We caught up with Matt Moore in the big hangar at Stead. He and Stead hangar neighbor Josh Taylor were getting their contingent of three F1 speedsters put together after towing them to Stead for PRS.
Matt reports the Formula 1 class already has 26 entries for the September races and only 24 available slots. It’s just another data point saying the last Reno races are going to be well subscribed as everyone tries to get one last shot at air racing’s now ancestral home.
Matt, who’s from Reid Hill airport in San Jose, California, is running race #1, the now ACME Special ll seen in the foreground. It’s a bit scruffy at the moment with its vinyl wrap tattered in spots and wearing a wooden prop and low-po daily driver motor. Not to worry as Matt will race prep his new-to-him plane for September with a race engine, composite prop and new graphics.
The ACME Special ll was previously Zipper and won the F1 Gold in 2009 with Thom Richards on the stick.
Race 31 in the background is the also very fast, multi-Gold winning Fraed Naught, now owned by Josh Taylor. He’s planning on getting used to his new mount at PRS, saving any modifications for next year. So far Josh finds Fraed Naught attention getting at lower speeds with little aileron feel and touchy elevators, but coming dead stable once over 200 mph. Sounds like a race plane!
The slab wing Cassutt with the green leading edges and 3-blade toothpick prop is Josh’s earlier racer, which will be run by his wife Jen this September.
