Flaming beauty

Air Classics, Dec 2000 by O'Leary, Michael

AN HISTORIC SEA FURY AIR RACER HAS RETURN TO THE RENO PYLONS AND ITS EYE-CATCHING PAINT SCHEME HAS PROVEN EXTREMELY POPULAR WITH SPECTATORS

n the plethora of Hawker Sea Furys that descended upon Reno 2000, one aircraft in particular really stood out, That's not to say the rest of the aircraft were underwhelming - all the Sea Furys were beautiful machines that showed the care and money lavished upon their airframes by the owners. However, it was the Sea Fury Miss Merced that seemed to capture the attention of the spectators. It was not only the wild flaming paint scheme that made the Hawker look every inch a racing machine, but it was also the aircraft's lengthy racing history that won high points with the pylon aficionados.

After World War Two, the armed forces of Canada were in the process of downsizing while also acquiring some newer equipment. The Royal Canadian Navy received two light carriers from Britain and to equip the first carrier, HMCS Warrior (commissioned March 1946), Fairey Fireflys and Supermarine Seafires were obtained. The second carrier was HMCS Magnificent and Hawker Sea Fury FB. 11 is and Fairey Firefly AS.4s were obtained and flown to Northern Ireland where Canadian pilots undertook training. The aircraft (comprising Nos. 803 and 825 Squadrons) embarked on Magnificent when the ship was commissioned in April 1948. Also, the RCN opened its first airfield on 1 December 1948 - HMCS Shearwater.

With the Canadian Navy, the Sea Furys gave excellent service but as newer equipment became available (in the shape of McDonnell F2H-3 Banshees) the veteran warriors were phased out. As typical with Canadian practice, the survivors were put up for sale along with a large quantity of spares and engines. Sea Fury WG567 had been accepted by the Royal Canadian Navy on 28 August 1951 and served until 8 February 1957 when it was withdrawn from further use and put into storage. In 1961, the aircraft was sold (one must remember that this was well before the beginning of the Warbird movement) to Robert Vanderveken of Quebec who put the plane on the civil register as CF-VAN. Painted overall red, the craft was not often flown and in 1965 it was flown to Long Beach, California, for new owner Michael Carroll. Given the new registration N878M, Carroll had plans for the powerful Sea Fury. The Reno Air Races had revived the sport of Unlimited class air racing and, at the time, featured both pylon and cross-country events. Carroll reasoned that the mighty Bristol Centaurus radial (2550-hp) would offer the power needed to

compete with the Mustangs and Bearcats.

Carroll contracted with Pylon Air at Long Beach and the Sea Fury was rolled into their hangar, stripped of paint, and modifications were undertaken to convert the machine into a pure racer. All non-essential items were stripped from the airframe while the outer folding wing panels were clipped so that a total of 6.5 feet was eliminated from the wing span. The Sea Fury's windscreen and bubble canopy were removed and a very small bubble was attached - about the size of a unit used on the Formula One racers. The already sleek airframe received fillers and bondo to make it as smooth as possible. When completed, the aircraft received a spectacular overall yellow color scheme with a blue cowl fading back into billowing flames. The machine looked every inch a racer.

Carroll was new to the big prop-driven Warbirds and he contracted with Lyle Shelton to fly his creation at Reno 1966. Lyle qualified the beast at 364.08 mph but cut a pylon and this dropped him into the Silver race. The plane still retained its original British air brake system and this caused Lyle problems during ground operations. In the Silver, Shelton was passed by a Bearcat and then a Mustang but he shoved the throttle forward to finish in second at 353.89 mph. In 1967, Reno had a transcontinental race from Rockford, Illinois, and the Sea Fury was entered in the event. This time Mike Carroll was in the cockpit and he handily won the event by averaging an excellent 418.223 mph over the 1609.74 miles.

Carroll, by now totally committed to air racing, was also having Pylon Air rebuild the rare Bell P-39 Airacobra that had been raced at the post-war Cleveland races as Cobra /1. The Airacobra was exotically modified as an all-out pylon racer and Carroll had lots of hope for the new craft. Tragically, the plane developed mechanical problems on its first flight one month prior to Reno 1968. Carroll bailed out of the stricken racer but hit the tail and was killed. The Airacobra crashed into the Navy's nuclear weapons storage facility at Seal Beach and was totally destroyed.

Carroll's estate sold his Sea Fury to Dr, Sherman Cooper of Merced, California, who changed the name from Signal Sea Fury to Miss Merced. Cooper took the plane to Reno 1970 and won the Silver at 361.8 mph and then entered the craft in the California 1000 - a strange 1970 event at Mojave, California, that saw the racers go 1000 miles around a pylon course. Needless to say, some of the 34 aircraft entered (20 eventually started the race) had to land, refuel, then takeoff again, which added to the confusion. Miss Merced, with its large fuel capacity, was able to take first place - five laps ahead of the second place rival - with a top speed of 344,11 mph.