CoolPix: Reno 2012 - Precious Metal Evening Engine Run... Wow!

(click pic for hi-res)  Precious Metal engine run on Thursday evening 9-13-12 at Reno

 I had several really great opportunities to take my photography up a few notches at the Reno Air Races this year, and one of the best of them was when Thom Richard moved his Rolls Royce Griffon powered P-51 Precious Metal out onto the Reno/Stead Airport ramp for an engine run up after the sun had set. Thom adds a lot of fun to the Reno pilot list with a very outgoing, open and accessible style... and when you add in that beautiful counter-rotating prop P-51, you get a really colorful addition to the Reno Air Races scene!

 The possibility of having the chance to capture an image like this one is exactly why I packed a full size tripod (disassembled) into my small suitcase for the trip. And when I found out that he was gonna do this after-sunset engine run, I knew there'd be some sort of cool prop effect going on, especially since the prop was very freshly polished. You may already know that the prop on Precious Metal this year is actually an all new one. This one has longer blades with a very different tip shape. The reworked prop has added 64 mph to the airplane's top speed! That's a huge increase and has put the airplane in the position of being faster than it's ever been in its race history. In fact, the race on Friday last week was the first 'Gold' race that the airplane had ever been in. If not for the pesky loss of an inner gear door during the Championship Gold race last Sunday, Precious Metal stood a very good chance of being in third place. It's exciting to realize that the future is looking very bright for this shiny Unlimited racer.

 I had the chance to sit down with Thom last Thursday and got some cool details on the changes to the prop - I'll have that post will be up before long. For now tho, I've taken one of the best pix from the evening engine run and put it here as the CoolPix image above. It's also available below in four popular desktop sizes in case your looking for something a little different for your computer's desktop pic. Those six polished blades made some wild reflections from the lights off in the distance. It really makes that wild prop combo look electrified! And you always gotta love some blue flames coming out of the exhaust too! Enjoy : )

Precious Metal evening engine run desktop pix:

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Comments

[Ray Walker]

Great photo of a great plane!

[Benn]

Precious Metal, propelled by Liquid Fire!

[valeyan]

valeyan e3d3fd1842 https://www.webcaffe.ws/tartenare

[valeyan]

valeyan e3d3fd1842 https://www.webcaffe.ws/tartenare