Reno P-51 Had Undergone Radical Changes In Order To Compete
Sep 19, 2011 5 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The World War II-era plane that plummeted into an air-race crowd like a missile bore little resemblance to its original self. It was rebuilt for speed, if not for stability.
Leeward’s own website alludes to the dangers — and bragging rights.
“These guys are always on the edge knowing one wrong move, in one split second, could mean the end,” the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team website says. “NASCAR at 200 mph? Indy at 230 mph? Top Fuel at 300 mph? Mere Childs play. Welcome to the Big League.”
Leeward had said the plane underwent several years of modifications before Friday’s race, including lopping five feet off each wing, but he hadn’t revealed many of the specifics. In the podcast, he called some of the changes “extremely radical,” compared some to systems on the space shuttle and explained that he had increased the plane’s speed capabilities to be more like those of a modern fighter jet.
“To control the airplane in the wind, and in different circumstances if anything happens, you need those types of speeds. You need jet speeds,” he said.
Leeward was rounding a bend at dizzying speeds Friday when his plane took an oddly upward pitch, narrowly missing the packed grandstand. It then twirled just a few hundred feet off the ground and nose-dived into a section of VIP box seats, blasting out a 3-foot-deep, 8-foot-wide crater in a hail of metal, chairs and body parts.
