Race 54 - Unleashed

Owner - Tom McNerney



Unleashed first raced at Reno in 2005, and in 2006 became the fastest Lancair 360 ever to race at Reno. Germain sold the aircraft to McNerney, and the two decided to return to Reno in 2010 and get back into the competition - even if they're one of the only four-cylinder racers in the class.



Germain is an Airbus FO for US Airways (West) and has over 15,000 hours in 99 different aircraft. When he isn't flying at work, Germain has found time to be a warbird magazine editor, a book author and columnist, an air-racing web site owner, and a photo-journalist focused on warbird and air racing. Born and raised in Glendale, California, Germain grew up flying with his dad, and earned a BS degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Since 2000, Germain has crewed for the Voodoo, Dago Red, and September Pops unlimited racing teams. In 2009, he joined Jimmy Leeward's team as a crew member for The Galloping Ghost.

 

David got his pilots license in 1997 while attending Navy Flight Surgeon School in Pensacola, FL, and flying has been his primary recreation ever since.  He spent 10 years as a Navy Flight Surgeon and Anesthesiologist with 5 overseas deployments including one to Iraq.  He built his RV-6 himself over the course of 5 years between military deployments and medical residency.  In 2007 he separated from the Navy as a Commander in order to begin private practice in San Diego, where he currently resides.  He has been active in formation flying since shortly after the first flight of his RV-6 in 2004.   He first attended the Reno Air Races as a crew member for the Formula One Plane Slingshot in 2009, and he was hooked.  So much so that he decided to enter his RV-6 in the 2011 Sport Class competition.  David is an instrument and multi-engine Private Pilot with over 1000 flight hours.



The rotary (Wankel) engine in his RV-6 originally came from a 1991 Mazda RX-7 turbo.  He got the engine in a junkyard and rebuilt it to factory specifications for less than $1700 including the purchase price and rebuild.  This engine runs a modest boost of less than 50 inches manifold pressure producing over 250h.p. despite the fact that it weighs only 197 pounds and displaces only 159 cubic inches.  Except for the welding and some off-the-shelf components, David did the entire conversion himself with basic tools.  In the hands of experienced automotive racers, this engine is capable of producing over 500 horsepower.

Mark Frederick began his aviation career in 1984, but can recall flying with his father since he was an infant. Mark lives in Taylor, Texas with his lovely wife, Cheryl. Together they keep their airport, "Macho Grande", in operation, along with raising free range poultry.

Mark started building airplanes in 1990, and built his 1st Harmon Rocket II in 1996. This led to the development of the F1 Rocket, a quick-build version, he introduced in 1999. Race 12 is an F1, called "El Toro", and is the final production version of the F1 series, produced with a tapered wing, and powered by a Continental IO550-N engine. At Reno, in 2003, Mark raced an F1 with the Sport wing, and in 2004 and 2005 he brought the same ship back, but modified with the Evo wing. Mark also races in the SARL Sport Air Racing League, which evolved from the Sun 100 race format. He established the First Annual Texas 100 Air Race in 1996, hosted at the Georgetown Air Show, and the SARL races were derived from that effort. Mark is also a member of Falcon Flight, a precision formation team based in Texas. Falcon Flight participated in a Guinness World Record 37-ship formation at 2009 AirVenture in Oshkosh Wisconsin, where Mark was lucky enough to fly in the #37 position.

Mark is the owner of Team Rocket LP, and enjoys flying his WWII C-45 in his spare time. He is a member of the CAF, where he is the Maintenance Officer, and Co-pilot, for The B-25 "Devil Dog".

Born and raised in California, Vicky Benzing has logged over 5000 hours of flight time.   An accomplished

pilot, skydiver, and aerobatic competitor, she has a passion for everything airborne. Her rookie year in 2010 was cut short by a prop runaway but she has put a new 540 on the Cruse Missle and has been dialing it up to complete her first season in 2011!



While in college, she learned to fly in an antique Taylorcraft in her hometown of Watsonville, California. 

Early on she took aerobatic instruction from the legendary pilot Amelia Reid and has since had a love for

the sport.  Her flying career has spanned over twenty years and today she holds both a Commercial

Helicopter and an Airline Transport Pilot Rating.  In addition to her current aerobatic pursuits she holds a

PhD in Chemistry and has had a successful career in the semiconductor industry. She is also fortunate to

be able to fly as a Captain on her company’s Gulfstream.



She began training with air show legend Wayne Handley in 2005 and now competes in International

Aerobatic Club competitions throughout the US.  In 2006 she won first place in the Intermediate Category

in both the Northwest Regional Championship (Oregon, Washington, Idaho) and the Southwest Regional

Championship (California, Nevada, and Arizona), as well as winning numerous regional contests.

Currently, she competes in the Advanced Category and won third place in the 2008 and 2009 Northwest

Regional Championship.



Vicky’s airplane is a modified German-built single seat Extra 300S. Powered by a Lycon experimental

AEIO540 high performance engine and a Hartzell “Claw” propeller, this aircraft is both powerful and

nimble, making it a perfect choice for air show performances and competition aerobatics.



Vicky is sponsored by FESTO Corporation, a worldwide leader in pneumatic and electromechanical

components and controls for the industrial automation market.

Bob grew up in Los Angeles, California and was bitten by the aviation bug at an early age. Aviation had a huge presence in the L.A. area and he often drove by the North American, Douglas, Hughes aircraft factories and dreamed of flying the fighters that he saw rolling off the assembly lines.  He learned to fly at Hawthorne Airport where the Northrop plant was located and got his private license at age 17.  After high school, Bob attended Northrop Institute of Technology where he earned his Aircraft & Powerplant Mechanics License.  From there, he entered the Air Force as an Aviation Cadet in Class 61-G, the last class of Aviation Cadets.  Bob graduated first in his pilot training class and chose the F-102 as his first assignment.  After Combat Crew Training at Perrin Air Force Base, TX, he was assigned to the 509th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Clark Air Base, Philippines.  His next assignment took him to the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at George Air Force Base, CA flying the brand new F-4C. In December of 1965, two of the squadrons were deployed to Ubon Royal Thai Air Base to fly combat missions over North Vietnam.  Early in his second Southeast Asia tour, Bob was shot down by 57mm anti-aircraft artillery while on a mission near Lang Son, North Vietnam.  He was immediately captured and spent the next seven years as the guest of Uncle Ho at the Hanoi Hilton and numerous other prison camps around North Vietnam.  Upon his repatriation and return to the U.S. in 1973, Bob attended Southern Methodist University earning a BBA degree.  He retired from the U. S. Air Force as a Lt. Col. after serving as a T-38 Squadron Operations Officer and Wing Chief of Operationsat Williams AFB, AZ.  His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with V device and cluster, Purple Heart with cluster, and the Meritorious Service Medal.

 

Continuing his aviation career, Bob flew Part 135 commuters in the Hawaiian Islands for Royal Hawaiian Air Lines, deep desert operations in Saudi Arabia for Arab American Oil Company, Part 121 operations with American Airlines where he retired as a Line Check Airman on the B-757/767, and Part 91 operations with Bombardier Aerospace's fractional ownership program FlexJet.  Currently, Bob does contract flying for Lancair International as well as flight instructing in Lancair aircraft and Warbird Jets.

 

Bob holds an ATP, CFI, Turbojet Flight Engineer's Certificate, FAA A&P License and ratings in B-727/757/767, DC-9, Lear 60, L-29, Folland Gnat, Jet Provost/Strikemaster, Marchetti S-211, T-33 and Iskra TS-11.

 

Bob raced a Lancair Legacy in 2007/8, flew the pace aircraft for the Sport Class in 2009 and will be racing a Legacy this year.  He has also acted as an instructor for the sport class formation clinics the past two years.

 

Greg Nelson of Palmdale CA, will be racing his F-1 Rocket that he built in 2001 and has raced at Reno 3 seasons.  To pay the bills for the Rocket Greg is a test Pilot with a major aerospace company in Palmdale.  Greg has also tested Eclipse jets and flew air attack missions for the USFS fighting wild fires in Northern CA.  Greg has over 10,000 hours with nearly all of this time in single pilot aircraft, including T-38, U-2, Commander 690, Eclipse jet and of course numerous types of home built aircraft. Greg is a combat veteran with hundreds of flight hours over such garden spots as Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Africa, South America, Kosovo, Korea and a few places where we were never there.

the Mk26b spitfire which is a 90% scale spit powered by an LS2 corvette motor, the aircraft was built and belongs to the supermarine aircraft corp which builds the kits in cisco TX.This is Phil's third year racing in reno (f1) but rookie year in the sport class. He is a corprate pilot in tx. He has spent most of his life flying in Alaska and has over 1100 hr of flight time.

Pete Zaccagnino was born in New Brunswick, NJ and currently resides in Park City, UT.  This is his 6th year racing in the Sport Class and in 2007 took the gold championship. He holds an ATP, CFII and MEI, Rotorcraft, SES and over 13,500 hours.  Pete also races in the Jet class as well as an instructor for the same.  Pete has multiple Jet type ratings and has Test Flown numerous aircraft for both civilian and military operations worldwide.  He is an Aeronautical Engineer and has built a highly modified Lancair Race Legacy.  

Pete trains in many military aircraft, Test flys and on his days off is skiing or flying for the fun of it.

Pete will be flying Lancair's own TSIO-550 powered Lancair Race Legacy.

Three-time Formula One Champion, John Parker, has dedicated his life to air racing, much to the chagrin of his wife Jan. They make their home together in Reno, Nevada.

After John was placed on reserve status from the Air Force in 1965 he joined American Airlines. Soon John found himself building engines for Formula One race teams, working as a mechanic at the air races, and assisting racers as a “Speed Merchant”. John’s passion for air racing quickly turned into a business, and in 1967 John founded American Air Racing.

American Air Racing has evolved over the years to include aircraft and equipment leasing and technology development. But the main focus of American Air Racing is to offer complete builder support and to perform speed modifications for kit-built aircraft. John and American Air Racing are dedicated to the development, improvement, and building of Thunder Mustangs, and also specialize in Glasairs and Lancairs

Winning his first Reno Formula One Championship in 1977, John continued to add to his trophy case with Championship victories in 1978 and 1980. His scratch-built Formula One racer, American Air Racing Special, now resides in the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. John placed second in the original CAFÉ 250 and won the CAFÉ 400 in the twin-engine division in 1983. In 1988 John was the third person to enter a scratch-built aircraft in the Unlimited Division at Reno. John placed fourth in the inaugural Sport Division Gold final at Reno in 1998 in his kit-built Glasair, race 300. The past years have seen John campaign his Thunder Mustang, Blue Thunder, in a relentless search for increased performance. With John at the controls, Blue Thunder captured second place in the Sport Division Gold final in its first year of racing.

The American Air Racing team supports and participates in Sport Racing to demonstrate its sponsor’s products, such as Hartzell Propellers and Snap-on Tools, in a real world environment. Through racing, American Air Racing is able to display its capabilities to the sport aviation community. American Air Racing is committed to promoting enthusiasm and interest for the sport of air racing.

From a humble beginning, John has become an air racing icon. For John Parker, air racing is not a sport; it is a way of life. www.americanairracing.com www.bluethunderairracing.com

Race 3x will not be racing for 2010.



Jon Sharp of Mohave, CA has been on the racing scene since he began riding tricycles. His trophy case is packed with memories of slot cars and go carts. But these trophies pale in comparison to what he has achieved in his later years in air racing.

1981 marked the beginning of the AEROMAGIC/NEMESIS^® Dynasty. Since that time, he has been a contender for the Reno National Championship every year, with wins in ‘82, ‘86 with AEROMAGIC, and ‘91, ‘92, ‘93, ‘94, ‘95, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98 & 1999 with Nemesis. His team has taken home the “ Fastest Qualifier” trophy at Reno 9 times. Twice with the Cassutt racer, AEROMAGIC, once with a Sport racer called BLUE STREAK and six times with the Nemesis. In addition, Nemesis has set speed records on every course she has flown, has been victorious at every regional race throughout the United States and Canada, and holds the Fastest Qualifier Trophies at each of those races.

Jon works at the fabled Lockheed Martin Skunks Works Company as an Advanced Composites Engineer. This job is the result of almost 20 years of work in the composites industry, starting with George Applebay building Zuni gliders in Albuquerque NM, and including work for his arch rival Jim Miller. Much to Mr. Miller’s disgust, the engine that has beaten him for the last eight+ years began as one that he sold to Jon in the mid-80’s. This is the same engine that Jon races with to this date.

The introduction and victory of the Nemesis racer in 1991 marked a triumph of engineering and technology in the sport of air racing. It was the first time in the 53 year history of the class that a brand new racer has won the National Championship.

Since winning the 1991 National Championship, the Nemesis is undefeated in the last 47 of its 50 total starts, giving it the highest winning percentage of any racer active today.

Nemesis retired into the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in July 2000. Its predecessor is the NemesisNXT, a two place, side by side kit aircraft available now.

Craig is currently serving as the Sport Class Vice President as well a instructor/check pilot. He flew a modified Glasair III for six years and is currently rebuilding the plane to make it competitive for the years ahead. While not competing he shares the duties as the pace/starter and safety pilot during race week.

Craig is a Captain with American Airlines and retired Marine Corps aviator. He flew the F-4 Phantom and F/A-18 Hornet.

Scott Nelson is Director of Flight Operations for Aviation Consultants who manages Citation Corperate jets out of San Luis Obispo, CA.

Scott has competed at Reno in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 in several aircraft from his Glasair III to a Sbach 342. For 2011 he is still firming up an aircraft to fly and is very competant and willing to discuss the possibility of flying for other owners.

Kevin Eldredge has competed in the Sport Class since 2001 in a RV3, a few Glasair III, and his Nemsis NXT "Relentless". Kevin is business consultant and investor from San Luis Obispo, CA. 2010 was set to be an easy win with Sharp taking hte year off but unfortunatley while trying to break the Sport Class qualifying record of 412mph Relentless's  prop oversped and destoyed the engine and broke the prop off. After a succesful landing saving the aircraft Kevin spent 10 months rebuilding the NXT and upgrade the engine to a Lycoming 720 with over 428hp.

Special thanks goes out to Team Relentless Sponsors for 2011:

ECi, myAirport.com, Airflow Performance, MGL Avionics, and LIghtspeed Aviation!!!

Follow the team news on facebook at RelentlessAirRacing...

We are Relentless!!

Bob Mills, of Reno, Nevada is flying a modified RV Super Six, “Rocket Six”, powered by a Lycon IO-540 engine. Bob is a Captain for Southwest Airlines, flying the B-737, and will retire as a Captain from the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2011 with 30 years of service. He flew the F-14A Tomcat and was an instructor on TA-4J Skyhawk while on active duty, and as a Naval Reservist, served as the Naval Amphibious Air Liaison to the Third Marine Air Wing in Kuwait and Iraq at the outset of OIF.



Bob has over 34 years of flying experience, including over 14,750 hours as a military, air ambulance, corporate, and airline pilot, in more than 50 varied aircraft types. He also competes in the Sport Air Racing League, and is a formation airshow pilot with the West Coast Ravens RV Formation Squadron.



Bob and Rocket Six Racing are proud sponsors of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (www.semperfifund.org), a nonprofit organization set up to provide immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Marine Corps, and post 9-11 veterans of all U.S. Armed Forces who serve in support of Marine forces and their families.

 

Lynn Farnsworth is a retired Military/Airline pilot who will be racing a Lancair Legacy. His Legacy is modeled after Darryl Greenamyer's #33 Legacy. It's also powered by a twin-turbo TSIO-550 and built by Performance Engines.

Lynn is a Vietnam era fighter pilot. He flew F-100s and F-4s in Vietnam and Thailand. He was a Misty FAC and was shot down twice (the 1st time on his birthday and the 2nd time exactly two months later) while performing that mission. If you care to read about the exploits of Lynn and his fellow F-100 Misty FACs, they published a book named "Misty". It is available online or at many fine bookstores. After exiting active duty he joined the Air National Guard and flew F-105s and F-4s. His money making job was Airline Pilot, but his fun job was Fighter Pilot. After retiring from airline flying he started looking for some way to get back to the fun flying.

His Super Legacy, named Miss Karen II (Miss Karen was an F-100 Lynn flew at Phan Rang AB, Republic of Vietnam) is named for his wife Karen, who has tolerated his Fighter Pilot act all these years. Miss Karen II's race number, 44, is in honor of his youngest son Kyle, who wears that same number as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.

Super Glasair III Sport Class Racer - Luckymojo #47, Pilot Gary Lee Mead will be at the stick as he rips around the pylons at speeds in excess of 300 mph. Mead, 47, made his rookie debut last year at the 2007 Reno Air Races opening with a qualifing speed of 304.77. He finished 3rd in Sport Gold after being schooled by the veteran racers.  Born and raised in Southern California, Mead now resides in Arroyo Grande, California. Mead is currently owner/operator of two high volume businesses, the first Mi Amore Pizza and Pasta in Lompoc, California and the second, Danny Buoy's Irish Pub in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands BWI. He has always enjoyed a passion for flying and calls San Luis Obispo Airport in California his home away from home! His aspirations now include building a new Air Racing Team. Luckymojo47 experimental Super Glasair III is powered by a Lycoming TIO-540 —twin turbo—400 hp engine.  The plane is no newcomer to Reno with previous visits piloted by Kevin Eldredge in 2003, 2004 & 2006 achieving a Glasair Record Speed of 315 mph on the track.  Gary has heard the word on the street is that all the teams are stepping it up this year-Mead has lightened up and fine tuned Luckymojo47, with engine and airframe speed mods and added a new specially made 3 blade racing prop.

2009 was the last time Gary raced but a prop overspeed led to an engine swap and got back into the heats only to have gear issues which led to a DNS on Sundays Championship race. 

Special Thanks to Sponsors- Golden State Propeller, and for all your help Kevin Eldredge, Grant Semanskee, John Kerner and Larry & Rick from Curtis & Associates Aircraft Maintenance, Mike Kunde from Hanger 46 & Ray Leslie. 

For Sponsorship inquiries call 805.729.0285

Lee Behel of San Jose, California is one of the founders of the Sport Class and presently serves as it's enthusiastic President.  He campaigned a Questair Venture for 4 years before acquiring an Andy Chiavetta built Lancair Legacy in 2002.  Lee has managed to squeak a little more speed out of his airplane every year since 2002 and has had the fastest normally aspirated airplane in the Sport Class for the last several years. Breathless won the Sport Gold Class in 2009 and quallified at a blistering 341.95 mph!!!



For 2010 Lee will race in both the Sport and Super Sport Classes. In addition to his rediculously fast normally aspirated Legacy, Lee will be racing Race 15 a wonderfully beautiful and fast GP-5. Look for  this very rare aircraft to dazzel all your senses by its sleek lines and intense sound.



 Lee’s background includes 24 years with the Nevada Air National Guard where he accumulated 2500 hours of F-4 Phantom flight time and flew other military aircraft including the F-101 Voodoo.  He retired in 1996 as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Steve was born in the Los Angeles area. At 7 years old when at a family gathering and asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he quickly answered he wanted to be a pilot. Given that the family home was located under the flight path to LAX, becoming a pilot seemed only natural. Besides, what young boy doesn’t want to be a pilot? Unfortunately, that answer didn’t sit too well with an uncle who thought he should be something more, and told that to Steve and all who would listen in no uncertain terms. With the emotional support of his parents however, he was undeterred and pursued a flying military career, but an intestinal re-sectioning would keep him out of a military cockpit.

Steve graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an MBA from UCLA. He spent 10 years in investment banking before starting an air charter company in Southern California. In 1989 he joined United Airlines as a Flight Engineer on the B-727 and currently is a Captain on the B-757 and B-767. Steve holds a Commercial, ATP and CFI rating, as well as type ratings on various transport category aircraft.

Tom started flying after a Young Eagles flight provided by his local EAA chapter.  It took a few years, but later he picked up a ratty old Cessna 150 and started to rack up the hours.  Then the air race bug bit.  Having narrowed it down to a 2 seat composite airplane, he found "Unleashed" for sale fresh out of the 2006 Reno Air Races.  It was a steep learning curve, but 250 hours later and many modifications Unleashed is faster than ever. Unable to qualify at PRS 2010 due to lack of total time, Scott Germain filled in and raced Unleashed for Tom in the 2010 Reno Air Races posting a best average race speed of 264.909.  Not bad for 4 cylinders!  Unleashed is grounded this year for more upgrades but will be back next year.  Tom is currently supporting the Radial Rocket kit program and will be with the Radial Rocket at the 2011 races.

 Ernie grew up in the Bay Area of California and now lives in The Woodlands, TX. At his stage in life he enjoys mentoring and being involved... be it church, his love for the outdoors as a Eagle scout or community activities.  His first business as a young teenager was selling news papers and Beekeeping with his SutterGold Honey Co.,  later dabbling in  realestate development and now helping to develop the premier Internet/Com munition system called iWowWe.com   Trying in the past, because of resources the dream of flying for whatever reason never really came to being till he returned from a tour in the Army from 1967 thur 1970.   Returning to finish college he joined a flying club and along with the GI Bill, the passion and destiny for flying came to life....   He has logged more than 33,000hrs of flying in nearly 100 different aircraft and holds a CFII/ME, ATP, Flight Engineer and Commercial license in Land and Sea aircraft.  Though he wished he had the opportunity to fly in the military, he has experienced most all other parts of aviation.  Including Test Pilot, Instructor, Corporate, Commuter, Freight, Recon,  running a FBO, and retiring as a Airline Check Pilot with Continental Airlines.  Continental called him back to be a instructor and also be part of the team hiring new pilots as needed.... though he was paid, it was regarded as a privilege.    Now in addition to being very active with testing and training, he flies till the Shuttle is retired, a Sabreliner 65 for USA/NASA moving corporate personnel, mostly between Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers.



His first introduction to racing was in 1975 flying a B-23 durning the Lincoln Air Races.   Since building his Lancair Legacy in 2004 he has respectfully competed at Reno for the last 7 years with his stock "out of the box" Legacy, always sitting about  the middle of the Sport Class pack.   In 2010 he was high point standing with Sport Air Racing League in his class.  Racing has been an exciting addition to his carrier.  He is involved with a proto type that may hit 400mph, but for now will settle with 5th in the Gold and winning the Silver Class in 2009 at 296mph

 

Ernie fells there are many more flying hours ahead of him and is willing to help and mentor anyone with the passion to fly....

Tom McReynolds works in the software industry, managing engineers doing graphics and system software for embedded systems. His professional expertise is 3D computer graphics, and has been a Siggraph lecturer and co-author of an influential textbook on computer graphics techniques. An occasional flyer since his teenage years, Tom got serious about aviation in the 80s, getting his instrument and commercial rating and staring his quest to build a Lancair 235. 15 years and three attempts later, he's now the proud owner of a Lancair Legacy.

Picking up the racing bug from a conversation with Will Whiteside during a Lancair fly-in,  Tom underwent race and formation training for a year, modified his plane to obtain better performance, attended PRS, and participated in the 2007 Reno Air Races, where he won the Sport Class silver race. Encouraged by his success and the camaraderie he felt with the Sport class racers, he upgraded his plane to a Super Legacy, making aerodynamic modifications and turbocharging the engine. He came in 3rd in the Sport Gold race in 2008, and 2nd in 2009.

This year, Tom's engine had a problem during practice at Reno, taking him out competition for 2010. He hopes to have everything working better next year, so he can continue to be part of Sport class racing.

Richard Ogg of San Lorenzo, California is the owner of a Hydraulic fabrication and service business with a passion for flying. He currently races a Glasair 1FT he acquired in 1996. Although not a rookie to flying, the Reno Air Races of 1999 is where Richard first got his taste of piloting a plane in an official race and was instantly hooked. His fastest speed at Reno so far is 223 mph. When not racing planes, he enjoys some leisurely flying, working on his next racer a Lancair Legacy, and spending as much time as possible down at the airport. Richard is sponsored by Concrete Wall Sawing of San Lorenzo and Concrete Coring of Hong Kong as well as helped by many others including Airflow Performance, Barry Controls, Electronics International, Electroair, Lycon, and friends.

Mike Dacey is a building contractor out of Pismo Beach, Ca. With 25 years flying experience he has over 3000 hours in single, multiengine and jet time. He has flown the Venture to 3 first place wins in the Sun 100 race in Florida, and placed 4th in the Sport Class in 1999 at a speed of 282mph.

In 2007, Mike took 3rd place on the heals of the NXT's at over 350 mph. Over the past year Mike has made some very interesting modifications to his Venture and has been ripping up the sky over San Luis Obispo and reported speeds close to the 400 mph mark!

2010 Super Sport Champion, Mike is sittin' pretty good to hold his position for 2011. Winning is good but there are lots of records to break out there and Mike tells us he is up for the challenge this year.

David Sterling of San Diego, CA flies race 8, a Lancair legacy that he built. The airplane construction took three years. David was a graduate of PRS 2006 and entered his Legacy that first year.

He was successful during his first year finishing in seventh place in the Silver Division. His flying experience ranges from sail planes to Boeing 747's. He is currently a Captain for Continental Airlines and has a about 26,000 hours in his log book. He has been a good addition to the growing list of licensed Sport Class Air Racers.

Jeff Ackland, from Overland Park, Kansas, will be racing the Radial Rocket, Race 95, in his rookie year at the 2011 Reno Races. Jeff has accumulated 4800 hours of flying experience over 32 years.  He currently oversees Radial Rocket production and marketing efforts for Altitude Group LLC. The Radial Rocket is an aerobatic, two seat kit aircraft powered by the 360 horsepower M-14P nine- cylinder radial engine.

 

 Dave Morss of Redwood City, CA is a three time Sport Class Gold Champion who currently flys a Lancair Legacy. This year Dave will be racing for Team Driven, a Lancair IV powered by a Reduction Drive Motors engine sponsored by Reduction Drive Motors and Fibercraft. He is a test pilot and has amassed an amazing 27,000 hours in over 300 different types of aircraft including 39 prototype first flights.



A Pylon racer since 1980, Dave has raced in Biplane, Formula One, Unlimited, Jet and Sport Class. He has competed in more races than any other pilot in the history of air racing, 204 and counting. In Sport Class, he won 1st place Gold in 1998, 1999, 2000; 3rd place Gold in 2002 and 1st place Silver in 2003 and 2004. His fastest speed at Reno so far is 444.723 m.p.h. flying an L39, Tejas Pistolaero.



Dave has won many awards including the NAA Pulitzer Award 1998, 1999 for Sport Class records, Spirit of Flight Award 1998 (Society of Experimental Test Pilots), a two time recipient Bob Downey Memorial Award for most inspirational competitor (IF1) and the George Owl Outstanding New Design Award (IF1). Additionally, he set thirteen world speed records, ten of which stand.



Lancair, Continental and Hartzell have sponsored Dave and you can read more about his flying and flying experiences on his website, http://www.davemorss.com.