First Reno for F1 RedHead

ANN's Firsthand Coverage of the Reno Air Races

There are a lot of people who want to race at Reno. Mostly pilots. Pilots -- we're a competitive bunch. 'My war story can trump your war story!' seems to permeate hangar talk all over. At Reno, though, it's different: the stories are true; they're verifiable -- or no one believes you. That attraction is part of the mystique of racing, and there's no racing like Reno racing.

For years, former F-14 driver Steve Dari had the dream of going fast, low and in traffic, in a little airplane --  and had the word out to friends to find him an 'affordable racer.' One finally showed up, and a buddy picked it up on the way to Sun 'n Fun this year. As it turned out, the project did have all the parts; and that's about all one could say for it.

The Cassutt IIIM that Steve got, "didn't have everything, well, anything, ready to race," he told me. The budget racer had some budget touches, too: "Inside the cockpit, for instance, were these stick-on letters. On one side, they said 'Casutt,' and on the other, 'Cassut.' Neither side was right, but both were spelled differently."

The guy who had the machine wasn't a good speller (or he didn't have enough letters to do the whole job); but the construction was workmanlike, even if the plane had been neglected for years. "It last flew in '95," Steve's wife, 'Chief Redhead' Meg, told me. Fortunately, the previous owner had been kind to the engine, oiling it and turning it over, from time to time. "It fired right up," Michael Gretton, Steve's crew chief, told me. It ran well, too, turning the 52" (64" pitch) prop a healthy, though not stunning, 3200 rpm in the race.

After some mighty all-summer thrashing, the determined team: Gretton, Andy Silver, Eric Hereth, Kevin Cooksly, as well as the Daris, were ready to bring the little racer to Nevada. Steve flew it there. Steve's 3 1/2 hour trip to Reno had four gas stops. Do the math: it sips seven gallons an hour from the ten-gallon tank.

A racer gets your attention, and keeps it.

The Cassutt is designed to do one thing: go fast on very little power, and turn around pylons quickly. It does that. The tradeoff is that the machine demands a lot of skill, and a lot of attention. Steve, who has hundreds of Pitts hours in addition to his Tomcat time, said, "I'd rather fly a Pitts any day." What's it like to fly? Well, he says, it's quick: "It's like a squirrel on methadrine, that you set on fire." A laid-back cross-country machine, it's not.

"Compared to the Tomcat? Huh?" he asked, trying to understand my question. "Well, on roll, for instance, the F-14 is a little quicker; this little plane is so light, though..." He leaned back: "Yes, the Tomcat's a little faster... this year. I don't know about next year." High hopes -- there's some development left to do!

Where am I?

A racer is, necessarily, sparsely-instrumented; and a ship as small as a Formula 1 is generally minimally-configured. It's not uncommon to see suction-cup mounted 'car' compasses on the windscreen, as primary navigational devices. Thus, the problem of positional awareness comes down to heavy-duty pilotage.

However, one look at the interior of a Formula 1 racer will convince you that it's not the ideal place to spread out your charts. The tiny gas tank also keeps you focused -- there's not a lot of reserve; and the airplane, with its minimalist wings and generally bad attitude, doesn't glide like a Nimbus, either.

With so little room in the cockpit in the first place, and no charging system, and no need for a "real" stack at any rate, Steve opted for the iPAQ-sized Anywhere Map and AnywhereWX to get him to Reno. "This thing is great," he said, and chuckled, "I'd be lost without it."

All the way in, Steve had terrain, weather, and all GPS information at his fingertips, in the tiny, essential gadget. About all he needed was engine instruments. That's good, because, other than a compass, altimeter, airspeed indicator and slip ball, that's all little RedHead had. When he got to Reno, he just carried the Anywhere Map off the plane, and stowed it in his flight bag. "Didn't have to unscrew a thing," his crew told me.

Steve was set to fly home on Monday, RedHead having finished its -- and Steve's -- first-ever Reno Air Races. He beat three others in his Bronze race, finishing fourth (and last finisher -- you gotta finish!) -- and he had a great time.

FMI: www.airrace.com; www.anywherewx.com