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The future of Unlimited air racing

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FranklinRatliff

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Orlando, Florida
The disaster at Reno is not the first time that racing officials have had to consider whether keeping a motorsport on its present course is a path to extinction. Unlimited hydroplane racing went through it. Top Fuel drag boat racing went through it. NASCAR went through it. The result was organizers were forced to admit fundamental change could no longer be avoided, and to give creative people and inventive engineers and scientists the opportunity to introduce innovations that changed the direction of the sport.

In the case of Unlimited hydroplanes and Top Fuel drag boats, the introduction of enclosed cockpits and driver capsules were innovations that turned all the existing boats into museum relics, but saved the sport. With NASCAR, it was introducing seats and head restraints that brought safety practices up to modern standards.

Just as the era of open cockpit hydroplanes and drag boats passed, the era of Unlimited racers as we know them has passed. I see a future for Unlimited air racing. I do not see a place for WWII airframes in that future. Unlimited air racing will be a lot safer with airplanes that are built from scratch to go 500 mph.

Aside from the project to rebuild Tsunami, other airplanes that can be considered as prototypes for future Unlimited racers are David Rose’s RP-4 and the Pond Racer (although in the case of the Pond Racer I think that project might have developed with less trouble if they’d used a pair of big block Chevys). Just as Unlimited hydroplanes moved away from WWII piston engines to gas turbines, I believe there is also a place for turbines in Unlimited air racing. If Unlimited air racing can be made more affordable without sacrificing performance, this could lead to growth that brings in new teams and bigger fields.
 
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