Dago Red, Unlimited Champion a record five straight years.
Yup, and missed that sixth
year by one pylon! After 2004, owner Terry Bland put Dago "on blocks" and word
was out that the racer was retired. The 2005 races went on without a crowd
favorite. Questions like "will Dago ever race again", and
"will Dago Red be restored back to stock" were asked as P-51 Dago Red owner
Terry Bland put Dago up for sale.
Rumors hit fever pitch as the upcoming buyer to be was speculated by everyone who
can post a message. Well, the right buyer for Terry Bland did not come by and
Dago was spared an uncertain future.
This year for Dago Red will be unique. It is common for owners to have pilots
other than themselves race their aircraft. It is a bit uncommon to have a pilot
and his crew (other than the owner's), race their aircraft. The Dago Red crew of
2004 or previous years will not be the crew this year. Dan Martin, with crew chief
and engine builder Mike Barrow, and Dan's crew from Ridge Runner will be putting
the wrenches and wax to Dago Red in 2006.
As you can see in some of these pics taken in August 2006, the wrenches are turning as
you read this. Dan and a few of his crew are working every day to get the red
racer ready for Reno. So far, he likes the progress being made and the
potential of his team. Barrow's "Mouse Motor" was installed and on Aug. 15, the
shiny prop was mated to the nose of the orange merlin. Engine runs will
be very soon thereafter.
For those of you who wonder how Dago Red is being handled, rest assured, Dan's
crew is taking very good care of her. Every caution that was taken when handling
Dan's own "Ridge Runner III" is being exercised on Dago Red - a sign of
profesionalism and respect.
On August 17, they fired up the Sparrow Mouse Motor for the first time. Mike
Barrow, aka "Sparrow", climbed in the red racer and fired her up.
Everything went smooth. This mouse motor sounds sooooo good!
You all know how good a stock merlin sounds, right? Now, double the ponies and
imagine what that sounds like. There was a short pause to fix a small hydraulic
leak. Then Dan made everyone wait for the restart as he "wound the rubber band"
for Mike. The test run lasted about 15 minutes with everyone smiling at the end.
After several cycles of engine runs, checked plugs and
examined oil screens, Mike Barrow gives Dan the thumbs up to go flying. Terry Tarditti,
owner of P-51 "Comfortably Numb", is Dago's crew chief. He has been
working hard to help keep everthing in
order. As crew chief you can tell he has the reigns on everything and everyone.
August 26 was the first flight after the Sparrow Mouse Motor
was installed. A small crowd of friends, wrenchers and bums gathered
to hear the music. Dan was very pleased with the performance of
the engine and the prop. Answers like "baby's butt" and "silk" were heard when
asked how smooth everything was running at different power settings. Next up is
more test flights with added coal put to the Sparrow merlin. Two weeks to go and
the lights are green.
After a few more test flights, a few bugs have been found and dealt with. The
carb was running rich and leaving Dave a lot of black to clean off the side.
Terry T. took the carb to Tehachapi, Ca and they did a once over and then Terry
brought it back. After the carb issue was solved, the polished prop of Dago
Red began to bark. The cuff on one of the blades was showing some problems and
it was decided to make a change to Ridge Runner III's cuffed prop. Then, the
nose gear bearing was growling a bit and replaced.
More test flights just before Reno and Dan and crew were happy and ready to go.
Once at Reno, they flew in the Sunday qualifying session at mid power to test
things out. No time was called for. Everything went well. On Monday, more
power was added with speeds in the 420's. Again the green light to push up
the power the next day. During the Tuesday qualifying session, Dan bumped up
the power and took some fast laps then called for the clock. Dago sounded so
good coming around pylon 2 where I was lucky to be.
He looked good and fast as he past the home pylon at the start of his timed lap.
Then as he blew by us at 2, Dan's line was not the same. He moved up to a higher
line and then I hear a few pops. Between pylon 3 and 4, Dan Martin calls a
mayday and pulls up and to the left toward the runways. No smoke yet, but he
is definately having a problem. He crossed the approach end of Runway 8 and
right turns to base and final. Smoke begins to pour out on base to final.
The merlin is till turning and Dan is able to bring the wounded bird down
safely, nice job!
The verdict is that an ADI check-valve malfunctioned causing an overheating
situation. When the merlin overheats, watch out. A small hole was blown in
the side of the case and oil covered the sides of Dago Red. The Sparrow engine
was running great, but it has to be cooled constantly.
Well, Dan and crew have another Sparrow engine in the pits. Time for a long
night working. They had the spare race motor running in Dago Red by 8am the
next morning! What a fantastic job. But, hopes were dimmed when they found a
prop leak after the morning run. Not enough time to pull the prop and fix the
leak before the last chance qualifying session. Dago will have to sit out.
Or will they? Rules say that the 27 fastest qualified unlimiteds will race. If
there are less than 27 qualified by Wednesday, the field can be filled with other
racers that are able to race that have not qualified. Dan has some friends in
air racing as a few of the already qualified racers were ready to bow out, so
Dan Martin and Dago Red could get into the field. Yee Haa! The crew was very
excited about that. On Wednesday evening, they were getting ready for another
engine run to put some time on the new motor. Then they planned on an
early Thursday morning flight to shake things loose as they had to race Thursday
at about 10:30 am.
I left Stead after 9:30 pm and returned the next morning at 6:30 am to watch
Dago's flight. As I walked towards the Dago Red pits, something was not right.
Not too many crew around, very little activity. I then saw Sparrow and asked
him what was up. He told me that after the night run (that went well), Terry
stayed and pulled the oil screens to check things out. They found a bit too much
of the wrong kind of metal in the screens and decided it was not safe to race
with that merlin. As Mike put it, "it's a matter of when, not if" referring to
the chance of the motor blowing.
So, an emotional roller coaster for Team Dago Red is over for 2006. They helped
other crews out for the rest of week as needed and enjoyed the races. I was
able to talk to Dan Martin on Sunday evening as many were packing it in and
going home. He was very upbeat and already talking about Reno 2007.
So the red racer, #4, Dago Red,
strapped around the fiesty Dan Martin, will likely be seen again.
Thanks to the Dan Martin, Mike Barrow, Terry Tarditti and the crew of Dago Red
for their awesome hospitality to me. They have to push me out of the way once
in a while, but they let me come back.
Thanks Dago Red Crew! and good luck in 2007.