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Post by renegade on Jan 21, 2012 14:07:19 GMT -6
Here is a photo of myself in the #7 (owned by Vern Willingham at the time) and Tim Gibson in his #4 Sonerai, built by Mr. McGraw of Memphis TN. The #4 had a 2180cc engine and 90LBS more empty weight than the Renegade with an 1835cc engine, and he had pulled away from me on the down hill approach. As we leveled the Renegade would soon start to overtake it. This was about 1980. Lex Attachments:
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Post by Supervee on Jan 21, 2012 15:00:25 GMT -6
Lex...Thanks so much for posting all the pictures!!,,,,,This will help liven up this site......Last I saw a picture of N4x it was painted an all red, no striping. It looked much better in this 1980 era photo....Ed
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Post by renegade on Jan 21, 2012 16:05:48 GMT -6
I have a story to share, one of many, about N4X. I had a Cassutt that I had assembled recently and was about to test hop it, when a local guy here in MN asked about my experience in flying "hot" homebuilts. I told him I had flown a Cassutt before. This person told me he had owned and flown a Sonerai,,,,,,,,N4X, and that he was more than capable of test flying my Cassutt. I called Tim Gibson later that night (we are still great friends, as we grew up and learned to fly together in Carbondale IL) and told him about the MN pilot who had owned his Sonerai, and we both had a good belly laugh! Tim said "so, did you ask him if that was suppose to impress you"?
Lex "An ego is no match for gravity"
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n3480h
Junior Member
Posts: 53
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Post by n3480h on Jan 22, 2012 8:10:11 GMT -6
Funny story and a great pic.
What part of MN are you in, Lex? I'm in NW Siberia NW Iowa. Building a Sonerai IILS, but not as a racer. Also have one of Ed's Skylite ultralights (though its scheduled for a refurb because of the things PO's did to it, lol).
Tom
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Post by Supervee on Jan 22, 2012 12:08:53 GMT -6
Lex, That's a good story....I had a guy once ask me who did my test flying, and I responded that I did all of them.....Then he said...."no...I mean, who does your FIRST flights?"....Again, I said...'me'......He got frustrated, then he said...."Well, who does your welding?"....Hmmm..I said....'me'..."NO, I mean, where do you get your fuselages?"......Oh well.....Ed
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Post by renegade on Jan 22, 2012 12:31:23 GMT -6
Tom,
I am in Princeton, which is about 50 miles NNW of Minneapolis Siberia. Really though, this has been a very mild winter so far for us. Don't worry about not racing. You will find (if you have not already) that flying Formula Vee's are a blast. Please post a photo when you can. Lex "An ego is no match for gravity"
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Post by Supervee on Aug 12, 2015 5:05:06 GMT -6
As with everything , change and new directions are part of every day life….I am happy to report that , in addition to having #14 Beetlebomb and #77 'Veebee' in my shop, I am now the new caretaker and own N4X, the McGraw Sonerai that Lex spoke about in this thread. Damaged last year in a landing incident, She needs a full restoration, which will begin after #14 is finished. I have reserved race #41 for this aircraft, which I will call "Bumblebeetle", a name that Charlie Terry had originally coined for a future FV …So, #41, N4X and #14, N14CT sit side by side in my shop, today 36 years after they raced together at Cleveland in 1979. Colors will probably be wild, my wife Val has suggested bright green, yellow, and purple….we shall see!!!…..Ed
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Post by dmar836 on Jan 19, 2016 23:26:26 GMT -6
Lex and others, You mention the 2180cc and 1835cc displacements and a date of 1980. Was this race part of FV? Were there planes in that period racing with larger engines and if so in what class? How was the 1600cc displacement enforced? I've read that internal engine parts were to be only factory marked parts, etc. but was there an engine teardown to "proof" this? Really curious about these larger engines in that time period. Dave
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Post by Supervee on Jan 20, 2016 6:35:38 GMT -6
Lex will hopefully see your post and comment, but what I remember is,…I just checked the logbooks, and N4X has had a 2180 Revmaster engine since day one when it was built. When it raced at Cleveland in 1979, It raced for 'exhibition' only to fill the field, but took automatic last place in the record books. In the formative years , Formula Vee was hurting for airplanes, and every little bit helped….As well, we let a couple Sonerai 2's race in the class in the early days. To my knowledge, #7 Renegade had an 1835 engine before it started racing, but when It raced in sanctioned races, it had a 1600. Lex would know more, he owns the airplane today. The Formula Vee tech committee had a few Functional gauges, to determine eligibility, most often recalled is the 'Go-no- go' 32 mm. gauge to check carburetor inlet diameter. Different race classes do different things, but volumetric testing for displacement was often done with liquid poured into the cylinder ….Ed
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