'Smokey' Young Used Green Fuel to Make Aviation History

The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) will award the Louis Bleriot Medal to air racing pilot Richard “Smokey” Young, director of Orange Coast College's pilot aviation training program, at a ceremony in Los Angeles November 17th. Young set a world speed record last year in a piston-engine aircraft fueled by a new high-octane biofuel.

The Bleriot medal is awarded each year to a record setter in speed, altitude or distance and is named in honor of Louis Bleriot, an early air racing pilot and aviation pioneer.

Young established the world speed record on September 11, 2010, at Thermal, California, in a Western Air Racing Formula 1 aircraft. The record, for aircraft weighing between 660 and 1100 pounds, was 242.7 miles per hour. The previous record in the class was set in 2004 by astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson.

Young set the record using SwiftFuel, derived entirely from renewable or “green” resources. His flight was sponsored by Swift Enterprises, Tradition Aviation, and Pacific Continental Engines.

Young is a former US Air Force fighter pilot, air racing and exhibition pilot who competed in the Reno Air Races from 2003 to 2009 in the Formula 1 class, and served as president of the International Formula 1 Air Racing Association from November 2007 to November 2010.

FMI: www.orangecoastcollege.edu ; www.swiftenterprises.com