…Penney Wins Unlimited And Jet Classes
And while the Sport class is heralded as the next big thing in air racing, the sleek, composite kit planes still have a lot of work ahead of them to overcome the sheer muscle of the Unlimiteds. The hugely modified — 4,000 hp — Grumman Bearcat Rare Bear, with John Penney in the cockpit, took the Gold final on Sunday with a speed of 466.3 mph, more than 100 mph faster than Greenamyer’s (600 hp) Sport class time. Two Sea Furies rounded out the top three with Brian Saunders guiding Dreadnought to a 448.8 mph second place and Stewart Dawson’s Spirit of Texas in third at 430.4 mph.
And while the Sport class is heralded as the next big thing in air racing, the sleek, composite kit planes still have a lot of work ahead of them to overcome the sheer muscle of the Unlimiteds. The hugely modified -- 4,000 hp -- Grumman Bearcat Rare Bear, with John Penney in the cockpit, took the Gold final on Sunday with a speed of 466.3 mph, more than 100 mph faster than Greenamyer's (600 hp) Sport class time. Two Sea Furies rounded out the top three with Brian Saunders guiding Dreadnought to a 448.8 mph second place and Stewart Dawson's Spirit of Texas in third at 430.4 mph. Penney also found winning form in the Jet class, flying the L-39 Albatros at an average speed of 454.2 mph. In the T-6 class, Mary Dilda posted a winning speed of 237.2 while Andrew Buehler flew his Mong Sport to victory in the biplanes at 230.8 mph. Gary Hubler won the Formula One class in Mariah at a speed of 252.3 mph.
