Tom Wilson

Getting Practical-What can you do for a better engine?

Even if the results are often predictable and there might not be wingtip-to-wingtip combat, the Sport Gold final is one of the most anticipated...

Any racer will tell you a good start is vital, and now Thom Richard and Steve Senegal have unfortunate first-hand experience in just how true that is.

For years Hartzell has ruled the roost in Sport class racing around the pylons at Reno. Their "race prop," as it's universally called, has been found faithfully propelling nearly every front runner Glasair and Lancair for over a decade and it's responded well as race speeds have steadily climbed.

Sport Gold class racers just finished their Saturday afternoon heat race, and as expected everyone went just fast enough to finish where they needed....

There were few surprises in the Sport Gold heat race yesterday afternoon at the National Air Races in Reno, Nevada. Jeff LaVelle lead from...

During the big-engine peak of the 1940s and '50s large radial engines all used a hydraulically-actuated torquemeter. By sensing the engine's output specific power and fuel consumption settings were accurately set, along with providing some engine diagnostic capabilities.

Qualifying is often telling the tale with racing around Reno's pylons, but when the heat races start the reality of Sunday's Gold money races begins to take shape.

Earlier we commented on John Parker's Thunder Mustang as being supercharged... Turns out our long term memory was having fun with our rapidly slipping short term recall.

Number one qualifier in Formula One is not the expected Steve Senegal but rather Lowell Slatter in Fraed Naught at an impressive 253.597 mph. As for Senegal, he posted 250.431 mph in qualifying and 245.846 mph in this morning's heat race. Maybe it's a case of being busy as Steve is also racing a Super RV-8 in the Sport Class where he ran just a little slower at 235.107 mph.