So, these are the pictures of Miss America that I took in OKC, the 24th of March. It was a very informative and enjoyable afternoon for me. The Butler family greeted me as a friend, thanks very much to Jerry Day for help in setting up my visit. Greg and Scotty were very kind to spend a couple of hours showing me around the shop, Miss America, and Dr. Brent's Yak 3. They are so, so, proud of the job they did, (a minor/major miracle actually), getting Miss America back into action in 2003. After an utterly devastating engine failure while qualifying,  the emergency landing that the good Doctor performed with severely restricted visibility, resulted in fairly substantial damage to the wing and airframe after a little excursion into the desert and subsequent ripping off of the main landing gear.  The bright side of this was that Brent was alive and well, #1,  Miss America wasn't totaled, #2, and the Miss America Team didn't throw in the towel, #3. 

Jerry Day is the Team photographer and has a great article with photos in the April edition Air Classics. It really gives a good idea how much work was involved in returning Miss A to Air Racing status, as well as the attempt by Mother Nature to sabotage the project. From the quality of work that I, (as an A&P mechanic myself), was able to see "up close and personal", (just check out the cockpit and wheel well pictures), the entire Miss America Air Racing Team deserves nothing but the highest praise and recognition for the work they performed restoring and returning the "longest running Air Racer" to the Reno Air Races. Enjoy the pictures and look for Miss America this September to be in the thick of things once again.

Thanks again for visiting. Clicking on the thumbnails above will take you to the full size pictures. 

Bill Clark, "The" Air Race Addict