, but it was not quite complete,
and he decided not to rush it.
Robert Jones' "Aggressor" looked smart
and featured a clipped horizontal, new
wheel pants and a faired-in tail wheel.
He had also redone the weight/balance
and was able to remove some ballast,
reducing the weight by l8 pounds.
*Baby Dragon" reappeared in the hands
of United pilot, Gary Davis, as
*Midnight Lightning", sporting a smart
black and white paint scheme and a new
N number. Another rookie was Ed
Dutreaux, who had a new aircraft built
from a few pieces of #19 o'Okie
Streaker". This was beautifully made
and featured a shrouded exhaust. 'oMiss
USA" also returned pretty much
unchanged, now in the hands of Dave
and Clodagh Roelofs from Prescott,
Arizona.
Will Dennis had a new motor, a new air
scoop and, after several days of
intensive work, an actual spinner. The
Wrights had "Midnight Oil" back for
Cris Ferguson again and had been flying
it too much for major mods. Dan
Borgstrom had used the off-season to
take "Half Fast" back to Sweden where
the might
ofNordic aerospace was
employed to develop a titanium 4:1
exhaust system and associated heat
shielding as well as reworking the
canopy by removing all the mechanism
and adding a substantial roll bar. The
result was a significant weight reduction
of 40lbs.
The other foreign entry was that of the
#7. After an anxious wait, the
container from England, via Oakland,
arrived on Saturday. Upon opening it
they were horrified to find that someone,
probably US Customs, had loosened
tiedowns that held the wing above the
fuselage to examine inside the plane and
had not retightened them. The resulting
damage was extensive; both wing tips,
the rudder and fuse as well as a large
concave bubble in the canopy where the
wing had rested. The damage was more
extensive than that to John Parker's
Thunder Mustang that landed on one
main gear the same day. It took the
crew two and a half days to repair, but
they were ready to go on Tuesday. The
airplane is the same old Thompson
Cassutt, but with a new sponsor - GPN hence the new registration, and a striking
white paint scheme with a central red
stripe, hence the new name -'oJam
Brits with
Sandwich" like Brit police cars.
FORMAIA FORUM, NOWMBER
2OOI
Another unlucky (or lucky) team was
Holbrook Maslen's, who blew a trailer
tire in southern Idaho. The trailer
detached itself from the motorhome and
completed a roll, coming to rest on it's
side, well off the road with "Judy"
holding onto the wall with her wheels.
The Hubler team came on the scene and
assisted in recovery; amazingly the
airplane was virtually undamaged with a
few nicks in the prop and spinner.
the help of a spare trailer from
Hublers, and a new prop, Judy
ready to
With
Q
UALI FYI NG
the
was
race.
has put him in the
pilot's seat.
With his hand injury, David Hoover did
not quite complete his new plane in time
and again appeared with Kelly Kikkert's
#96 and installed his race motor. George
Budde had brought #6 for Ray Sherwood
and had installed a 4:1 exhaust and new
baffling. Other aircraft appeared to be
externally unchanged.
Qualifying
An hour long untimed session on Sunday
allowed most of the rookies, and people
needing requal to complete their
requirements.
Charlie Greer has come to grips with
#69; significant weight savings were
achieved by replacing the vertical and
refairing the aft fuselage. The Hublers
also had worked the fuselage with a
clean new cowling back to the wing
trailing edge. Jay Jones had done it
again; after loading "Quad Nickel" he
fell off his Go-Ped and broke, this time,
his elbow. He must be wondering if
someone is trying to tell him something.
Crewchief Larry Lechner picked up the
piloting duty. The airplane had received
a new cowl with distinctive cheeks
merging quickly back into a small
Wi& another (et) class, hopes for a Pilot
Meeting later than 0700 were dashed and
qualiffing sessions were limited to 45
minutes. On a beautiful Monday moming
everything was in place for qualifying
and, with less favorable weather
threatened for Wednesday, five people
took the opportunity to set a time once
the few folks who needed to complete
pilot items were done. Bobby Budde,
Carl Swenson and the Brits were not yet
ready. According to my watch, Charlie
Greer was running in the 240's and Crary
Hubler in the 250's.
firewall.
Dave Morss had lost his Lancair ride and
returned with an unchanged "Cool
Runnings". Hep Porter has stayed
involved in F1 as a member of the
Contest Committee and as an airplane
builder, so his appearance with "38
Special", apreviously-unraced, stock
Cassutt was not unexpected. Also
retuming was Steve Myers in his
Cassutt, renamed as
o'Flashback".
Another rookie, Tim Bovee, was ready
with the ex-Troy Channing Midget
Mustang, now renamed "Purty Pony".
Wing damage had forced a rebuild of
the right surface. Gary Dalleske is
familiar as David Hoover's crewchief,
but his unraced Cassutt "Blackjack"
FORMULA FORUM, NOWMBER 2OOI
The noon session was less amenable to
fast times, but seven more people got on
the board including Ray Cote and Gary
Hubler. Scotty Crandlemire had a carb
problem and after sputtering around for a
while made a hasty, but successful
emergency landing. Hep Porter suffered
the loss ofpart ofthe graphite covering
on his wood-cored prop.
Speeds were lower than expected,
although Gary set an identical time to last
year. Dan Borgstrom's work yielded a
9 mltr improvement.
4
Ray Cote, El Cajon,CA; 243.552
Owl OR-7l/Cote, "Alley Cat" N1VD
95 GaryHubler,Caldwell,ID; 243.341
NI lXR
Cassutt IIIM, "Mariah"
99 Dave Morss, Redwd
QUALIFYING
IMES
Cassutt o'Cool
Cty,CA;227.378
Runnings" N799DM
?":ff:::,B*i';#:L::,"'"''ffi;t#
WTC attack on the news, and
was a sober group that filed into the
see the
it
T:1'13
Louis; 218.529 everyone",y:,,1;"#*r,fl""J#ii;.
else in the county watching
o'Aero
Cassutt,
Magic"
N14SJ events unfold and listening to Bill Eck
43 John Housley, St.
ffi#*k:&ffi
Tii#, ffi;:,il,::,
Cassutt'MissUSA" N5381
we pushed.u,
0900update,wepushedback, 1100All
30 Dan Borgstrom, Sweden; 209.950 Hands Press Conference - we waited;
Shoestring "Half Fast"
Nl18DP Reno called their political contacts to no
23 Steve Myers, Scottsdale, A2;207.890 avail - we waited. The class Presidents
Cassutt "Flashback"
N27JM were now in the RARA radio loop so
38 Hep Porter, Gardnrville,NV;199.364 that we could respond immediately to
Cassutt "3S Special"
N38MW any change in the situation. We will race
2l Gary Dalleske, Camron Pk,CA;191.2 tomonow, they said, and the Classes set
Cassutt
"Blackjack"
N85GN
90 Tim Bovee. Wenatchee,WA; 177.581
Midget Mustang "Purty Pony" N190A
96 David HooveqFoster
DNQ
Grove GR-7 *MacDaddy' N687RB
Cty;
12
ScottCrandlemire,Meridian; DNQ
"
Diego;
Hoover/Cassutt "Outrageous
N25VS
69 Charlie Greer, San
DNQ
Gilbert DG- 1 "Miss-B-Haven'N390DG
57 Robert Jones,Kerman,
DNQ
CassutUGrove, "Aggressor" N603R
6 Ray Sherwood, Pleasant
DNQ
CA;
Hill;
Stroker"
Cassutt IIIM, "Okie
N102
17 Sonny Swenson, Conroe,TX; DNQ
Cassutt IIIM, "Annie"
N45889
45Lary Lechner, Leadville, CO; DNQ
Cassutt "Quad Nickel"
Will Dennis, Willits,
Cassutt "Fool's Gold"
15
26 Chris Ferguson,
CA;
N53014
DNQ
pairings as best they could.
Thursday; still go but a delay till 9. We
fly at 0800; the few who have not
yet flown, B. Budde, Dennis, Jones and
Swenson, also Stephen Alexander who
had not completed final pilot quals. At
0750 we started engines; the now almost
pristine #7 shut down immediately with
oil pouring from the bottom of the cowl.
The oil filter had split and a frantic
search for a replacement ensued, while a
dedicated hazmatteam drove by
whirling props to mop up. The rest,and
a lone biplane took off. By 0830
someone had noticed the biplane on
radar, and black flags shut us down once
can
and for all.
N3154H
RenoNV; DNQ There would be no racing on Friday as
Oil"
we wouldparticipate in the National
Cassutt IIIM, "Midnight
N6439T
33 Ed Dutreaux, San Mateo, CA:
Cassutt,
54 Gary Davis,
Cassutt *Midnight Lightning" N54ML
7 Stephen Alexander, England DNQ
Cassutt "Jam
G-OGPN
50 Birch Entriken,Truckee,CA DNShow
"Slingshot"
DNQ Day of Mourning, and at 3:00 it was
N8ED
Sanger,TX; DNQ
Sandwich"
Cassutt'oScarletScreamer" Nl35R
10 Bobby Budde, Clear Lake,ALT,DNQ
N16G
Cathaway "El Bandito"
Then came Tuesday. The early pilot
meeting had many of us up in time to
announced that no assurances of a lifting
of the grounding could be obtained and
the races were cancelled.
It would have been a great year, instead
we have the possibility that the financial
disaster suffered by everyone associated
with the races, will jeopardize the event
in future. Lets hope that RARA's brave
assurances are backed by solid support
from the community. If they hold it, we
will
come.
FONruUUT FORUM, NOWMBER
2OO1
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FORMAL,A FORUM, NOWMBER
2OO 1
Marketing & Promotions
Anita lnfante
Reno
Air
Races
Although the races were cancelled, I
want to express IFI's thanks to our
sponsors who agreed to support our
new dates in November 2A02, and
planning to expand the event to 3 days.
racing at Reno. AeroShell continued
Thanks to the additional pilots/teams
their support through their product
sponsorship. Each Formula One Team
that would have qualified, received two
cases of AeroShell oil. Also, rather than
store the additional oil that was set aside
for the winners in the IF1, Biplane and
Sport classes, Paul Royko agreed to
who signed-up at Reno to fill our field.
We would have had 8 teams entered.
Hope to see you next year.
distribute the remaining oil to the IF1
teams. Thanks Paul & AeroShell!
Other sponsors who agreed to support
IFI through product awards were Unison
Industries and Precision. Unison has
been a sponsor for five years, and this is
Precision's second year. I am continuing
to work on expanding our sponsorship
program. If you have any contacts or
suggestions for other companies, please
let me know.
New Membership Marketing Survey:
Thanks to those ofyou who immediately
responded to the Marketing Survey; I
have 20 responses to date. There are
currently 80 voting members and 5l
associate members of IFl. This means
that I haven't hemd from 1l I of you. In
order to have a valid survey, I need more
responses.
I would appreciate it if AIl If'l
Members and supporters would please
take a few minutes and fill out the
questionnaire and fax or mail it back to
departrnent officials shortly after Reno
me, as soon as possible. Please make
photocopies ifyou need extras. (Fax:
3 09-8 53-5328, Address : Anita Infante,
9729 E. 3000th St., Kewanee, IL
61443). Please answer questions as
completely as possible. If you have
multiple answers for one question, list
by highest use or priority. Thanks for
your help!
to discuss their concems about
scheduling the event in the wake of the
Possible Races
Homestead/Miami Air Races & Sport
Aviation Competition
As most of you know by now, this event
has been postponed. The Miami-Dade
Aviation Department is our primary
sponsor for the event. I met with the
attacks of September 11th. The biggest
problem was that the aviation
department had immediate financial
difficulties. The deparhnent's revenue is
almost entirely based on commercial
aviation, and the airlines were
struggling. It was reported that the
department was losing $600,000 a day,
and they were laying people off to
reduce their loss. In addition to the
financial burden, the Homestead site
caused us conc,erns because of the
10
proximity of the Air Force Base and the
nuclear power plant. We are looking at
FORMULA FORAM, NOVEMBER 2OOI
The prospects of a race or two in
Phoenix look very good. I have sent
overviews of our course requirements
and our current fee skucture to the
airport owners. I am traveling to
Phoenix on October 27thto look at the
airport and for meetings with a couple of
potential sponsors. I'll have more
complete info by the next newsletter.
After I return from Phoenix I will be
meeting with the organizers of the Deke
Slayton Air Show in Sparta, WI. Their
event is next July, and they would like to
add an IF1 race. This event is the
weekend before EAA's Oshkosh
AirVenture.
The Prairie Air Show in Bloomington,
IL is also looking into the feasibility of
staging a race during their air show.
Their event is the weekend prior to the
Deke Slayton event.
Ifyou know ofany other venues that are
possibly interested in staging an IF1
race, please let me or David Hoover
know who to contact.
AeroShell paid for the set-up of the new
embroidery die that saved us more
money. I was asked if we could order
more shirts since I didn't have all of the
sizes, and we ran out of some of the
colors that people wanted. I have made
arrangements with the supplier to take
individual orders and put them together
into one embroidery run.
The shirt is a Jerzees #69791,1000
Combed Cotton, Short-sleeved, Polo
Shirt with Racing Collar and sleeve cuff.
These shirts run true to size and even
though they are 100% cotton they shrink
very little.
Colors Available: Royal, White, Red,
Birch, Gold, Black
Available: M (38-40) L (42-44)
xL (46-48) xxl- (s0-s2)
Sizes
The price for IFl members is $30.00
plus $3.95 shipping and handling
(Continental US, ground UPS international shipping is higher)
Orders should reference IF 1 and be
directed to:
VIP Marketing,Inc., W63 N131
Washington Avenue, Cedarburg, WI
53012.
Toll-free Phone Orders: 888 375-4883,
Hours 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM Central time.
Ask for Fran and mention the IF1 Polo
Shirt order. Checks, Mastercard or Visa
IF1 Polo Shirts: Order yours in
timefor Christmas!
I purchased only a few polo shirts with
Race Flags and the IF1 name to be sold
accepted.
at Reno this year as a test for a
merchandise program. Since the races
were canceled, we didn't receive any
feedback from the general public but the
IF1 membership response was great.
The last day to order is November 30th.
After November 30th, your order will be
refused. We are only producing one
embroidery run to keep the cost down.
If you miss this order, we will have
more shirts at Reno next year.
We sold enough shirts and hats to cover
the cost of the purchase with a little left
over for the IF 1 treasury; since
Anita
FORMUL,A FORUM, NOWMBER
2OO1
11
Tech Tips
Steve Hill
Owens Composites Racing Props
Many years ago we suffered multiple
failures of metal propellers, and as a
result, banned themfrorn use on our
aircraft for safety reasons. Composite
props have been improved and
developed by Steve Hill and others to
provide a reliable, and highly
competitive replacement. However, the
dynamic erwironment inwhich these
propsfunction has gottenwotse (N
speeds have increased. This
informationwas distributed to all the
entries at Reno, but needs to be made
available to all owners and pilots, so
bear with us as we repeat it here. Ed
RESONANT VIBRATION OF
COMPOSITE FORMULA ONE RACE
PROPELLERS
Our composite propellers have been
flying on Formula One racers for more
than 13 years. They have proven to be
reliable and nearly indestructible. Short
of ground contact, the only failure mode
seems to be due to resonant vibrations
occurring at particular engine RPMs.
The good news is that the failures are
not catastrophic. They show up as small
delaminations and cracks in the forward
face of the skin plies and are only
discovered during post flight inspection
of the propeller. The bad news is that
they are expensive, since repairs of these
delaminations have not been successful.
The purpose of this article is to present a
method by which a pilot can determine
which engine speeds to avoid with his
particular aircraft.
2000 series props have unidirectional
carbon fiber tape interiors and 3000
series props have carbon fiber roving
interiors.
Most props manufactured since mid
1994 are 3000 series. Each series has a
different vibrational resonant frequency
due to the different materials. Another
factor is our limited ability to get the
exact same materials from year to year
with the result being that props within
the same series can have slightly
different resonant frequencies.
The vibration in the propeller is induced
by the engine at certain speeds which are
different for each airframe/engine/prop
combination. The pilot needs to
determine what engine RPMs excite the
resonant vibrations in each propeller that
he uses, and then absolutely avoid
operating the engine at those RPMs.
In order to determine when the propeller
is vibrating, the pilot must be very
familiar with his aircraft and with the
various noises and vibrations that it
makes in general. Then the pilot must
put the aircraft in a favorable condition
to feel the propeller vibrations which
may be very subtle and hard to feel or
hard to excite. We have some pilots
report an obvious vibration while others
have never felt anything at all. The prop
WILL be damaged if it is operated for
long periods at engine speeds which
excite the resonant vibrations. We
believe that a pilot should be able to feel
the vibration and should make every
We have manufactured race props using
3 different material combinations which
are designated by the last four digits of
the serial number on the inside of the
hub. All of our props have carbon fiber
fabric skins. 1000 series props have
unidirectional fiberglass tape interiors,
t2
FORMULA FORUM, NOWMBER
2OO1
effort to determine what engine speeds
to avoid.
The best conditions to allow the pilot to
feel any prop vibration occur during an
end-of-race pull-up. At maximum speed
in level flight with wide open throttle the
LETTERS
pilot should perform a normal end-of-race
pull-up. During the maneuver, the throttle
should be slowly eased back as ttre
airspeed bleeds off. The throttle should
not be pulled back so quickly that the
propeller acts as a brake. Not only does
this put undesirable loads into the engine
but the aerodynamic forces on the stalled
prop couple with the forces caused by the
engine to make any resonant vibration
significantly worse. During this gradual
change of engine speed with the propeller
unloaded, the vibrations should be able to
be detected. Vibration can occur at many
different engine speeds but only three of
those speeds are likely to be in the normal
operating range of the race plane. The
nature of the vibration is that if it occurs at
1200 RPM it will also occur at 2400 and
3600 RPM or any other multiple of 1200.
The vibration at the lower engine speed
Scott Garland
I am writing to express my displeasure
with the elections conducted by IFt the
last several years, and to request that
action be taken to correct the
proceedings. The process ofasking for
nominations emly in the week at Reno,
and hastily preparing a slate for voting
prior to the Wednesday General
Meeting, completely excludes a large
percentage of the membership that does
not attend Reno (a significant amount),
as well as some that do not arrive until
later in the week. I have raised this point
with the Board of Directors and was told
that since a majority of the voting
membership is present at Reno, this
constitutes a quorum for a legal election.
This may be true, but it certainly is not
in the spirit of a club in which
membership dues are collected. If I am
voluntarily paying money to belong to a
will be easier to detect because it causes
club, I expect to have the opportunity to
the biggest movement of the prop. Once
vote for the elected officers whether I
the lowest RPM is determined, it is easy to can make the annual meeting or not.
calculate the next two or three RPMs to
This opportunity has not been provided
avoid. If the lowest engine speed which
in recent years.
causes vibration is 1450 RPM, then 2900
and 4350 should also be avoided.
Revising the bylaws to change the time
of the election from race week at Reno
Each pilot should make a serious effort to to mid-October, would make it easier to
perform this testing on each propeller that include all voting members in the
is used and determine the engine speeds to process. Nominations could be called
avoid. It might be a good idea to consider for in August, due by September lst.
putting this information on aplacard in
Ballots could be handed out to those
view of the pilot, if necessary, as a
attending the annual meeting, with all
reminder. Caution should be used by
others receiving a mail ballot by the end
anyone borrowing a prop since the engine of September. Results would be
speed which causes the vibration on one
announced in mid-October, with the new
aircraft, will be different when the same
board taking office November l5th.
prop is installed on another.
The events of September 1lth, this year
compounded the problem by preventing
We are proud to be the major propeller
several members from attending the
supplier to the Formula One class. Our
annual meeting on Wednesday, Sept.
goal is to help expand the Class by selling lzth.lt is safe to say that the upcoming
new props to new pilots-not to sell
Board of Directors was elected with the
replacement props to existing customers
smallest amount of membership
because of avoidable failures..
participation since the inception of IF1.
Sincerely,
Changes are needed to make sure the
Steven S. Hill, VP, Owens Composites
entire voting membership has a
reasonable opportunity to participate in
Sincerely, Scott
future elections.
FORMALA FORAM, NOYEMBER
2OO1
13
Odds and
The AGM was held on Wednesday, Sept.
13e; a plus was the silence - no T6s
droning by, but we were missing several
members who were not able to reach
Reno. David Hoover was elected last
year and will continue to be our President
Motorsports Museum in Novi, MI.
Once the races were cancelled on Friday,
IFI awards ceremony was held.
We presented plaques to David Hoover
a small
(Bob Downey Award for 1999); Ray
Sherwood (Bob Downey Award for
2000); George and Bobby Budde (IFl
Lifetime Achievement Awards) for their
contributions to IF1 over the years. Both
Bobby and George addressed the crowd
with their sentiments. Ray Sherwood
also took a moment to recognize his
beginnings in air racing which was a
result of his knowing the Buddes.
President David had all the Rookies
stand and we all gave them a round of
applause. They were regretfully
informed that they would remain
Rookies until they completed the next
for 2002. Scotty Crandlemire was
elected VP, while Will Dennis was
reelected as Secretary/Treasurer for 2
year terms.
Directors for I year terms are: Gary
Hubler, Tech Rules and Bill Rogers,
donated his plane, Blueberry, to the
as
Procedure Rules Chair. Re-elected were
Ops Director, Jeff Gunn, Tech Director,
Tom DeHart, Pilot Chair, Dan Gilbert,
and the tireless Anita Infante in charge
of Promotions.
Tech Rules Committee members (2year
terms), Gary Dalleske and Charlie
Greer join Scotty Crandlmire, while
Ray Cote was selected to replace Gary
Hubler for the remainder of his term. On
the Procedures side, Ron Hawes and
Gary Hublerjoin Ib Hansen, and
Robert Jones picks up the remainder of
Bill Rogers'term.
The corrected URL for HighPlanes,
manufacturer of F1 plastic kits, is
http ://www. corryongcec.net. aul-hiplanes
race.
A suggestion that we remove the wings
from the racers, and starting on the
ramp, we race up the taxiway, down the
runway and back onto the ramp as a
means of deciding the Champion was
vetoed. However, you can race Fls at
http://www.f-s-a-r.com on your
computer. Also the UL race sim that we
reported on before, has now shipped.
http ://www.xtremeairracing. com/
Kraz Krasnowski,
cartoonist and artist to the
racers did the new paint
scheme on Furias and has
expressed interest in
working on an Fl.
Contact him at:
Kr az@h,r azati on s. com or
(206)9rs-3448
New President of Formula
Vee is Dave Patterson,
while their long time
kingpin, Jim Vliet has
retired from racing and
14
FORMULA FORUM, NOWMBER
2OO1
*g
5555555
Reno 2OO1:
-:w'g,W-fr*
IFl6old
Championship Race
For Sale
AIRCRAFT
Ads are free as a service to members.
#2 NSEW Wagner
Prior to
Contact: George Budde:
purchase ofony patbudde@earthlink.net
aircraft, please
contact
the Technical
Director for any
IFI rules
compliance
items that nay
apply.
Cassutt Project. Fuselage on gear with
"Okie Swinger"
Beautiful Gold Racer
a (405) 733-1449
U01
#4 NIVD Owl OR71 o'Alley Cat"
Reno Champion with 2race engines, 3
graphite props, and customized? axle trailer
Contact: Ray Cote: (619)442-1056 10/01
F 1 raygladyscote@aol.com
#14 N4l4M Miller JM-2 65Pushy Cat"
Reno Winner with Trailer, Drawings and
Tooling to build kits. Contact: Jim Miller:
8 (210-493-7516) after 6PM
7l0l
CST
cmiller@txtool.com
#42 N42l<K Kelly F-lD'6Barbara Jean"
w/o engine, with prop, spinner, mount,
cooler. Includes flatbed trailer, spares and
support equipment. In very good shape.
Contact: Kevin Ke[y e $6D723-2142
kkl516@msn.com
5/01
#57 N603R Cassutt 111M "Aggressor"
Gold racer, new Grove wing, new motor,
great trailer, extra canopy, props etc. 10/01
Contact: Robert Jones: (559)432-3041
RBJ5l@aol.com
#96 N687RB Grove/Boyd "Mac Daddy"
2'd fastest qualifier in 2000 @248.676 mlh
2 hr Ly-Con engine, spares, enclosed trailer.
Contact: David Hoover a (510)786-3422
8/01
gofrenzy@aol.com
PARTS &
SERVICES
Cassutt - Sale or Trade. Complete with
0-200, was flying with thin wing, now
disassembled to install thick wing. Make
4/01
offer. Southbury, CT
Contact: John Chmura
a e$)264-8697
graphite tail surfaces - needs wing 5/01
Contact: Scotty Crandlemire: tr (208)
866-7530 sc@micron.net
National Aeronautics has Cassutt parts
including Al and Steel landing gear legs.
Contact: Ib or Sue Hansen:
a (303) 940-8442 cassutts@aol.com
Teledyne Continental Parts at Racer
prices - Mattituck Aviation. Mention IFI
Contact: Phil Haponic:
a (1 800) 624-6680
info@airplane.com
Graphite Race Props - Run One or
Follow One. Owens Composites
Contact: Steve Hill: a (505) 832-1148
S2H@aol.com
Aircraft Design and Analysis Services:
Everything from comput efized airfoil
design to complete aircraft drawings and
CFD analysis using NASA's Pmarc-l2
Contact: Gary James: a (817) 596-3278
GSJAME S@ix.netcom. com
Custom Embroidery: Team shirts, hats,
jackets, etc. at racer rates for 12 pcs & up.
Contact: All Stm Warbirds,
Sharon Sandberg: a (763)856-3148
SSandberg@aol.com
Raceplane Books by R.S.Hirsch
Wedell-Williams Air Service by Bob
Hirsch and Barbara Schultz, $19.95 plus
$2.00 S&H from:
Raceplanes by Hirsch
8439 Dale St. Buena Park, Ca. 90520
(7r4)828-736e
LIVANAGON@YAHOO.com
Cassutt Project. Fuselage complete ready to
cover, tail, wheels, brakes, canopy, cowl, but
4l0l
no wing. $1250, Greenwich,
a
(401)885-8080
Contact Paul Merriam:
RI
Information on things of IFI interest
sale or wanted should be sent to the
Editor, or IFI YP Tony Wright, Jr.
53
0/88 5 -7 2
7
for
I or wright@winvire. com
d43k@webtv.net
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2OO1
15
Dave and Clodagh Roelofs Miss USA sets the mood
Johm Garrett Photo
PYLON AIR RACING . THE WORLD'S tr'ASTEST ENGINESPORT
RACING INTO THE NEW MILLEIYNIUM
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