Do y'all have any interest in a little air racer project?

[retroaviation]

Just today, I've started working on my Formula One air racer project. It's a Shoestring racer, which is one of the more successful designs in the Formula One racing category. I'm told that this particular fuselage has never flown, but the wing and the tail section have a good bit of history on them. You see, they were originally on the Wagner Solution, which was flown by Judy Wagner. While flying the Wagner Solution, she was the first woman to win a Formula One race. Judy raced the Solution from 1971 until 1981, when she died in a plane crash (different plane).

The Wagner Solution was then purchased from the Wagner estate by Ray Cote and was renamed "JUDY." The airplane was modified heavily over the years, including the replacement of the original wing and tail surfaces with composite assemblies. It has gone through several owners over the years and "JUDY" still races today, retaining it's original race number 44.

Over the years, the wing and tail sections were separated from one another and became parts of different projects or personal collections. I was fortunate enough to purchase this airplane with the original wing and was further fortunate to find and purchase (just closed the deal yesterday) the tail section, which was unique in the fact that it's all aluminum. My intention is to honor the Wagner Solution by building a kinda-sorta-semi-clone of it and to take those original wings and tail around the pylons again, like I know they want to do. The name of my new airplane will be "Another Solution."

Sooooo, if y'all have any interest in this type of project, I'll be glad to post some fairly regular progress reports on how it goes, similar to how I've done with the B-24A updates. All I have to show you for now is the wing (sitting upside down) and a couple old pictures of what the Wagner Solution looked like back in 1977. That is also what Another Solution will hopefully look like ( but obviously with a different race number since number 44 is still in use). The rest of the airplane is in my hangar, waiting patiently for me to get the wing recovered.....





Gary

Last edited by retroaviation on Mon May 26, 2008 7:46 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Sully]

Yes, please, keep us updated.

Sully

[Kyleb]

Please keep us updated on this project.

Also, I'm interested in what engine/prop tricks folks use to get 150 hp and 4,000 rpm out of an 0-200. Don't give away *all* the trade secrets, but how about some insight on common speed tricks in front of the firewall.

[Eric Friedebach]

Sooooo, if y'all have any interest in this type of project, I'll be glad to post some fairly regular progress reports on how it goes, similar to how I've done with the B-24A updates.

Gary, please do.

I know absolutely nothing about racing and the aircraft involved, but would really enjoy your perspective.

[T2 Ernie]

I'm interested too, but I don't see why this is in the off-topic discussion area!

[wardie]

Post away Gary. Every single detail.

Wardie

[LadyO2Pilot]

Look forward to it !!!!!

[retroaviation]

Okay then. I'll make the occasional progress report. They won't be quite as frequent as the B-24 stuff, since I'm only able to work on it in my spare time. Some of the work on this project will be new to me, since I've never messed with wood or composite (I call it "compost") before. But we'll see how many mistakes I make along the way, huh?

Gary

[Bill Greenwood]

Gary, wood is good stuff, God used it to make trees. Don't know much about composites except they smell bad while curing. I was a minor partner/ builder on a Starlite, and the test pilot. And please see my post below about a fellow snake handler,"Whose the dumbest?"

[Second Air Force]

Gary,

Glad you made the deal on the empennage!

Composites aren't hard to work with at all, just a PITA as far as keeping materials stored and knowing how much of what to purchase so as not to throw half of it away at the end of it's shelflife. I've fixed many a hail dent in the composites on our jets over the years.

Congratulations,
Scott

[retroaviation]

I didn't get a lot done on the little racer today, as we had another event in the hangar and I was trying to get the work area organized for the B-24. I did, however, remove the right aileron from the wing. One of the previous owners of this wing had removed the original fabric from it, but never really finished the job. The left aileron was also removed, but it was easy due to some clip nuts that had been used on the attach hinges at some point in it's life. This right wing, however, didn't have such a luxury, which made it difficult to remove. You see, there were just plain ol' nuts holding the screws in, so they were quite difficult to get a wrench on during removal. But nonetheless, I managed to get the aileron off eventually. One thing interesting about these ailerons is the material that the counter balances were made of. I've been in contact with the former Crew Chief of the Wagner Solution, and he tells me the counter balances were formed from depleted uranium. Kind of neat considering you don't just go up to the Home Depot and buy that stuff in bulk. Here's a picture of the aileron once it was removed.......




So now that both ailerons are off of the wing, I can start removing the bits of fabric that were left behind. I am also taking out any remaining Bondo that is in the aileron gap seals so that I will have a fresh slate to start with before recovering the wing........






And that's really it for now. Maybe I'll have something more interesting to post later.

Gary

[b29flteng]

Be very careful if you do any machining of the uranium, as the dust particals will poison you. One thing about your posts Gary, we don't need to ask many questions because you explain everything very explicitly. Keep the posts coming.

[retroaviation]

Be very careful if you do any machining of the uranium, as the dust particals will poison you.

Thanks for that tip, but no worries about me maching the counter balances. I'm not modifying anything on the wing. I'm just inspecting it and recovering it. The workmanship that was done on thing wing and ailerons was supurb and still looks that way. I'm very happy with what I've seen so far.

Gary

[Beachy]

So Gary, when exactly do you sleep??????

[retroaviation]

So Gary, when exactly do you sleep??????

Actually, I've been attempting to sleep at more "normal" hours and haven't been working really long hours lately. However, that's likely to change a bit since I'm just starting the winter maintenance on the B-24 and (obvioiusly) working on the racer now. I'm NOT...I repeat, NOT going to be working the 85-95 hours per week for 8 months straight on the B-24 this winter, like I did last year (I may start tinkering with an ol' B-29 sitting here in the hangar ). I'll spend any extra time I have trying to get the racer finished.

Gary