Rare Bear Featured in 2009 Air & Space Smithsonian Article

After a winter spent licking the wounds from battles lost last fall, the Bear stirs, indifferent to the bracing wind and brilliant sunshine. It emerges slowly from its cave, pauses to orient itself, then gravitates toward its natural hunting ground: not a forest or a river full of salmon but the ramp of the Reno-Stead Airport in Nevada. Here, for four decades and counting, the Bear has stalked its prey: Sea Furys, Lightnings, Super Corsairs, and, tastiest of all, the fleet, slender thoroughbreds known as P-51 Mustangs.

Story by Preston Learner Photography by Tyson Rininger and others.   continue>>

John Penney's Account of The 2009 Race Week

Dear "Bear" Fans, This year the "Rare Bear" Air Racing team faced one of the most challenging race weeks for our team that I can remember in the last several years. In previous years, we had our backs against the wall, but the challenges this year were more daunting. We couldn't get our Cornell race engine done in time due to some mechanical issues. As a result, just weeks before the races, the decision was made to buy a stock Curtis-Wright R3350 from Anderson Aeromotive that was meant to go to the B-29 "FIFI". Our crew, under the guidance of Crew Chief Dave Cornell, replaced its "fast" nose case with an EA2 nose case with a higher reduction ratio that allowed us to run our desired race rpm without overspeeding the prop. That was all that was done to modify this engine for this year's race.    continue>>