Thanks: 0
Likes: 0
Close David.....but I was thinking more about the aerobatics.Maybe several frames before you settled into your comfort zone.
Getting it up twice would have convinced me to target you. Getting it up thrice would have been the payoff.
I contacted Jaime Casarin who was the Co-ordinator for Special Events at the Tourist Bureau. Lunch at the El Presidente cost pesos and dinner at the Villa Los Arcos was 388 pesos. At that time the exchange rate was 22 to 1. Here's a few views from Villa Los Arcos and one in their garage with a few race boats.
Elmer Grade flew in and arrived the next day and we talked about the current situation with Pro racing. At that time inflation was rampaging and so was a recession. The prime rate was exhorbitant. Interest rates on credit cards were around 16 or 17 percent. Ronald Reagan had recently become President and had pushed to drastically cut tax rates. At that time some of the top rates were 50 to 70 percent. When he finally was able to, it lead to the longest peacetime econonmic expansion in U.S. history. But while Elmer and I were sitting at a bar overlooking the Pacific Ocean, none of that had happened yet.
Elmer was very tightly involved in what we were doing and he became a dedicated part of our group early on. We talked about Jim Stone's death and that clearly hurt him. That, I think is the main reason why he flew out to be with all of us at Acapulco. It was outside our main race courses. It was a holiday venue. We weren't there for any championship races. There was nothing to prove as far as racing. In other words...it was a chance to get away from the recent tragedies, but yet still be with friends that were there and could empathize. It was Elmer's boat and motor that Jim was driving, and no matter what any one said to Elmer, he took it very hard......and this was a way to help him get through those times.
He was very enthusiasthic though about the international racing that seemed about to break out. A big factor though was the economy, the fall of the dollar and the big jump in prices of the Konig's and Yamato's. Unfortunately, the Merc/Quincy's had not been able to recapture some of their former glory and so dependance on foreign motors became very expensive.
I also met Felipe Mercier who raced class FE. At the most recent Rio Balsas he was 1/2 kilometer from the finish in first place when he broke down. He ended up finishing third. My notes are sketchy so I am guessing that is in his class.
We figured Artie and crew should be arriving at any time because they left with the boats and motors before Elmer and I had.
I hung out waiting for everyone else to arrive. Just wandered around, looking at the sites and taking a few pictures. I thought about the movie stars that hung out here. I think John Wayne had a place nearby. Seems like may would have been a good to to come. The beaches were not crowded at all. Probably not like that now.
I was worried about the other guys. They were more than a day late. When they finally got there, I found out why. At customs in Laredo, the customs officers were very interested in the boats. They never saw anything like that. They admired the boats, and were curious about the racing motors. They could not believe how much horsepower such small engines could develope. Those customs guys were all in admiration of the equipment. They asked how much could such powerful engines and beautiful boats cost. Artie, Charlie and Steve explained how much the Konigs and Quincy's cost, especially with the dollar dropping in value against the mark. And so it went....until the customs officials told them how much it would cost to bring such equipment into Mexico.
They were used to lies, undervalued goods, and people bringing stuff in to sell, then fly back home. It took them the whole rest of the day to explain how that was the price of brand new equipment, how there stuff was used, when they bought it it didn't cost so much,...etc.
I can't remember for sure (I wish Artie Lund would sometimes chime in), but it seems to me like the greatly anticipated rest at the former Olympics Village at Mexico City was not what they expected. I seem to remember that the showers that worked only had cold water and the dormitories were cold, sparse and very much delapidated. They were glad to get to Acapulco.
The next day we took the trailer to the pits and began to rig up. I can't remember some of the names of the pit crew, but they were all from San Antonio and helped Artie and Charlie Blackwood. Mark Hamilton, Red's son, also raced, but not here. There were Artie and Irma Lund, Steve and Judy Jones, Mark Hamilton, Charlie Blackwood, Sr., a guy I met for the first time Weldon "Buzzy" and Wanda Montgomery besides myself and Elmer Grade.
It was a fun, leisurly time rigging up in the pits. As normal, spectators would wander around. A film crew was getting some footage. Mark Hamilton noticed that his T shirt that he hung on the trailer was missing. He said "Hey...someone stole my T shirt". We looked for it a couple of minutes with no luck, then went about our business. About 10 minutes later, one of the pit guys realized that there was not much activity milling around us and he looked up. He quietly said, "Take a look around at those guys." We discovered that several Federales with machine guns had quietly set up a perimeter about 20 feet around our pits, and all the spectators were behind them. All of this was done quietly without any of us even knowing. Mark never complained about his missing T shirt, so there must have been someone in the crowd to see to it that we were taken care of.
I only have time right now to post this one pic. Steve Jones going out to test.
We were at sea level, but none of our motors ran good. They loaded up very badly. If it were just one or two motors we might have thought worn rings or some ignition problems on that motor. It seems we ruled out bad fuel for some reason. We all ended up having to use smaller diameter props and less pitch to be able to get the rpm's up. I never did any research into it, but I thought it might have to do something with being closer to the equator. The air was warm, so the oxygen density was less, but we have raced on hotter days without the motors having problems. So I was wondering if the speed of earth's rotation at that latitude had any effect on the oxygen content of the air.
When we were done testing a group of us went on a little tour. I'm not sure where our guide was originally found, but he was with us for the next couple of days. He had some kind of van that held a large group. I think the lady on the left is Charlie Blackwood, Jr.'s wife. On the other side of our guide is Irma Lund and Judy Jones.
One of the places he took us was the famous place where guys dive off the cliff. On the way, we got behind a slo poke truck and several cars. When we got to a place for cars to pull off and look at the Pacifiic, he turned in and sped around the cars and truck on the right side through the parking area.
There were four of us that would be driving in the exhibition race, and ten supporting crew members.
Drivers were Artie Lund..San Antonio in a Konig/Butts, Wayne Baldwin..Sandia, TX..Konig/Butts, Steve Jones..Corpus Christi, TX...Konig/Butts, and Charlie Blackwood, Sr. Merc-Quincy/??maybe DeSilva.
After testing, then taking a tour, our driver took us to a fantastic restaurant. All the food we had while in Acapulco was great. Only problem was I usually didn't eat salad, but this time I did. I think the whole time I was there I ate seafood. It was right on the Pacific and how could I NOT eat seafood. Shrimp, camari, shark, crabs.........how delicious.
There are currently 7 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 7 guests)
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks