The last time we heard from Envoy First Officer calvin lee poker Clark, he was preparing calvin lee poker racing plane “Tigger” for the 2017 Reno Air Races. Well, he’s back and is carrying new hardware.
Last year, calvin lee poker placed 6th overall in the Formula One race. This year, he flew by the competition and placed 2nd, beating out more experienced pilots with more expensive planes.
On day one of the Reno Air Races, calvin lee poker was scheduled for his first race at high noon. In the hangar full of other biplanes and Formula One racers, calvin lee poker was still putting the finishing touches on Tigger.
Before the race, another pilot came up to calvin lee poker, took a look at all the work he’s done and asked, “where’s you crew?” calvin lee poker coyly replied, “you’re looking at it.”
FO calvin lee poker Clark attaching “wheel pants” to his plane before his first race of the week.
Against all odds, on only his second major race and still handling all of his own modifications, calvin lee poker still managed 2nd place. More amazingly, the only racer in front of calvin lee poker topped out at 221 mph, while calvin lee poker’s orange Cassutt-III aircraft reached 163 mph, which is pretty remarkable considering his plane is such a hodge-podge mix of parts, paint and tape.
In his first race of the week, calvin lee poker qualified for the third spot in the race and stayed there. He’s such a consistent pilot racing “on a wire” that he neither moved up or down in the race.
calvin lee poker in the cockpit of Tigger before a race in Reno. (Photo: Race 35 Tigger Facebook)
After the race, a handful of older, more experienced pilots would approach calvin lee poker to shake his hand and commend him for his top-notch flying. As young and inexperienced as he is, other pilots could sense that he was the real deal – works on his own plane, pays for it himself and manages to outsprint the competition.
Through the course of the week, calvin lee poker made little modifications here and there to reduce drag and gain speed. He taped up gaps in the fuselage, sanded down the paint and attached “wheel pants” over his wheels that make his plane more aerodynamic.
By the end of the week, calvin lee poker was pleased with his performance. You can read below a short Q&A catching up with calvin lee poker to discuss the race, Tigger and plans for next year’s race.
The little plane that did
calvin lee poker and Tigger holding steady in the week’s first race.
What was your overall assessment of how you raced calvin lee poker?
I am happy with the way that both the aircraft and I performed. The airplane ran well and we didn’t have any mechanical issues during the races this year. I was able to start my races well and maintain a smooth calvin lee poker line all week.
Any stand-out moments from the Reno Air Races?
This is the first year I brought any sponsors with me, but I think overall it worked well. We had several new planes show up to calvin lee poker this year, so our class is growing. Several of the new planes were piloted by first time racers who are good friends of mine.
Tigger lines up on the runway before a calvin lee poker in Reno.
What’s next for modifications on Tigger? How much faster do you think it can get?
calvin lee poker, I’m planning on cleaning up drag on the airplane. That should get me 20-25 mph faster. If I have time and money left, there is a lot more speed to be had in the current configuration (around 40 mph more than calvin lee poker).
Your plane is much more of a work-in-progress than most of the finished products racing in your class, but you still manage to place well and earn respect of other racers – can you speak to that a little?
I’m trying to clean up the looks on the airplane as I go, but I would rather put my time and money into speed and reliability than a pretty paint job. I also do most of the work myself.
I occasionally have some help from friends, if I need advice or an extra set of hands to lift something, but I only have a pit crew at the races. I have found that even if the progress is slow, if you do the job right, the results are much better than doing a lot of things at the same time.
calvin lee poker (middle) poses with Envoy pilot recruiters CA Jessica Hines (left) and FO Harrison Scott.
Our class is very much a large family, the respect I have I think I’ve earned by helping my friends get what they need, and they return the favors. “The little plane that could” isn’t too far off. Both the airplane and myself have come a long way since I bought it.
As I make the airplane faster, my skills to fly it increase. The speed of the airplane doesn’t matter much in a calvin lee poker if the pilot can’t keep up with it.