@ Lancaster, CA
May 2006
A one-off airframe from my first visit to the now defunct Milestones of Flight Museum at Fox Field in Lancaster. This is a Unlimited Class racer designed and built by Ralph Wise in the late 1980’s, intended to be powered by a Chevy V8 engine directly driving a five bladed fixed pitch hand made propeller. Story goes that when the Bearcat “Rare Bear” went 527mph it made him rethink things, he didn’t think he could go much over 500 and the thought of flying formation with an airplane as big as a Bearcat with an airplane as small as the RW summed up to more than he wanted to take on. Ralph diverted his energy and resources into other aircraft projects. This aircraft is now on display at the Saxon Aerospace Museum in Boron, CA. Panasonic FZ30 photo.