Gary Hubler, 2004 Formula 1 Champion
Mariah Flown by Gary Hubler is the
Three Time Defending Formula 1 Champion
Mariah the fastest Active
Formula 1 Race Plane in the World
Mariah Stats and History:
RACE NUMBER: 95
NAME: "MARIAH"
MAKE: CASSUTT
MODEL: IIIM
REGISTRATION NO. : N11XR
COLORS: WHITE WITH BLUE RACE NUMBER
This highly modified Cassutt 111M was completed in September 1972 by James
Hoover of Salt Lake City, Utah and Eldon Lutz of Boise, Idaho who had pilot
Glenn Tuttle fly it for them at Reno '72... its first racing appearance.
It placed 8th in the Consolation Race at 191.280, and returned to Reno the
following year where Hoover flew it to a 7th place Consolation finish at
194.730.
During the next three years, in eight race meets, the plane's best finish was a
6th in the Championship Race at Reno in '76 at 215.41, its best speed to date.
In 1979 Mike Vandenberg of Boise acquired the plane with intent to race it, but
he severely damaged it in a landing accident in March 1980 and sold the remains
to Lee Cock and Gary Hubler of Caldwell, Idaho.
Parts from this plane were supplemented with parts from a former racing Cassutt,
#72. Over the next ten years, the new owners built new and larger tail surfaces and canopy,
modified the fuselage, and added a new composite wing to build the highly
modified #95, MARIAH.
The new plane first raced at Reno in 1990 where Gary Hubler placed 8th in the
Gold Race at 211.825, and followed with a 217.593 2nd place finish in the Silver
Race the next year.
In subsequent races through 2002 ongoing modifications have resulted
in ever increasing performance for this hybrid culminating in its second best ever
speed and finish in placing 2nd in the Gold Race at 250.059 at Lancaster,
California in '96, and its best ever speed of 258.522 in the Qualifying Lap in
Reno in 2002. The speed of 258.522 makes Mariah the fastest Active Formula
1 Race Plane in the World, second only to the Retired Nemesis.
One of Mariah's' most interesting records is a 1st place finish in the Silver Race at Reno
in '96 at 239. 557. Interestingly that speed was faster than the speed of the
Gold Race winner at that same race meet.
Continuing modifications and improvements to the plane's engine resulted in Back
To Back To Back Gold Championships in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Formula 1 Racing
History and Guidelines:
Formula 1 Class air racing was introduced at the Cleveland Air
Races in 1947. The
Formula 1 class must conform to the following guidelines:
All Aircraft:
1 - must weight at least 500 pounds
2 - must have
non-retractable landing gear
3 - must have a minimum
wing area of 66 square feet
4 – must use a
fixed-pitch propeller constructed of either wood or composite
materials
5 – must have a 100
HP 200 cubic-inch Continental engine.
Picture
of Gary at the 2002 Reno Air Race Awards Banquet.
Web Master E-mail Address: webmaster@mariah95.com
