  Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 882 Registered: 10-2003 |
You asked about the U-40 Green Dragon Bardahl on the Gold Cup thread. The Hydroplane And Race Boat Museum says the 1962 Bardahl, the 1955 Miss Thriftway replica, the 1960 Miss Burien and the 1975 Oh Boy! Oberto will run at the Tri-Cities in a week and a half. More info is available at www.hydroinsider.com which will stream video of the 4 old warhorses in action. doug | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 883 Registered: 10-2003 |
It occured to me that "Tri-Cities" might be construed as Saginaw/Bay City/Midland. Insert the phrase (Richland/Pasco/Kennewick) Washington after Tri-Cities, OK? | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1840 Registered: 11-2003 |
Thanks, Douglasm. I will have to call my nephew in Seattle and tell him I want a blow-by-blow description of the BIG race. That is quite a collection of the old-timers. The U-40 had best not compete on the runway in Saginaw. | ||
Oilcan_harry Member Username: Oilcan_harry Post Number: 12 Registered: 08-2006 |
I loved the Unlimited Hydros back in the Allison/ Roll Royce Merlin days. Went to the Governer's Cup at Madison Indiana many times. Had family that lived there. Spent many a weekend sitting on the river bank listening to V-12s roar, and rooting for the hometown boat. I was there when Miss Madison won the Gold Cup, the win that spawned the movie "Madison". Those were the days! The Turbines just don't get it for me. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 884 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oilcan.... ....there's an interesting "blog" on the ABRA website www.abrahydroplanes.com that talks about the idea of automotive power for the thunderboats. Click on "Blog" and under that tab it's Doug Ford's entry. There was an attempt to create an "automotive unlimited" circuit 20 years ago spearheaded by one of the Evans brothers (Mitch?) but the boats looked like oversized 7-litre boats and it went nowhere..... | ||
River_rat Member Username: River_rat Post Number: 277 Registered: 02-2006 |
I saw the 50's and 60's hydros (race) exhibition in Seattle a few years ago at Seafare and the old boats are far more exciting than the turbines. Times change and those of us who recall the days 250,000 to 300,000 fans at the race here in Detroit pine for those days, both for unlimited racing and Detroit. By the way, one of the vintage hydros in the Seattle museum is the former Dewey's Lumberville. It is now painted as Nitrogen II.It was built at Schaeffer just off Fenkell at Dewey's Lumberville! | ||
Oilcan_harry Member Username: Oilcan_harry Post Number: 14 Registered: 08-2006 |
Back in the 60's there was a boat called Miss Chrysler Crew powered by multiple blown and injected 426 Hemis. The boat ran fairly well but was no match for the Allisons and Merlins. At Madison one year during a lull in the action the announcer was interviewing a crew chief or boat owner about his boat, sorry I don't remember the name. The announcer mentioned the "little engine in the front" of the boat and wondered how such a "small engine could make the boat faster". The crew chief / owner explained that the "little engine in the front" [a blown late model Hemi] didn't run the boat at all, it just drove the Supercharger for the big engine! Those were the days! | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 760 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hydroplanes were much more fun when a blowover was a death sentence... | ||
Oilcan_harry Member Username: Oilcan_harry Post Number: 15 Registered: 08-2006 |
I didn't like all the deaths and injuries, I just miss the sound of the old V-12 engines. The new boats are much safer but I wish we had safer boats with the old piston engines. Turbines sound awful. (Message edited by Oilcan_harry on July 24, 2007) (Message edited by OIlcan_harry on July 24, 2007) | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1849 Registered: 11-2003 |
I share your thoughts, oilcan. You don't have to have a tragedy to appreciate the skills and the dangers that those drivers face. Although MISS PEPSI,on display at our Dossin Museum, might well be best remembered with Chuck Thompson in her cockpit, so many folks I have talked to when visiting the museum are still of the belief that Thompson died when MISS PEPSi flipped and he was behind the wheel. Actually, Thompson was killed right here in Detroit in 1966 while driving SMIRNOFF. A real tragedy. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 889 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hey Rock..... ....or anyone else that likes vintage hydros. The U-40 Green Dragon Miss Bardahl, the U-60 '55 Miss Thriftway replica, the U-4 '60 Miss Bruien and the '75 Oh Boy! Oberto will take to the Columbia River for a vintage hydro race Friday at 5pm PDT (8pm EDT?), and you can watch it (maybe live, definately on delay at 6:30pm PDT--you do the math) at www.hydroinsider.com the hydro webpage for KNDO/KNDU-TV Yakima/Tri-Cities, WA. Hydroinsider has some nifty footage of the boats testing on Lake Washington earlier this year. Click on "Vintage hydrosplanes will race...." | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1855 Registered: 11-2003 |
Thanks for the scoop, douglasm. I will try to check it out. My neighbor took a 3rd in his division in the Mackinac race last weekend, and maybe U-40 can do something special, too. | ||
14509glenfield Member Username: 14509glenfield Post Number: 1121 Registered: 05-2006 |
What was it with the piston boats...driver ability or the boat? What is it now with the turbos...the driver or the boat? Honestly, haven't seen a race since 1970. Roars vs. Whispers. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 893 Registered: 10-2003 |
It's a combination of the two. You put Bill Muncy in the Atlas, you have a winning combination. Put Jerry Bangs in the boat, you'd have a wreck. Put Bill in an older Miss Madison (the old Pay-N-Pak for example) and you'd have what you got, a 4th place finish. Just watched the Bardahl and the Miss Burien in the vintage race at www.hydroinsider.com Acted like a piston race. 2 on the course, 1 dead in the infield (Thriftway) and one on the dock (Oh Boy! Oberto) but boy, the noise was lovely, and the two that ran put on a good show. They'll go again tomorrow and Sunday..... |
