Red Baron RB-51 Unlimited Racer Revisited

thanks for posting these video’s as my nick states i’m a huge redbaron fan and even down under it had an impact (air classic was bought religisly for me by my father for the reno/airracing news)in 1979 i was heartbroken at the news of the crash.
it’s awesome to see video’s of her in flight
thanks again paul

I hope I am not overdoing this Red Baron thread 🙂 , but I have another video about the Steve Hinton’s 1979 World Air Speed Record Attempt (piston) in the RB-51. This video presents the majority of the original television broadcast documentary which also featured actor Cliff Robertson doing commentary (Cliff was once an owner and pilot of a Spitfire IX). This is a really great video for unlimited racer and warbird fans. Enjoy the video!
Best,
– octane130 –

Red Baron Video Link….The Complete Story of the 1979 Speed Record Attempt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO87ssbtY48

Oh and octane, the Lockheed engineer you saw walking around the RB-51, was probably Bruce Boland. You can read his story here: http://warbirdaeropress.com/articles/Boland/Boland.htm

Ryan:
It really had to be Bruce. For all these years I didn’t realize I had been in such famous company. I was just some young guy that wandered up to the aircraft and was thrilled to be allowed to get to take a look at all the design data. Very sophisticated stuff! And thanks for the links to the Red Baron drawings.:)

– octane130 –

http://www.taichiunlimiteddrawings.com/Red_Baron_Profile-L.jpg

http://www.taichiunlimiteddrawings.com/Red_Baron_1979_profiles.jpg

http://www.taichiunlimiteddrawings.com/Red_Baron_1979_top.jpg

http://www.taichiunlimiteddrawings.com/Red_Baron_1979_bottom.jpg

http://www.taichiunlimiteddrawings.com/Red_Baron_1979_front.jpg

Those profiles, and several more racers can be found here: http://www.taichiunlimiteddrawings.com/

Oh and octane, the Lockheed engineer you saw walking around the RB-51, was probably Bruce Boland. You can read his story here: http://warbirdaeropress.com/articles/Boland/Boland.htm

Fantastic! That sound is just…. awesome!

I’m sure Steve wouldn’t mind seeing that clip, if he’s not already?

WOW !!!

Does anyone know of a 3 view or any drawings available of this aeroplane?

In consideration of Steve, family and friends, I’ve decided not to post the Red Baron crash video. Better to focus on positive things! 🙂

I wonder how many revs they were turning that Griffon at!? What a sound.

I still think building a Starfighter from junk and flying it at 1000mph 150ft off the deck takes some beating though. The army surplus shops in the States must be a hell of a lot better than they are here!

I would certainly be interested in seeing the crash video. No-one died, so I suppose it couldn´t really be said to be in bad taste.

Thanks for the video Octane, gave me goose bumps listening to that sound.

precious metal

WOW- THATS NOT NOISE, ITS MUSIC!!!- great photo’s too!! found a site about another Griffon engined P-51 ‘Precious Metal’ thats flying in the states now –www.warbirdaeropress.com/articles/PMmods/PMmods.htm -if anyone’s interested- doesn’t look as good as the Red Baron though!

I’ve added a link to a video that I put together that features Steve Hinton giving a talk at the monthly seminar at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, on February 3, 2007 about his career flying the Red Baron RB-51 Unlimited Racer. This is great, historical stuff! The Red Baron met its demise at the Reno, Nevada Air Races in 1979. You simply would not believe that anyone could survive such a crash but, of course, Steve thankfully did.
All the best and enjoy this video,
– octane130 –
Steve Hinton/Red Baron Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39scr3LcxsI

Nicely done Octane!!!! That is a sound that will haunt me til the very end:eek:

jeez, listen to the sound it makes 😮 😮 😮

Thanks to the generosity of an online friend (thanks, Anthony!), I have been recently provided with a bunch of video footage of the Red Baron RB-51. The below link is to a short video compilation of the Red Baron’s 1979 world air speed record attempt that I edited. This video is totally unavailable commercially and I figured that it had been long lost until my friend came up with this great stuff! The video has gone through several generations of past video reproduction technologies and it definitely shows, but it remains as probably the only Red Baron speed attempt video in existence. I have a lot more if viewers are interested; let me know if you want me to post more footage :).

The below linked video shows Steve Hinton flying the Red Baron near Tonopah, Nevada in 1979 in his world piston-powered air speed record attempt, which he achieved with an average speed of 499.018 mph. That is Steve Hinton speaking on the radio in this video. The rules stipulate that the qualifying aircraft may not ascend over 100 meters above ground elevation; however, it appears that Steve was never really over appoximately 150 feet above the ground on the measuring portion of the course. This is really, really hairy at these speeds, which went as high as 508 mph in this record attempt!

Enjoy the video!

Best,
– octane130 –
RED BARON SPEED RECORD VIDEO LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avcQOEpwq3k

Hello Jim

Thanks for the link, it would have been awesome to see that flying at 1000mph less than 100m from the ground, then again you may not have seen much at all!

Octane130 – I am envious that you did get to see it flying

Paul

Thanks, jimflint80 for posting those photo links of Darrel Greenamayer’s Red Baron Lockheed F-104! Old memories were brought right up to the surface. I remember seeing THIS Red Baron taking off from Mojave, California in what must have been 1978. First of all, even those that have been privileged enough to have seen an ordinary F-104 take-off would have just been blown away by a take-off from this extemely light-weight, home-built Starfighter! Darrel flew the F-104 at extremely low altitude for just a few seconds after takeoff and then, still in afterburner, pulled the aircraft vertical and performed an immediate “Immelmann.” The aircraft then proceeded to intended destination in the opposite direction. Simply jaw-dropping! This is the kind of thing that U.S. civil pilots could get away with performing at a remote, “uncontrolled” airport such as Mojave on an ordinary day. This was and is strictly verboten at other airports. Mojave is an ex-US Marine Corps Air Station located just outside the limits of the famous Edwards Air Force Base.

By the way, Darrel was banned by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) from flying the F-104 from his local base, Van Nuys Airport in SoCal, USA. One reason was that the F-104 could awaken the dead with its extreme noise levels from the General Electric J79 turbojet engine in a very dense population area and second, this was a dangerous aircraft—-period. The F-104 had to be trucked up to Mojave for flight activities. Darrel was very vociferous in his complaints regarding this. I remember following this on the local television news broadcasts. There was the F-104 perched up on a flat-bed truck in the background.

Darrel received the J79 engine for his project from an “anonymous” donor. Hmm, I wonder who that may have been :).

The ejection seat that he purchased in an Army-Navy surplus store in Oceanside, California was later responsible for saving his life when the landing gear on this aircraft would not extend. You really do not belly-land an F-104 and live to tell about it. Following the ejection and crash of the F-104, Darrel matter-of-factly carried his parachute out to the nearest Mojave Desert road and caught a ride from a local resident back to civilization. Hey, no big deal to him 😮 .

Best,
– octane130 –

Hi Paul,

I found these two links:

http://www.pioneertelephonecoop.com/~fitzrr/104rb.jpg

http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/Stars/wRB.htm

Jim

Talk about coincidences, I saw a photo of this aircraft in a book I was browsing through in the local book shop this morning then come home and see it again. The book was about the Messerchmitt Me209 which held the absolute speed record for 30 years. There was also a couple of photos of Daryl Greenamyer’s Bearcat which broke that record in 1969. Daryl also had a plane called The Red Baron but it was an F-104 he had built from odd parts and in which he set the ultimate speed record, if anyone has a photo of this I would love to see it as I have been unable to find any.
Cheers Paul

Here are a few more photos of the fabulous Red Baron RB-51 that you might enjoy. These were taken in 1979, just a very short time before its total destruction at the Reno air races that year. Thankfully, pilot Steve Hinton miraculously survived.

Best,
– octane130 –