Reno 1998

The Debut of the Wampus Cat

After the '97 races, and after replacing the engine on Val-Halla, Bill thought it might be interesting to get into a more "race as is" aircraft that would finish respectably, so he found a F8F-2 Bearcat in England.  The interesting thing about this particular airframe is that it had raced in the first Reno Air aces in 1964, then piloted by Walt Oelrich who finished fourth in the Gold Unlimited race.  Bill brought the bird back to the US, dubbing her the "Wampus Cat."  This would be the first year Bill would race two aircraft in the races as well as fly the "Heritage Flight" portion of the airshow with Val-Halla.  It was a busy schedule. 

Val-Halla raced all week in the Bronze, Wampus Cat raced in the Silver, except when blowing jugs (Bill had to call three "May Days" this year).  

This was also the year that the pits were more of a party than race pits.  Valerie did a great job getting the food (Costco BBQ ribs usually) and laying out a great spread for all of the team and our guests (you can't believe how much an Eagle maintenance team can eat!).   We had to cordon off a "party" area and a "work" area and at first no one took it seriously.  A situation most notably disruptive right before a race (when it is most critical to focus) and most notably disruptive to the mechanical side of the team all the time. Imagine one of our guests complaining to Bill about their hotel room 20 minutes prior to engine start.  Eventually, after exhausting diplomatic efforts, the Pit Boss, Jack, and Alan decided the situation did require the appointing of a new position on the team, that of "Pit Asshole."   A position that Greg was duly appointed to and was very successful at.  Saturday and Sunday started flowing well once the lines were understood.

Saturday found everything at the ready with an unexpected treat for everyone.  The Silver races would see Howard Pardue's F8F-2, David Price's F8F-1 and the Wampus Cat F8F-2 starting the race in positions 2, 3 & 4.  It was a great race and a lot of fun and the crowd loved to see the Bearcats battle it out.  The F8F-1's reduced oil cooling forced him to power back after about three laps.  And, Howard was even nice enough to turn off his Nitro every now and then to make it look more like an even race.

Probably the biggest "hit T-shirt" that year was the "Wampus Cat" shirt produced by Paul Greenstein, depicting the nose art painted by Alan and the definition developed by Eric Anders.  We had not made enough to mass market them, nor were we properly registered to pay the association taxes on the sales, so many in the crowd were disappointed.  However, some were willing to wait for the second printing and a mail out and got their museum T-shirts.