On the course at Reno...

garbs · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:19 am

So Pylon School is underway? Can we expect to see a Spad in the ranks this year?

Neal Nurmi · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:28 am

Sorry Chris -- those were done 30 years ago. Times were different back then...

Does this mean I'm old??

Dan K · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:39 am

Neal Nurmi wrote:

Sorry Chris -- those were done 30 years ago. Times were different back then...

Does this mean I'm old??

Second pic appears to be watermarked "1895".

You're not just old...you're dead. :drink3:

garbs · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:03 pm

Yeah - guess I thought they were just the photographer's secret numbering system. Oh well.

Neal Nurmi · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:10 pm

Good eye -- I got the watermark wrong on the second shot -- should have been 1985...

Does this mean I'm old??

K5DH · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:13 pm

Neal,

The sensation of speed in that Skyraider photo is really something! Great shot!!!

Yes... you're old... embrace it! :lol:

(says the old guy in Texas)

Neal Nurmi · **Posted:** Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:48 pm

Thank you Dean. Since retirement I've spent winters elsewhere doing other things, but I've dedicated this summer to sifting through over 40 years of photographing airplanes -- thousands of slides -- to find the gems amidst the stuff that was important at the time but nobody will ever care about in the future. That Skyraider shot is one of the gems, I think...

Zac Yates · **Posted:** Sun Jul 12, 2015 3:20 pm

I thought the FW-190 competing a couple of years back was cool, but that is awesome! Great shots Neal! From memory there are a couple of Skyraiders with that paint scheme, which one was this?

Neal Nurmi · **Posted:** Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:06 pm

This would have been Jimmy McMillan in Bu. 124156. http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a1regist ... 24156.html

At least three pilots ran Spads at Reno in the 1980s -- Wiley Sanders ran this one a couple of years later. They were pretty majestic cruising around the pylons, and surprisingly fast, too.

Zac Yates · **Posted:** Sun Jul 12, 2015 11:56 pm

Thanks, Neal.

Taylor Stevenson · **Posted:** Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:44 am

Anyone know the Skyraider's top speed at Reno?

Neal Nurmi · **Posted:** Tue Jul 14, 2015 1:38 am

I just looked it up. Both McMillan and Cullum ran around 325 mph, both in the single qualifying lap and in the 6 lap races.

For comparison, B-25s on the course in 1885 and 1986 ran 240-260mph when qualifying.

McMillan brought a very nice P-51 to Reno the next year and ran 325 to 330mph -- pretty much the same as he did in the Spad.

Here's Race 125 on the course at Reno:

Zac Yates · **Posted:** Tue Jul 14, 2015 3:29 pm

Neal Nurmi wrote:

For comparison, B-25s on the course in 1885

Was that the year Doc Brown and Marty McFly crewed? :lol:

Another cool photo, thanks Neal!

Neal Nurmi · **Posted:** Tue Jul 14, 2015 3:53 pm

Thank you Zac, and I have no idea.

Race 143 ran the course armed, and still went 20mph faster than #125. They build them strong in Breckenridge...

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