...and its Claws are Sharp

ANN On-Scene Coverage of Reno 2003

One of the two fastest Unlimited racers at Reno is the once-dominant F8F2 Bearcat [the winner in 1988 through '91, and again in 1994], Rare Bear, the plane Lyle Shelton rescued from a neglectful home and made into the fastest (official) airplane ever to fly in the Reno Air Races (481.618 mph, in 1991).

This year, it's clearly on the front row of the big boomers, and it will be no surprise when the 500 mph lap is finally flown -- this year.

I talked with Stacy Thomas (right, below), the crew chief for this remarkable beast, who said it was a team effort -- and what a team! "It took twelve guys, all year long, to get it back to its winning form, like back in the 80s and 90s, when we battled with Strega all the time," he said. The Bear was here last year, but it wasn't really ready. Now, it's ready. "We're looking to give Dago Red competition for years."

Rare Bear is wearing new paint this year, a fitting covering for the near-total rebuild the ship got. Stacy said the new paint job is "a little lighter, not a lot" than in the past; but it became necessary, because the classic paint job's "fillet and paint was cracking, coming apart here and there."

Ask Sherwin Williams

"Sherwin Williams gave us everything we needed," Stacy noted, " -- the sandpaper, chemicals, right down to the handi-wipes." They also supplied a pro: "Clint Baker runs the training here for Sherwin-Williams," Mr Thomas said, "and he painted 95% of this plane -- and it's a big job." The team "pulled off everything that could be painted in a booth -- the wing tips, the sheet metal [cowling, doors, panels]; then we made the hangar into a makeshift paint booth." I remarked on the great paint job. "It was a lot prettier before we started flying it," he said.

Got Gear?

One of the biggest headaches the team faced after the flying started in earnest this Spring was a peculair problem with the gear doors. At speed, the doors would pop free of their hooks, and open a bit; they'd close only until they hit the back side of the latches -- and that meant they'd be stuck open an inch or two. Say good-bye to top speed! "Once it pops," Stacy explained, "it rides on the back of the hooks. To get it tucked back in, you've got to cycle the gear." That strategy wouldn't work in a race.

"The stock uplock springs weren't strong enough to stay latched," which was a problem that resulted from two things, he said: "We've been running 3.5~4.5 Gs normally." That was one problem. "When we really got bookin' the air pressures from inside the cowl would leak past, and pressurize the accessory section. At low speeds, it's no problem, but when we start bookin' -- that's when it rears it ugly head."

Fly the airplane. We'll watch the engine and stuff like that.

Rare Bear has a whole new, and quite comprehensive, telemetry system. "We put telemetry in, in 1994," Stacy told us, "but this system is better." No kidding. "Clark Thompson -- he's a nuclear engineer at Los Alamos -- he is the telemetry engineer. We monitor all the engine parameters in real time, while the pilot flies the course." What -- is pilot John Penney lazy, or something? Hardly: "He's got a lot to do, like flying 500 miles an hour, a hundred feet off the ground, with other airplanes all over the place." Oh.

There is a lot of work to do.

"We had quite a few bugs last year," the crew chief admitted "... we had the engine off, the prop off, the plumbing off, the cockpit stripped -- this airplane had been sitting so long it was evolving into a hangar queen." It wasn't ready for a museum, though. "We weren't ready to retire it -- we think we have a few good wins left in it."

Still, it wasn't easy, even starting from a bare shell. When they started flying this year, "we had over 100 sqwaks -- CHT, induction temperature, gear, comm problems, alternators -- basically every system you can think of." It's better, now: "We've finally got the beast tamed a little."

Speaking of alternators... "Craig Phillips at Skytronics -- he's the greatest. We run two modified 80 amp alternators -- one one day, the other the next day." Rare Bear needs about 50 amps in flight, to power the ADI, the spray bar pump, the fuel boost pump, radios, telemetry. Any one of those systems could end the race.

Hood Machine helped with a critical area. "The Achilles heel of this machine -- of all Bearcats -- is the exhaust system," Stacy said. "The engine, the horsepower [4000+] puts such a load on the system, you see cracks; you get clamps, pork chops breaking." He spent a lot of time on those pipes. "I went through the whole system with [Hood's] Lance Lopez."

He continued, "There were a lot of what I call 'combat repairs;' we patched in new metal, we gained some clearance -- there were two pipes that were beating against each other before we straightened it out. We must have spent two, three hundred hours on the exhaust alone. Since then, it's settled in..."

You can sponsor the Bear

Lyle Shelton, Rare Bear's owner, "Isn't one of those independently wealthy guys your hear about owning these things," Stacy said. "A critical part of our sponsorship comes from our fans. This machine is so popular that our fans support us... and they're a key to getting this done. Our fans are lifesavers."

One fan, particularly, got into the mix. "Howard Lowery -- that's his Stinson Air Center [sticker] on the fuselage -- he donated funds, he bought us the air compressor to paint with. He and his girlfriend are here helping us, wiping down and polishing..."

There's a lot of 'wiping down,' too. Even a typical 'exercise' run just covers the fuselage in oil.

FMI: www.rarebear.com