Reno Update - Team Voodoo

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GregP

Major
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Jul 28, 2003
Chino, California, U.S.A.
Well Team Voodoo went to Reno and got a new pilot qualified in Voodoo. Then yesterday, Steven Hinton Jr, took 3 laps at near race power ... well the agreed on power anyway, and ended with an average of 495 mph, so Voodoo is back in good health. One of our other pilots got checked out in a Hawker Sea Fury racer and turned some hot laps, too.

September is looking good at this point.

Go Voodoo.
 
Just googled Voodoo for some more info, looking at the engine cowl, still running a Merlin by the looks of it, but how much are you managing to squeeze out tof it for a close to 500 mph average, must be looking at 3000 hp region I'd guess.
Steve.
 
Voodoo's cowl is now a 1-piece carbon fiber unit and both Voodoo and Strega are making on the north side of 3,800 HP. Both have many similar modifications that the teams really don't discuss in public. If you Google a few pics of Voodoo from 2015 you can see many plainly if you know what to look for. Last year Voodoo developed some engine woes early in the race and wasn't ever a serious threat to Strega. She's back healthy as a few laps at the pylon racing school a few weeks ago showed, but I confess I don't know if Stevo Hinton Jr. will race Voodoo this year or maybe step into another role. One never knows.

But, I can say, "Go Stevo!"
 
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Well, there are two guys (Strega and Voodoo) with that much Merlin (not really) HP and maybe another 2 with perhaps 4,200 radial HP. The rest are running less HP and not so many aerodynamic changes. One year, Rare Bear flew with all the mods, but only a stock R-3350 when the race engine failed. Naturally, they were a bit down on speed from the better race years.
 
Reno is over and Voodoo came in second. On the last aap, they had to lap the number 3 plane and Voodoo still had the world speed record wing on it (4 1/2 g's). When they came around, voodoo pulled to the outside to pass to keep the g-load safe and Strega went inside for a shorter pass.

Strega had a great run and just edged out Voodoo. I wish the number 3 plane had not got in the way, just to see how it would have turned out, but Strega ran a good race to win and won cleanly.

Congratulations, Strega Tiger, and Jim Consalvi! Maybe we'll meet again sometime, somewhere ... and have us some fun. Meanwhile, you have the bragging rights fair and square. Well done.
 
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What does #7 above have to do with a Team Voodoo thread?

Just curious, especially since the engine in both Strega and Voodoo are really custom powerplants that are vaguely related to a Merlin. They run Merlin superchargers, a Merlin block, and very little else that is Merlin. But, if I had one of them, I'd probably call it a Merlin.

Stock Merlins typically made it to wartime TBO just fine. Wartime TBOs were set so that most of the parts being overhauled would be usable, not for when the engine was thought to be about worn out. They were reliable and generally still are, assuming normal maintenance and decent operation.
 
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After three posts in seven years I don't know whether he formed his opinion quickly or slowly, I thought he was having a joke so I replied in the same vein. Maybe those involved in Reno racers can state exactly how long it takes a Reno race Merlin to clock up 100 hrs.
 
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Considering that many war time Merlins had their time to overhaul changed (shortened) by the number of times and/or the time spent at high boost ratings (as noted in log books) I don't know why it would come as a surprise that engines used for racing would have a shorter life.
Nobody expects Nascar race engines to last 100,000 miles
 
By comparison to motorsport even the last Merlins were in a low state of tune and very reliable. No competitive motor is run for 250 hours without overhaul, it is equal to about four seasons racing in F1. Prior to regulation changes a formula one engine was made to last for three hours. Doubling the Merlins output while improving reliability was a great achievement, amazing what can be done when the resources of two nations are made available.
 
Hey me109g4,

If anyone in here is mighty, it isn't me. I was wondering where you were going with the post, and wondering why it was posted here. I DID say just curious, and didn't post any insulting words. Perhaps you took everything a bit personally.


About TBO, I am under the impression that there were manufacturing improvements, but the biggest jump in time-between-overhaul was from the pilots learning how to properly operate the engines, resulting in lower wear when TBO happened and they measured the tolerances. I have heard that early in the war, there was very little training expended on engine operation ... but it was a major maintenance item.

Also, we have heard from the pilots on several occasions that they had a pilot who would turn back frequently, and the squadron CO or someone else would swap and fly his plane and vice versa. He'd STILL turn back. When they queried him, it seems he was not adjusting the mixture after takeoff. Heard that one several times, and similar. With training, the issues went away.

While that IS hearsay, I did hear it several times from different people in different locations during the war. I wonder how they got through training without learning engine operation very well. But I have also flown with general aviation pilots who don;t really know how to lean, either. So, I can believe it was possible, at any rate.
 
The one that gets me in Motorsports is some years ago in the 24 hours of Le Mans when Audi fielded cars that they KNEW would need the tranxaxles replaced during the race and designed the cars to do this in 6 minutes or so, if my memory is correct. Of course they did it and won the race, and the rules were later changed to prevent things like this from happening, IIRC. I remember watching that race and was just amazed by this, especially as many years ago I was a crewdog on an NHRA Top Fuel Dragster and was accustomed to helping rebuild an engine in 60 minutes whose TBO was measured in seconds! Saw lots of Aluminum Elephants sacrificed at the Altar of Speed during my time there.
 
This Forum is really jump starting my memory! I remember my Dad telling me about a batch of R-3350's, I think, they got back from overhaul that all of a sudden starting popping valves. In Commercial Aviation this is Not A Good Thing to Happen! American went overboard to find the root source of the problem and found the 2 persons doing the valves and guides. Both were good at their jobs but thought if they did their parts to the + of spec, the engines would "last a little longer". Wrong! What happened was inevitable. When the engines got up to temperature, valves started to seize, and you lost that engine. Luckily, the problem was identified very quickly and procedures were changed ASAP.
 
There was also a guy in the Korea timeframe who was on the line assembling F-86s at North American. He just KNEW that all bolts were supposed to be pout in from the top or facing inward, and changed direction on one bolt in the ailerons. Several people were killed before they tracked that one down. If I recall, Chuck Yeager covered that one in his autobiography.

It was upside down for clearance when under g-load.
 
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