Despite dropping out of this year’s competition at mid-week, Bob states that “the problems with engine and support systems have been clearly identified, and are under repair. The days of stumbling over these issues are history!” This team is motivated to the point of anger after their disappointment this year. Your continued support and well-wishes reward our investment in time and talent. The Voodoo team vows to work harder and smarter this year as they prepare for the 2007 Reno National Championships. Here is a preview of our plan.

     At Reno, our perfectly running race engine, built my Mike Barrow of Air Sparrow, developed cooling problems at the last minute. The ensuing tear-down and re-assembly was done under extreme time pressure, and some questionable technical advice was followed. Although Voodoo’s performance was outstanding during early heat races, the engines bearings began to deteriorate, which could have lead to a catastrophic failure. Starting with the most powerful gasoline engine of its day, we have now increased the power output of Voodoo’s Rolls Royce engine by over 300%. The strain this places on the engine’s internal parts taxes the limits of modern metallurgical science. Mike Barrow of Air Sparrow has the Voodoo engine back in his shop right now, where he is conducting exhaustive research on bearing stress failures.

     By year’s end the Team will have the engine repaired and back in Voodoo for flight testing. The flight tests will be recorded and posted to our web site. Once everything checks out OK we will reinstall the engine and run it on racing fuel at full power during the Pylon Racing Seminar in June. After the test flight the engine will go back to Sparrow’s shop for tear down and thorough re-inspection before Reno. We plan on having more video from the test runs at PRS on our web site.