a cost of $250,000, Dreadnought’s radial engine has
been rebuilt only once, after a catastrophic failure
in 1995 forced Dennis to make a heart-stopping
dead-stick landing less than a minute after a rod
broke and the 4360 started spitting fireballs out
the carburetor inlet. The engine in the airplane
now still carries the crankshaft and 21 pistons that
Frank used during the original build 25 years ago.
These days, the biggest threat to Dreadnought is
dwindling interest in air racing. As warbird values
rise and purses shrink, Unlimited entries have
declined, and a lot of people wonder if Reno can
survive. “It would have long passed if not for the
Sanderses,” says Pete Law, who has been providing
engineering support to air racers since 1966 (see
“How Reno Racers Keep Their Cool,” Sept. 2012).
“They have supplied airplanes every time it looks
like there’s not going be enough.”
In 2018, with several of the fastest Unlimiteds
on hiatus, Dreadnought once more became the
odds-on favorite, which meant that Dennis
would be in position to earn his first Gold. But
to his son-in-law’s dismay, Dennis insisted that
Joel fly the airplane. “I’ve run hard,” Dennis says.
“I’vehadmyshotatwinning.I’vegota bunchof
second-placefinishes,andI’veledSunday’sGold.
Inmyopinion,it wastimetoletsomebodyelse
havea shotatit.”
Swagerqualifiedfastest,wellclearofanotherSeaFury—Sawbones, packing an R-3350—and led every
lap of both heat races. Still, the team was worried
about Miss America, a P-51D with the potential to
match Dreadnought’s pace. Swager remembers the
conservative strategy: “The idea was to stay far
enough ahead so that if I cut a pylon, I wouldn’t
lose a position.” Sure enough, in the Gold race,
Miss America powered past Sawbones and took off
after Dreadnought. But Swager maintained the
gap and won by nearly nine seconds. “I’m not an
excitable person,” he says—a commendable under-
statement—“so I wasn’t jumping up and down.”
Dennis, on the other hand, says that watching
Swager win was his proudest moment in aviation.
Dennis is planning to race at Reno in 2019. And- And 2021. “As long as they put on an air race,
I will commit to come,” he says. “My dad took me
to my first one in 1968, and I’ve been to every one
since. Reno is an uphill battle for everybody. The
warbirds are getting older. Everything is getting
harder and more expensive. But even if they stop the
air races, come the second weekend in September,
we’re going to load up the truck and the trailer
and the barbecue, and we’re going to drive up to
Reno,andwe’regoingtoparkinthesamespotwe
alwayspark.We’regoingtoflyallthreeairplanes,
andthenwe’llsitaroundanddrinkbeer,andwe’ll
inviteallourfriendsforbarbecueontheramp.”
There’smorethanonekindofRenoGold.
Last September,
Joel Swager takes
off in Dreadnought,
for the racer’s
historic 26th Gold
Unlimited Race.September 2019 AIR&SPACE 33SCOTT GERMAIN