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The Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., Newburgh, NY Chapter put on a very nice neighborhood picnic in Newburgh, New York last weekend. Hundreds of area residents and youth attended the program under the leadership of Chapter President Glen Frazier. Our Faithful Pursuit team was requested to drive 200 miles to the festivities. Upon arrival and set up of our tent, I drove the TAI Chapter president, Glen Frazier for a few laps around the park in the Faithful Pursuit! We roared around the neighborhoods letting everyone know something big was happening at the park. Many attendees later stopped by our display and bought our tee shirts and said they had to come once they heard our engine! The 8 of us who visited had a great time. WWII Tuskegee Airmen pilots Humphrey Patton and Bill Wheeler, pictured with the Faithful Pursuit, were present as well. The veterans spoke to the visitors about thier exploits during WWII. Both men flew fighters during the war and have time in P-47 and P-51 aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen entered the war in 1943 flying P-40 and P-39 aircraft in coastal patrol duty in North Africa. Their top notch work here earned them an opportunity to perform fighter escort work for the Daylight Strategic Bombing effort underway in Europe in Italy in the spring of 1944. The massive P-47 Thunderbolt was their first Red Tail fighter escort aircraft. Fighter escort was critical to the Daylight Strategic Bombing initiative as it ensured the safety of B-17s, B-24s, and other bombers fighting their way toward industrial targets in Nazi Germany or other strategic locations. If you stop the enemy from making weapons, you stop his ability to wage war. Its that simple. The tough part is the Nazis had the toughest air force in the world and they were determined to stop us at all cost. The tougher thing for the Tuskegee Airmen was that they were hated by the all White American bomber crews because they were black. (It sounds silly now, but that is how it was back in '44) After a few missions however, the bomber guys realized that the Red Tails were not losing any bombers and that their white buddies were getting shot up over targets and not coming home when escorted by the white fighter escort pilots. After a while, the Blacks were highly sought after and "requested" for this extremely dangerous work. (66 of our boys were killed and 33 were captured doing escort)It is also rumored that a fist fight broke out in one of the bomber planning meetings over just who would get us to fly escort! If you wanted to live, you got the the Black Red Tailed fighters on your side! They won many victories, including the victory over racism, and then transitioned from the mighty Thunderbolt, affectionately called the "Jug", to the longer ranging P-51 Mustang in the summer of 1944. The Tuskegee Airmen never lost a bomber that they escorted to enemy fighter action. No other fighter group on any side in any war has matched their record. You can thank the "Old Man", then Col. B. O. Davis, Jr. He was West Point Class of '36 tough as nails and told the men "If you break formation to go after individual Nazi fighters without permission, you will be court martialed before your wheels touch the ground" He contended that: We will be the best fighter escort group, period. Original Tuskegee Airmen Humphrey Patton and Bill Wheeler, both WWII fighter pilots with Faithful Pursuit Wells Fargo Stage Coach and Driver.

Have a great 4th and say a kind word to a veteran, especially those from "Dubya-Dubya Aye-Aye, The Big One!" God Speed

We loaded up the trailer, packed in 8 people and drove 1.5 hours to our nearest 1/4 mile track. The weather was great and they were drying it out from the afternoon rains. Five other passes were made as I waited behind a long line of "MOMS" racers. Mustang Owner..???...???. We did not make one run before the clouds swept in from the north-west and closed us down! Well, my wife asked are you disappointed after all that work? Only partly, you see there are so many parts to this dance that went well not actually running on the track and racing a few guys (or girls) is not all bad. We tested the car at home, trying new suspension geometries, used a new fuel mix (Aviation 100 + Mobil 93 33/66 mix), trained Ben and Martin on how to strap down the BUICK, entertained everyone, fed everyone, got there safely, trained on parking, unloading, and I even met a couple of Buick people and got some great tech advice. So it certainly was not a total loss by any means. The better I can grow my crew, the less support work I have to do and the more I can focus on the car and driving. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> God Speed,

This is my Buick Electra. It has 20K original miles and is all original except for rims/tires, belts hoses, plugs, and brake cylinders. Everythings else is as delivered from the factory except for the fluids! She is in mint condition and was professionally appraised at 95% of top value, only needing underbody detailing currently in progress as Putman Auto Sales. I always liked Buick motorcars. Back in '65 a neighbor owned a '59 and I was hooked. The ventiports, high power engines, luxury and quality all made for a great motoring experience. This 1970 Buick "Electra 225 Custom Coupe" probably has one of the longest names given a motorcar as well as being one of the longest automobiles. It was actually 224.9 inches long, hence the 225 moniker, and was developed developed as a long distance high-speed cruiser. 120 mph was not simply a number on the speedo, since these cars were introduced in 1959 they were actually built to sustain 120 mph. They have run laps at Indy proving their capability since 1959. They are capable of high 14 second to low 16 second quarter miles, depending on the options. Gear ratios ranging from 2.56 to 3.91 were options, the 3.91 being a special "PX" coded AC delete option. The 455 was standard, with most being the mid range SF code 370 HP variety. Some belive that the coveted STAGE I option could be ordered, however I have not witnessed documented factory Electra STAGE I cars. This car has the special Electra aluminum alloy drum brakes, Power Brakes, Windows, Steering, ice cold AC, AM/FM. She is fast and gets 17 mpg with her innovative Buick 455. The 455 weighed as much as the Chevy Aluminum block and had more torque than the light weight ZL-1 427! The Buick 455 was the last big block design to come out of the big three in that era and benefitted from the previous learnings. This photo was taken on the showroom floor of the local Buick dealership owned by Ms. Jane Fox in Gang Mills, New York. I love the Buick logo carpet!

The re-worked transmission, torque convereter, and spool work together as tight as the Bow of Oddysseus! As a young person I read the story of the Greek hero whose bow was so difficult to string, no one else but he could do it. Finally, some really great positive shifts to red-line that feel tight! I was humming the tune to "Rocky" when I got home! Hopefully, after a little work, I'll be at the track on Friday if the weather holds.

How many years have we searched for a solution to the BUICK big car rotor/spindle crisis. Here I was on my last .001 of usable brake rotor thickness when out of sheer despiration I ordered a set of 1971 Buick Electra rotors, right, to machine out to 1969 spindle specifications. You see, in 1967 - 1970 the discs were a rare option and you cannot find replacement rotors. The Bendix calipers were clunky, weighed 29 lbs, and were often discarded for the old reliable aluminum alloy drums! Only 1971 and up Electra rotors are made today. Since both inner and outer bearing races are in different locations, this would have required brake rotor machining (probably $800 worth at least) to relocate the bearings slightly. This mod would still require that the brake brackets on the spindles be modified as well. (Another $200) As luck would have it, I finally found a solution! The photos of the beefier 1.125" thick rotors are similar to the ones that will be coming within the next week or so. These units are cross drilled, with brake cleaning slots, and high nickel content. NOW we will finally have SAFE brakes. Sure, our pals at any number of uber brake houses would have been happy to sell us brakes tailor made to our car ($6,000.00 was one quote! No kidding!) We are a low-budget, relatively speaking, operation. I'll spend $6k on a motor before I'll do it on 4 rotors and calipers! (Call me crazy but I think its highway robbery!) These new rotors will cost about $200 because they are actually CHEVY 1/2 TON TRUCK ROTORS!!! Here's the funny part. I first ordered a single '71 rotor to check out what would be required to make the setup work. When I ordered the second rotor to begin the machining process, Chevy truck rotor came in the box by accident. It had the identical Buick ID number but it was a noticibly different and even more massive Chevy truck unit. I tried it on just for laughs (wierd stuff makes me happy sometimes) and it actually fit!!! Now to be honest, I had heard that this swap could fit. One of the bad boy brake companies let it slip that that is how they got around the stickey Electra issue! I did not run out and try it myself because I have been on too many wild goose chases which wound up being a load of hooey. And besides, if it worked, how come nobody out in Buick land knew anything about it???? Anyway, a high performance outfit remakes these units in drilled, slotted, configuration designed for high performance! Buick brakes at Chevy prices! Score one for the Gipper!!!! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />