CoolPix: Thom Richard In Precious Metal - Reno 2013 Gold Unlimited Race

(click pic for hi-res)  2 props, 6 blades, and a thundering Rolls Royce Griffon engine!

 My day job has me buried at the moment (and for the next 2 weeks) so I needed something impressive and quick to post this morning. I think this pic I captured of Thom Richard in the Reno Unlimited Gold Race on Sunday September 15th from pylon 2 will suffice!

 With lots of mods done over the last year, Thom had hoped that Precious Metal would be a true contender this time around, but the failure of the 'race engine' during a ground run shortly before leaving Florida for Reno meant it was major scramble time. The backup engine was installed and he just barely arrived to the races in time. And while they tweaked the lesser engine thru the week, there just wasn't enough there to put it near the front of the pack.

 However, with no failures during race week, Precious Metal looked good in the new paint working its way into 5th place. With another year of mods and more horses under the hood with that modified race engine repaired, 2014 might be the year we see this mixmaster P-51 become a serious contenda : )