The Pylon Place - March 2013
New Rides and Awards
By Marilyn Dash
Super Legacy Race 33 in the early morning sun. (Tim Adams)The big news in air racing this month is the re-emergence of Daryl Greenamyer’s and Andy Chiavetta’s sport class racer the Super Legacy, Race 33. This racer has known her share of troubles, but has also won it all with Daryl at the controls.
This year, Will Whiteside will be the pilot – coming off several successful years racing in the unlimited division in both Voodoo and Steadfast. Will actually started racing in the sport class many years ago in CJ Stephens’ Glasair.
What this brings to us is a pretty exciting three-way duel between 2012 winner, Jeff Lavelle; 2011 winner, John Parker; and Will Whiteside in Race 33. We know all three have a competitive spirit. This should be very exciting for Sport Class fans.
Will Whiteside in his record-setting Yak, Steadfast. (Tim Adams)The powerplant will be a Pacific Continental GTSIO-520 modified by Greg Stevenson and Aerochia. They expect to have the engine on a test stand within a few months to begin testing. I will update as this exciting partnership takes shape, and if any other exciting news comes out of the racing community.
NAA Awards
Along with this exciting news, it has been announced that Will Whiteside will be among the honorees at the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) Most Memorable Aviation Records of 2012. Will is being honored for the speed over 15-kilometer course of 381 mph (piston engine, weighing between 3,858 and 6,614 lbs). On April 23, 2012 Will and Team Steadfast made two passes along a straight stretch of highway over Interstate 505, just west of Sacramento, Calif. This flight beat the previous record set in 1987 of 290 mph. This was a significant increase and a record worth honoring.
Also being honored at the NAA Event will be Felix Baumgartner for his “Vertical Distance Freefall of 119,431 feet. Everyone remembers this record, I’m sure. After ascending for more than two-and-a-half hours in a balloon over Roswell, N.Mex. – Felix stepped out of the Red Bull Capsule with more than eight-million viewers watching on YouTube and on their television sets. Then, everyone took to Facebook and Twitter to share their amazement. This was a truly memorable day for many, especially Joe Kittinger, the previous record holder who served as Felix’s Crew Chief.
Additional honorees include Timothy McClelland and Brian Erickson who earned the record of transcontinental speed, west to east: 599 mph – for jet engine aircraft weight between 19,842 and 26,455 pounds. They departed Santa Ana airport on January 22 in a Gulfstream G150 and flew non-stop to Hilton Head International airport in Georgia. The trip took just three hours and 26 minutes. To think, many years ago this trip took days, not hours.
Other awards of note include the record for human powered rotorcraft. The University of Maryland’s Gamera II stayed aloft for one minute and 5.1 seconds with Colin Gore on the pedals. The old record was 49.9 seconds set earlier in 2012.
A record for hang gliders was also set and will be honored. Dustin Martin flew a Willis Wing T2C Hang Glider for 11 hours and 474 miles from Zapata to Lubbock, Texas. The old record was 435 miles set in 2001.
And the final record being honored is a distance goal and return for model aircraft, a radio controlled glider. John Ellias and Dean Gradwell both launched their kit built model MXC gliders with 13-foot wingspans. They then flew their respective remote controls aircraft to a pre-determined point more than 17 miles away by following the gliders in chase vehicles. After reaching the point, they made a 180 degree turn and flew back to land at their original starting point. The total distance covered was 35 miles – and the two friends and their simultaneous flights on September 28, beat the previous record of 18 miles set in 2005.
Inspiration
These records inspire me, and I hope they inspire you to look outside the box and try something bold and new. It seems to work for Will Whiteside and Team Steadfast and several others.
Until next time…
