Dago Red Sept 12, 2003 507.105 MPH Race Record.

At the Reno Air Races on September 12, 2003 Dago Red with Skip Holm at the controls broke the 500 MPH barrier with a race record speed of 507.105 and a fastest lap record of 512.164. The Thompson Trophy was awarded for this race record. This is the cockpit video of this race.

[@brandonhill2183]

I was part of race setup that year, I saw him come around pylon 7 on the last lap, kicking up dust. It was amazing

[@88SC]

The epitome. Skip at his peak paired with Dago at her peak.

[@blancolirio]

Simply ASTONISHING footage! Thanks for posting.

[@jssomewhere6740]

I was at outer 4 when he set this record. For many years I had one of if not the best job at the races. I was Bill Chapman 's go for. I hauled the Porta potties to the pylons. I set out the trash barrels. Some years I had to chalk the show line. I was the 3rd vehicle to arrive in the lemon valley dry lake when Pond racer went in. That was a crappie piece of the job. I held a formula one heat race for half an hour sitting at the east end of the main runway waiting for clearance from race control to go back. Yes while I waited I was reading the paper. In my top less tan CJ7. I got invited to my first pilots meeting the next morning. I had to give up my spot in 07 or 08. Now they are gone forever. I'm glad I got to take part and I feel good about letting others have a chance. I will miss the races.

[@warbirdfotos]

Many thanks, Tom! This video shows Skip and his consistent lap telemetry, like he's on a string. I watched this race from the fenceline, nothing short of spectacular!

[@SeanHollingsworth]

Rare Bear was hauling ass too!! The atmospheric conditions were simply perfect!! ;-)

[@thewaltbrownellchannel9318]

Skip is an absolute BEAST

[@RichLeespage]

Real cool. When I was in the Air Force, at Norton in San Bernardino, I worked for about a year at the Santa Monica Flight Museum, on Miss America, Dago Red, a P39Q, and an A26 Invader around 1992-3.

[@PJWebb-rp7un]

RichLeespage I totally remember miss America!! beautiful paint scheme on that bird

[@777Pantheraleo]

I was on the Dago team in 1983 man what a beautiful plane she was.

[@lowbornfabrication]

Dago Red. The baddest piston powered plane the planet has ever seen. 🏁🏴‍☠️

[@MrJdsenior]

MAN, that engine sounds GOOD when it's wound up! That thing really eats up ground, doesn't it.

[@e36s50b30]

John Sikes it’s terrifying!😍

[@MrJdsenior]

@@e36s50b30 Especially at places like 7:20 where he REALLY gets low. Gives me some sphincter crunch watching the VIDEO, can you imagine sitting in the cockpit? I have GOT to get out and see one of these. I had aviation buff friends as kids who moved to Cal and used to go watch these races. They said you can't even fathom what it is like until you experience it first hand. Gotta do Oshkosh again one more time, and this one is definitely on the bucket list, as well. I know video wouldn't do much justice to the B17 pass with something like 17 P51s in echelon escorting it. Spectacular! And I saw the F22 recently...at Sun n Fun. That first afterburner takeoff, you could FEEL it in your chest and the ground!!! They just debuted the F35 in an airshow nearby, but I couldn't make it, was bummed.

[@P51]

this is AMAZING!! Mr. Holm said #38 Miss Ashley II and Tsunami were even FASTER

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

Amazing footage! One hiccup from man, machine, or the elements at that speed and altitude is usually fatal!

[@kenster865]

Yup... no doubt. The cats that do this kind of flying are a distinct and unique class of humans. True athletes in every sense. 👍👍

[@arpaddeli9924]

10-4 flyn'... Man, Machine and Altitude.... I Recall at the Races one year, Lefty Gardner in "White Lightnin'" came in with sage brush o n his "Low Wing!!!!!!!!" But he's a "Crop Duster" for a Livin' so I guess that's just "S.O.P.!!!!" skybill

[@TheJustinJ]

Picture this: 72 years earlier, the Piston word record was set exactly 100mph slower at 407.5mph in a Supermarine S.6B (S1596) flown by George Stainforth

[@WingsOverWheels]

He must be afraid of heights🤣

[@rafaeltorres2886]

Amazing work😮

[@richardstokes6827]

Absolutely marvellous.

[@timbland9050]

beautiful!!

[@bigsidable]

I was there that day. My girlfriend family was part owner of Dago Red. Why I wanted to be a Aircraft Tech. The P51 Mustang. Changed WW2. A pilot who flew them created a second color head for a printing press and he call it. The P51 Townsend. Ran the hell out of that press.

[@golfr3285]

Jeeeze that was quick 👀

[@johnward1191]

Skip flew the entire race in a bank, never leveled. And that is how it was done.

[@TheJustinJ]

This is the correct way to fly a circuit. Any time not spent gaining angles, means higher loads in the turns. Which requires greater lift and generates greater drag.

[@tomsmothermon6373]

Wrong Joseph. The course was actually corrected. The original course was measured by a straight line between the pylons. The corrections showed a more accurate line that is flown which effectively made it a longer course. If you put the qualifying times from earlier flights by Dago, the 497 qualifying time was actually in the 500+ area. The course was changed a few years ago for safety reasons and some think it slowed it down. 500+ laps and races will be happening again with the right pilot, crew and aircraft. Glad you enjoyed the video though.

[@francescofissore161]

Thanx so much for uploading Mr. Tom, fantastic video and .. almost frightening as well. Please if possible to know, wich could be an absolute fastest dash in such a race? To have one lap at 512.164 mph (825 Km/h.) of average speed if I've understood correct, considering some inevitable slowing down i.e. around some pylons - could somethingh like 550 mph have been reached in some very brief segments? I've noticed at least one lap had been covered in 59 seconds... incredible. Thanx!! Greetings from Italy.

[@cjisjunk6271]

Other than Lefty Gardner, I’ll take Skip. Saw Skip in Tsunami come down the chute and as I looked from the top of the P-38, directly East and saw Tsunami’s rudder and tail coming up from -below the field elevation. Lemmon Valley I think. Anyway great pilot

[@Britcarjunkie]

Not long after the Sept. 11th attacks, there was a video of Dago Red that was posted, titled "Dawn Patrol": Red was the only plane in the video, and it was started up, and flown, did several passes over it's home field, and landed - and then the engine run up...it, and the sound, was fantastic! What the hell happened to that video???

[@cjisjunk6271]

And Bill in the pits…damn!

[@unclelar53]

I was there. Awesome.

[@MultiFormWallet]

Good going cousin.

[@bigsidable]

I can’t even imagine the stress he and the plane is taking at his angle of attack. Just goes against aeronautical forces.

[@bobdyer422]

Will "Dago" ever race again? Last I heard she was sitting in a hangar and pieces of her were being stolen. "Dago" needs to race again and "The Bear" needs to shed that god awful paint scheme. Great vid, thanks for posting.

[@jamesmcfarland3711]

Would love to see Strega, Dago Red, Voodoo and the Bear head to head in one more Gold race.

[@bigsidable]

If it does. I want to be there. Think she is in a museum now.

[@TheJustinJ]

Museums. And Voodoo was irreversibly modified to set world speed records. It would take crafting new parts to retrofit back to Reno spec. But I doubt it will.

[@jeffreycompton9425]

Insane

[@enigma9967]

Love it, Tom. :) Kim (Forever a Dago Dog)

[@tomsmothermon6373]

+e nigma Hi Kim!!! All of us miss the Dago Dogs. I was at Reno this weekend and Kerch and Mike Wilton say HI.

[@AbnEngrDan]

My man is cookin'!

[@Dsdafg]

Nice!

[@dagwood527]

Perfect Flying

[@francescofissore161]

Terrifying to say the least !!!!! I've picked out one precise clue on the ground being easily recognizable, and by carefully watching I froze the video at the very moment it repeatedly arrived - well, at least for three instances (maybe more?) time spent to make one lap was always exactly 60 seconds... not 59, nor 61. Sounds like incredible, how the hell could this pilot keep the very same course at such speeds and G-forces ?!??? Fantastic !!! I also was wondering: possibly the speed along the path would change a very little after all, in my opinion. However being that an oval flight path instead of being perfectly circular, could it be that where turns are less extreme around the pylons speed can benefit from a few straight segments? I do mean, if 512 mph were the resulting average for that particular lap, how much could have been an absolute top speed in one (if any) most favourable portion? Thanx very much from Italy.

[@tomsmothermon6373]

The 507 speed was the average speed for the race. 512 was the fastest lap. One of the things that means is as the race progressed the speed for each lap increased. As fluids were used the aircraft got lighter and even if the power setting remained the same the aircraft would increase in speed. The conditions that day were perfect not to mention that the pilot also was. Each lap speed increased and the time for each lap decreased a bit. Skip's line was on track every lap. It was a fun day and a fun race to watch, I'm glad that I was able to record it. The course at that time was not oval or round and turn 8 was very tight. Skip is just that good. I would like to Steve Jr fly that same course with the same airplane and the same conditions, I bet the times would be very close to the same. He's good too.

[@francescofissore161]

@@tomsmothermon6373 Thanx very much, quite interesting - I didn't think at all at the airplane getting lighter as weight decreased. Please still a couple questions: 1) so at the time, the race pattern wasn't a true oval - did pilots have to fly straight segments between pylons? 2) is it feasible to estimate what an absolute highest speed could have been in a given point of the course, by taking the final average and (maybe, or maybe not?) some help by telemetry? Possibly those very tight turns around pylons take away less speed than people could believe, yet an inevitable slowing down will necessarily come out... would it seem excessive to think at, say, something close to 535 - 540 mph in some particular points here or there? Thanx!!

[@jssomewhere6740]

I'm four years late. That course in Reno has elevation changes. It also has a straight section. I know it seems Luke a big circle but it's not it's a filming and editing thing. I don't know what his single moment top speed was. On such a perfect day it might have reached into the 520s for brief moment. I was on the outer 4 pylon when he made this run. Even without knowing his speed it was obvious this was a special run.

[@chrisskeates8816]

super unlimited are finished thrir motors and blocks are stuffed love it while you can its over for these tired old birds

[@controllineprecisionaeroba7454]

Skip Holm is full on balls to the walls.

[@tomcrosby6332]

In-F-in' sane!!!

[@michaejlt]

Wow!! 512.164mph!! Drago Red was without a doubt one Bad-ass Racer!! Sad to say we may not see another one like her again. Strega, Voodoo, & Rare Bear are great racers, however are not in the same league as Dago Red was!

[@hotliner2872]

0:50 that jet blasts by and they are like "I don't think so"! Granted I think the jet was a tweet.

[@palomino73]

Oh my - I'd so love to see + hear them racing live ! Why doe the pilots (at least this one) wear their oxygen-mask ? How should this be necessary when they fly so low, only ? Great video, thanks for posting !

[@tomsmothermon6373]

O2 is required. There could be many reasons it might be needed, fuel leak is one. On a cold day when the spray bar water comes on the Mustang canopy will fog up. This may not be much of a factor but the pilot will have dry air to breath.

[@palomino73]

Aha, sounds understandable to me ! Thanks for the prompt explanation and greetings to you !

[@taproom113]

Smoke in the cockpit from engine, oil or electrical fire is another reason … ^v^

[@TheJustinJ]

^This Smoke/fire. And carbon Monoxide. And the aircraft can easily exceed 14,000' if they pitch up. They only have to gain 8,800' to break the FAA requirement for Oxy. Also, for mental acuity. Oxygen boosts mental performance (or lack of oxy causes fatigue and drowsiness).

[@TheNovum]

wow, its all i can say

[@joshuaadamus7305]

Man I really wish that plane kept racing

[@wordsisnukes]

for 2003 that's actually pretty good audio. listen to that merlin sing!

[@tomsmothermon6373]

You would laugh if you knew how I did it. Very simple fix for the better audio. I think I taught the pro guys a couple things.

[@TheJustinJ]

Muffled mic?

[@poly_hexamethyl]

5:22 How can the airplane maintain altitude when flying in a sustained 90 degree bank like that? The wings can't be providing any lift to counter gravity. In that position, does the rudder act as the elevator and produce lift?

[@dad5650]

Poly Hexamethyl ......Yes it does, a mix of elevator and rudder

[@naughtmoses]

Paddle props will also provide some considerable lift.

[@TheJustinJ]

6y ago, ok. But for future reference: This is NOT 90* bank angle as the OP incorrectly assumed. It is about 75 degrees, which corresponds to 5.75g. (Over 6g sustained for this long results in loss of consciousness and blackout). Paddle props to not generate lift. An airplane does not deflect outside (topside) rudder in a turn to generate lift. Not a properly flown airplane that is coordinated, only in aerobatic knife edge flight. Which is slow and inefficient. This performance was absolute perfection and aviation excellence. A real run for the history books.

[@sanfranciscobay]

Are there videos of Dago Red racing the course at Reno that stand out as the best? If so, can you please provide the links.

[@tomsmothermon6373]

SanFranciscoBay, I'm sure there are other Dago videos out there but the four I posted are all I put together. I did the cockpit video for Dago during my years on the crew. I took the only cockpit footage from the years from about 2000 till 2004. I probably have about 30 tapes I took throughout those years. To view all four of them go to You Tube, type in my name and they will come up. All were taken using a Sony Mini DV GVD900 system with Elmo cameras. The Go Pro stuff out there today just makes the prop look dumb as you don't have a shutter speed to control. I could possibly rework them using newer technology to increase the video and audio quality but don’t have any plans of doing that at this time.

[@jfingerskeys]

i got this model p51 with a 65.5 inch wingspan and it can rea ch 200 kph

[@jfingerskeys]

THIS IS THE P51 I GOT LOL

[@michealhayes1038]

why did dago red retire? no one has been as fast

[@tomsmothermon6373]

Hi Micheal, The owner decided to call it quits. He later regretted it but that's the way it goes. The only race we lost under owner Terry Bland was the last race in I think 2004. One hell of a ride though.

[@jimbiddlecome13]

@@tomsmothermon6373 Great Memories in Air Racing History!! Great Pilot (skip) G.O.A.T. Crew Chief (BK) and a Great Crew to make it all happen.

[@bigsidable]

BANK LEFT. BANK LEFT.

[@bigsidable]

Skip flew 500 ft of the deck. The lowest flyer at the race.

[@american5564]

Down hill from here

[@jeffk464]

I don't know it seems like their should be a speed limit and they should have cops in black and white planes to pull them over. Make the speed limit 450 mph.

[@mec4703]

Whatever happened to Dago Red?

[@Weyco23]

A former crew member owns it. It is in a hanger in California completely disassembled. It is just a pile of parts now.

[@helthuismartin]

In a Hawker Fury??

[@sanfranciscobay]

P51D Mustang.

[@josephthompson8425]

Misleading - The Only reason the 500mph 'barrier' was broke in 2003 (or anytime since) is because they artificially changed the size of the course, to fudge...making the speeds appear faster. Still . Awesome to watch!

[@geekt]

It was the same race course for everybody at that time. It's changed now because of a few unfortunate accidents and attorneys. That vid is fucking awsome!

[@tomthx5804]

I coulda done that

[@tjarmand]

nm pics at the end lol

[@tjarmand]

is it a p51?