Wed, Sep 09, 2015
Catching Fire On The Way To Reno, Highly Modified Aircraft May Be A Total Loss
The annual pilgrimage to Reno by dozens of heavily modified racing aircraft is not without is hazards... and today, Unlimited racing lost a major player as 'Precious Metal' -- a highly-modified P-51 (seen here in a YouTube Screengrab) was lost in a fire shortly after refueling on the way to Reno.
Precious Metal Pilot and Boss, Thom Richard, posted the following to the racing team's Facebook page Tuesday.
"It's with a heavy heart I am forced to announce the end of Precious Metal's air racing career. She sustained heavy damage in a ground fire at a fuel stop this afternoon.
The aircraft was running fine and I was taxiing out of the chocks after fueling up, a gentleman came running and signaled me to shut down. I had no idea I was on fire until he alerted me as it was under the airplane. By the time I came to a stop the flames were reaching the cockpit on the left side and I abandoned ship. There was no time to attempt fighting the fire as we feared an imminent explosion with 190 gallons of fuel onboard.
The fire department showed up after about 12 minutes and took 20 minutes to put the flames out with foam. But the damage was done. The aircraft is intact, but sustained heavy damage.
Thank you for all the support over the years, you are the best fans."
Precious Metal was never a serving warbird, but is, instead, an amalgam of a number of Mustang airframes and was deliberately configured for racing. On September 15, 2013, Precious Metal placed 5th in the Gold race, boasting 434 mph the highest complete finish time in its life. In 2014, the aircraft was forced to make a deadstick landing after a fuel problem resulted in an engine shutdown, requiring pilot Thom Richard to feather the unique dual prop configuration and execute a breathtaking emergency landing... all documented in a pretty intense YouTube video featured on Airborne last year.
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