Page 24, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, March 16, 1994 By Mark Reesor hour le juet another day at the air racîng and hie work is widely Taking pictures cf high- office for Neal Nurîni. known and published. powered airpianes etr.aking by The Whitby resident is a pas- Although it has a low profile in et speeds up te 500 miles per sionat. photographer and fan of Canada, the sport je popular in NEAL NURMI and wife Brigitta bok at some of Neals air -race photographs which are known and published Întemation4iIy. PhotO bY Ark Reesor, WhItby Fro. Press the U.S., wher. more than 100,000 people flock 'te Reno, Nevada each September te watch Borne 120 planes compete in the biggest race. irracing is "the world's fas- test motersport," says Nurmi. Theresfour clssscf planes. The. striped down 'formula one' craft weigh 500 pounds and are powered by 100-horsepower C3esena engines which run at about 260 miph. Spr bi-plnes are primarily stocksmall aerobatic craft. Two-seat World War II trainers with 600-horsepower engines run about 23f5 mph. "That'ls a stock class that'e a lot like showrroom stock racing,» savs Nurmi. the. unlimited class consiste Mnostlyof highly modified World War efgtr planes worth up te $1.5 million each. «They're almost ail single place airplanes with engines ranging ufp te 4,500 horsepower and the fate ush 500 mph.» Piots fly at altfitudes cf bet- ween 50 and 300 feet around a closed course -- nîne miles Iong in the case cf the. fighters -- and marked by. eight 50-foot-high C lee wth big orange barrels on git's a qood sport for the crowd because it'fi always laid out in such a way that they can see the whole course. The- planes are neyer out cf sight,» says Nurmi. '"Me farthest point je only four te four and a quarter miles." Itfs a very safe sport, too, he says. A safety pilot flies above the competitors and acte as a track Marshall giving instructions by radio anc1 watching for problems. "And because there'eseo much energy inviolved, if you end up having an engi n. failure, your. ing 400 milfes an heur at 5O- epit-and you can easily convert that te 125 or 150 miles an heur at three or four thousand feet. "That gives y ou tirne to get the lenn (and) fuel flow hut up, figue out wher, the aîrport is wxpen your brow, set up anA land.' Pilote involved in the sport, especially he safety pilote, are highly slled. Take Bob Cooper a saety pilot at Reno, for exampCle.H's a grood friend of Chuck Yefie and 7lew on. of the chaseplanes wh.n 'Yegr became the firot mnan to brea the sound barrier. "And Chuck Yeager has always said that Bob Cooper !s the best Ppot that he ever saw," says iNrmi. Air racing has a long history. The fhret sanctioned event was held in 1905 and "it was one of the biggestsprts in the country during te 19308. «T'hey would draw 300,000 peop~le to the races that would be hei Cleveland, and hundreds and hundreds of. racing planes,» notes Nurmi. Thie sport was put on hiatus during Worlid Wai-Il and started up again wvith many pilota using war surplus fighters. «Then there were a couple cf really bad crashes... and a couple cf bystanders got killed and that kind c killed the sport for a long time.» Air racing was revived i 1964 with the establieheinent cf the Reno event, which has been held every year since. Nurmi, who moved t Witby from San Francisco i December, bas been taking pictures there every year since the early seven- ties. He also travels te other races and has become the best known photographer in the sport. He recently made the decision te become a fuIl-tirne photogra- pher and will concentrate in- ,îtially on motorsports. Once he makes sone contacts, he'd like to get ite general sports and travel photography. British hig h sohool band on exchange with Henry Henry Street Hih School will host a concet furingthe Montgomery High School band from Blackpool, England on Wednesdy, March 30, 7:30 te 9:15 p.nî. Henry students have volunteered te sponsor the exchwnge students during their week-long visit te Whitby. T'he musical extravaganza wil alec feature the Whitby Brase Band, Oshawa Civic Band and Hny Stret rmusic departrnent Admission le $4, with tickets available by fax (668-3743) or by calling 668-2731 during business -Ml M I I I I I I I I I I M 1m 1( heurs, or at the. door on the night cf the concert. The. sed for an exchange wîth this international flavour was firet planted by Mlayor Tomn Edwarde nmre eam - ago, and Barrie Hodgins, hed of Henry'e music department, bas been arrangm *-bilets for the foreign students and an itinerary cf musical events for the Montgomery visit. Next year, if ail goes according te, plan, the same Whitby students will act as a8hssdr as they travel te Blackpool for a reciprocal engagement. A feature performance will alo ha held in the mayor's chambers on Thursday, March 31 at il a.m., juat prior to the bandes final departure for England. Tih. Montgomery bnd jedirec- ted by Peter Allan, a noted arranger and composer of British braeseband'music. EHie chool band has consis- tently wbonfirt-place awards in British bad competitions held annually. For the visit to, Whitby and te various attractions in the Toronto area, the band will ha aIse, accompanied by their head- master, Paul Mess. FOOTLONG SUB One coupon per customer per visit. HI Offer expires April 20/94. WHMa OSHAW 1017 Dundas St. 017 Dundas St Ell-i -Park Rd.N 4072 Chelan Scott DURHAM ADULT LEARNING CENTRE On March 8, student council held elections and DASE has a new team: Amy Serrurier as preident, Kathy Beaulieu as vice-president, Cindy Battams and Julian- Luke (teacher) treasurers. Good luck in your new new positions. The first order cf business was te chocs. a theme for the June 3 prom. After tossng around ideas, they decided on ' A Night of Shooting Stars' as the graduates are stars shooting, into their futures. The prom is a second chance for ail students who didn't go te the regular high school prom. Student council will hold weekly 50/50 das, and the. entrprneurshp clase will h staging events te rais. money for I I I I I I I I I Li 30 Park Rd .N. 404-1249 .- - m- ---- Footl Of E I Wr One coupon pE 01 7 Duri - - -L iBY ndas S Last week, physice students could ha seen in the hallways throughout the achool with wooden cars conducting an experiment on uniform motion. The. object was te get the cars past distance markers at the samne speed. Jennifer Hodgso, a physics student, said, "I lilc the abe because they make education more enjoyable. No on. wants te ha stuck at a desk all day learnmng theory.u The entrepreneurship clis is prepn several events te b. héeld ii firat week cf April, including a bake sale,. clothing exchange, car waah, achool photograph and other events. These events teach the fundamentals cf planning a business and promet.e chool spirit and community awareness. long Sub At Regular Price GMT ONE Equal Or Lesser Price For FREE h the purchase of a large sofi drr* I er custo mer per vibitOtter expires: April 2094. I ~~30 3Park Rd. N. Rýmmm a ým mfflfflmý