Hello to all RARE BEAR FAN SPONSOR CLUB, INC. members, and all other fans and interested parties of Lyle Shelton's "RARE BEAR".

It has been some time since I updated all of you on the progress of the "Bear", and our march towards the GOLD at Reno. I promise you, we have not been letting any grass grow under our feet!

I also promise you, god willing, we are going for it all this year.

Last year, we were hoping to win it all, but we knew we were having cylinder problems. After a general discussion between Lyle, John, myself and the crew, we decided that if we could pull off a second place, this would give us some operating money, insure that we still had an engine to upgrade and give it everyting we had to win in 2004. The one surprise that came out of all this was the fact that we were able to garner the top qualifyer position.

Our crew and John Penney deserve ALL the credit for this turn of events, plus all of you out there.

A noted crew chief asked me "How did you do that?" I told him "You can do anything with $20. 00 bills, the secret is in how many $20. 00's you get!"

Now, I would like to bring you all up to date on what is being done to insure a Gold win this year.

Right after our aborted try to make the Nellis Airshow, due to weather and a fuel pump that went south on us, the crew went to work.

The fuel pump was replaced with the new rebuilt spare we had purchased. The "sick"one was shipped to THUNDER AIRMOTIVE, which they rebuilt for us.

The entire ignition system, rings, harness,, leads and coils, which gave us some problems during the Gold race in September, was removed and shipped to NEW HORIZON'S AIRCRAFT IGNITIONS for checking and repairs.

Without companies like this helping us, we would never be able to bring the "Bear" up to the Gold level. They deserve a special thanks!

The "Bear" was placed in hibernation, the In Motion insurance was suspended for 5 months to save us some valuable cash, and the crew went to work. We would like to thank CANNON AVIATION INSURANCE for allowing us to do this.

We called all over the United States looking for a company that we felt comfortable with to rebuild some of our cylinders. We finally settled on ABBOTT AIRCRAFT SERVICES of Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

We want to thank Jeff Abbott for all his help and understanding.

The crew removed 5 cylinders from the engine that were showing a compression drop during the tests, plus the 3 that went south on us during the races and 2 more of our spares that were suitable for a rebuild. We also delivered boxes of spare parts that crewmember Ray Din had transported from the Van Nuys hanger to Reno and Elliott White, our new crew chief and new crewmember Chris Britschgi, loaded everything up and headed for Oklahoma.

When they arrived, they helped dismantle some of the cylinders for the experience, plus we wanted to see what was wrong with them. Almost all of them had defective valve guides, as we suspected. One required a new piston, which we had. This project will give us 4 spares, plus one more to pay back AERO UNION for the one they loaned us during the September races.

Jeff went through all of our spare parts and sorted them for usable ones in the future. I have the unusable parts with me and will deliver them to Charles Brand of TUNA GRAPHIC'S in the near future for mounting and sale on our web-store.

We delivered the cylinders to ABBOTT AIRCRAFT the last week of February and and they were ready to assemble and pick up by the first week of May.

Elliott White and crewmember Peter Belan went back to Oklahoma, helped assemble the cylinders, loaded everyting up, and headed back to Reno. We had about 6 weeks to reassemble the "Bear" and get her ready for PRS the 3rd week in June.

Just to complicate things even farther, we decided, due to the prop being off, we would arrange to get our 4 blade back from Tom and Ken Dwelle, and get some times on the pylons at PRS, to compare to the 3 blade times taken in September.

Tom allowed us to take the whole assemble, nose cone, prop and backplate, plus he let us use his prop stand and trailer. We owe a GREAT BIG THANKS to the Dwelle family for all the help they have given us, plus at that time, we didn't know that we would have to call on them again later, but that happened further down the road.

We have since located our own backplate in California and have replaced Critical Mass's backplate and nose cone with our own. But, I have to tell you, the "Bear" doesn't look like the "Bear" with the 4 blade on. But, if she can go faster with the 4 blade, she will just have to get used to it!!

The crew also had a new belly panel and tail cone made to replace the ones we had which were a bit beat up and possible causing some added drag. Leave nothing to chance!!

When the crew got the "Bear" put back together, Elliott White who has Lyle's ok to start the "Bear" and do ground runs, did so, then called me to report that there seemed to be something amiss with the ignition system yet, and he suspected the Mag system and a condenser. The crew pulled it and Elliott took off for NEW HORIZONS AIRCRAFT IGNITIONS, to have it bench checked. The system checked out just fine on the bench at 500 degree's, so it was back to Reno and reinstall it.

John Penney arrived in Reno Wednesday, the day before PRS and the "Bear" was run out to the flight line and John cranked her up. It appeared we still had a problem. Now it looked like the carburator that we had rebuilt and reinstalled just before the Nellis Airshow was acting up . It was running very rough when John worked the trottle. The carburator only had about 3 hours on it and had never had additives or 160 octane gas in it, so this was a puzzle, but we had a second carburator, also rebuilt, still in the box, so the crew changed to the new one. John again cranked the "Bear" up. This time, it looked like the Mag system was acting up again. When he switched off the right mag everyting went dead. But, the other question was, did we have a good carburator on now, or was this still part of our problem? It was decided to put the 3 hour carburator back on and see what happened. It didn't take long to answer this question. The 3 hour carburator wouldn't take any power over 1900 RPM. It is on it's way back to PRECISION CARBURATOR in Florida.

We all stood down while the crew replaced all the switches and wiring, checked all the rest of the wiring, and once again changed carburators. We have decided one way to raise money for the "Bear" is to challange some of the other teams to a contest, fastest carb change takes it all.

We would win hands down!

With this carb change, the "Bear" finally started running smoother but, the Mag problem had not gone away, as there was a rough spot at about 2400 RPM. By this time it was Sunday morning, it was John and Stephanie's wedding anniversary, and we still couldn't say, with conviction, that the carb was 100%. It was decided to answer one question at a time. The easiest question to answer was the carb question, due to the fact that the crew could do this with their eyes closed by now.

We parked the "Bear" back in the hanger, called Tom Dwelle and asked to borrow their carburator back for comparison testing. It was a proven carburator and was still in Florida at Precision Carburator. It has now arrived at Stead and the crew should have it installed and have already run some ground tests by the time you read this. This will answer the question once and for all. Is our carburator alright and do we have a wiring problem somewhere, or do we have two problems? Personally, I am a firm believer in the fact that the "Bear" has a mind of her own. She has decided that she isn't going anywhere with that 4 blade prop, and until we put the 3 blade back on her, she isn't moving. Like me, she likes to dress up for the party!!

Of course, this still leaves the burning question. Do we want to go with the 3 blade or the 4 blade prop? or will the "Bear" win the argument?

During all of this, we managed to fit in a fundraising chili feed Saturday evening. We want to thank Donna Crawford and Linda Gilliam for their contribution in the "kitchen".

We did run into a glitch here, as there had been a lightning storm the night before and all the gates to the airbase were malfunctioning and wouldn't stay open. We didn't discover this until about 600 , so for all of you who tried to get in, but couldn't, we are very sorry.

We also want to bring you up to date on some of the crew members.

Lyle was boxing the bag and tore up his shoulder. He had surgery on it and was going through physical therapy, but tore it lose again. He has since had a second surgery and is coming along fine, this time.

Stacy Thomas was transfered to Chicago. He still remains an active member of the crew, commuting to Reno whenever we work on the "Bear", usually sleeping on the donated couch in the hanger, but he felt he had to resign as the crew chief. Elliott White, who was already one of our crew members, was given the job. He is carrying on where Stacy left off. John and Stephanie Penney became grandparents, for the first time. Just mention this to John and watch him glow!!

We also had some sad news. Mac McKinney, one of our guru's of the "Bear", engine, passed away. Greg Shaw's wife, Pamela Shaw passed away. Oscar Margraf, a long time supporter of the "Bear" and Lyle's friend passed away and BJ, Lyle's dog and best friend, had to be put to sleep due to cancer.

We have some good news to report as well. We have picked up a number of new sponsors, from Silver and Gold level to 2 new major sponsors, THUNDER TIGER/ACE HOBBIES and CAMPBELL CRANE out of Portland, Oregon. Thunder Tiger will shortly be coming out with a scale model of the "Bear". Campbell Crane supplied the crane that put the Spruce Goose together, so we feel we are in good company. LINCOLN WELDING has donated a complete welding shop to the "Bear". Now the crew can do this task inhouse instead of having to run it to various shops, thus saving invaluable time.

We are currently working on some new merchandise with Charlie Brand of TUNA GRAPHIC'S. Some of this will be available at our web-store before long.

Our teammember Clark Thompson is working with OSI SOFT and the telemetry system for the "Bear". We now have 36 sensors ready to install at various places on the airframe and engine. This system proved invaluable last September even with just 12 sensors in place. This was one of the factors that saved our engine when the cylinders started going sour.

We have already sent in all the forms to RARA for entry into the 2004 races, so it is official, WE ARE GOING!!!

Our financial picture is a bit brighter than last year. We now have all our bills paid, we have about 1/2 of the insurance premium in the bank, and we have some money for the "Bear", as long as nothing major pops up.

The drag reduction project is moving along well. Lyle, Bill Hickle, Bob Pepper, Ian Gilcrist, Dave Birkenstock and a few other experts in the field are working on various plans. We will need hard numbers on the modifications before we can move forward. Our plan is to have this project ready to go right after we park the "Bear" for the winter. This would give us about 5 months to complete the job, then start doing test flights in May of 2005. Of course, this depends on our finances at that time. Think Positive!!

On a personal note, when I suggested the "RAREBEAR" FAN SPONSORSHIP program and a "Rearbear" revival and upgrade effort to Lyle 3 years ago, I had no idea it would turn into such a time consuming job. I am doing my best to keep anything or anyone from falling through the cracks, but if any of you have a problem, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would also like to thank all of you who have passed on words of encouragement. They keep me going.

I plan on sending out another update the later part of August, if time permits.

At this time, I would like to take time to thank and list all members of our sponsorship program. Without their support, we would still be setting in the hanger wishing we had an engine, and wondering how we would pay for insurance coverage.

Please read through our wonderful list of sponsors, then check the footnote at the bottom of this update.

On behalf of Lyle Shelton, John Penney

The Crew:
Elliott White, Chris Rakestraw, Stacy Thomas, Dale Kintop, Dave Mooney, Michelle Litster, Chip Crawford, Donna Crawford, Scott Litster, Joanna Thompson, Andrew Karolak, Dave and Barbara Wisenor, Matt Thompson, John Slack, Roger Martin, Ray Din, Peter Belan, Chris Britschgi, Lance Lopez, Bill Hickle, Greg Shaw, Clark Thompson,

Sharon Coates Director/Manager

Footnote The "BEAR" likes Dwelle's carburator!! The crew changed the carburator, AGAIN, Tuesday, and John arrived in Reno Thursday morning. By 730 A. M. , the "BEAR" was IN THE AIR. After a one hour flight, John landed and stepped onto the tarmack, and promply did a tap dance. The only concern he had , was with the 4 blade prop, the weight distribution is wrong, but this was expected, and can be easily fixed. John will again be in Reno next Thursday to fly her, and this time plans on taking her up and putting her through her paces. After this, we will have a better idea about which prop to go with. We will try to post information on ths flight on the message board at AAFO. COM