Yak Could Surprise Reno Crowds

ANN On-Scene Coverage of Reno 2003

The lone Yak-11 in the Unlimited class at Reno this year, Czech Mate, had a great qualifying run, and managed to stay in the Gold heat, running 434.892 mph. (Weird, when you start thinking that 435 is 'slowest qualifier.')

At any rate, it's going to be a contender. All day Thursday and Friday until its heat race, it sat in its paddock, actually ready to race.

"All it needs is gas," said Shane, a team member who was proud of the big blue monster, formerly raced as Perestroika.

"It's been a little tough on us the last three years," he said, "but it's ready, really ready." In 2000, it lost a cylinder on the 2800 P&W; and in 2002 they had a runaway prop, due to bad calibration on a Russian ADI system.

Crew Chief Dave "LD" Hughes filled us in. "We lost that prop governor in 2002, he remembered. "Luckily, we weren't pulling a lot of power; but we've gone through the whole engine -- pistons, rods, the blower drive. Strangely enough, the prop was OK. It's essentially a new engine."

Czech Mate runs a 2800. That's small, in Unlimited. "To put a bigger engine in it would be... ridiculous," Dave said. "We're at the aerodynamic limits... torque, P-factor. We've lengthened the fuselage to the tail... it could use three feet more."

I told him to remember to put oil in the engine before racing. (I knew it was empty, because there wasn't any oil on the tarmac below it.) He laughed. "We spent a lot of time this summer -- hoses, gaskets -- all that stuff that's, 'we'll get to it some day' -- we got to it; and so far, it's paid off."

The airplane needed nothing but gas. Really. "I'm not used to this," he said. "Sitting around at the race."

Don't worry, Dave. The sitting around won't last.

It never does...

FMI: www.airrace.org