Once again a very good time was had by some sixty Members who
enjoyed an excellent traditional three course lunch with mince pies and
coffee. The YMCA staff produced tasty dishes with good vegetables, and
served with skill and speed.
Chairman Ambrose Barber opened the proceedings and
after lunch, John Glasscock, our President, gave an address in which he
thanked the Committee for their work during the year and entertained
the company with a couple of very good jokes. Harry Fraser-Mitchell
plugged the Association tie and Cliff Bore promoted his new book; both
were successful in making a number of sales!
Percy Collino was especially thanked for organising
the lunch again. He was helped by Jan White who also assisted in
Percy's raffle. The takings went towards a Christmas Box for the Hawker
Centre staff. Ron, who puts out the chairs, screen and so on for all
the meetings, and tidies up afterwards, was given a bottle of Scotch.
SEA FURY RACERS
Of the nine starters in the September 2005 Reno Unlimited Gold Race
seven were Sea Furies. The eight lap race over 67 miles was won by a
Grumman Bearcat, 'Rare Bear' at 466.3 mph but the Sea Furies took
second to eighth places at speeds from 448.8 - 397.9 mph; the ninth
entrant, a P-51D failed to finish.
The fastest Sea Fury, 'Dreadnought', a two-seat Mk20
owned by Brian Sanders, like nearly all racing Sea Furies, has had its
Centaurus replaced, in this case by a Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp
Major, 28 cylinder, four row radial as used in the B-50 Superfortress
and the Stratocruiser. Known as the 'corncob' because of its layout it
has been tuned to give around 4000 hp.
Others have been fitted with the
Wright R-3350 Turbo-Cyclone, 18 cylinder, two row radial, as used in
the B-29 and Super Constellation. Airframes are also sometimes quite
drastically modified with clipped wings and tiny, low profile canopies,
although 'Dreadnaught', apart from a longer cowling and taller fin
looks standard.
