High Planes' 1/72
Yak-11 Racer
"Mr. Awesome"

By Chris Bucholtz

History

The amazing "Mr. Awesome" has the bizarre distinction of being the only Reno racer to be done in by a drive-by shooting! This polished plane started life as a Yak-11 trainer, but owners Joe and Betty Kasparoff contracted Matt Jackson and his Van Nuys, California crew to transform the plane into a pylon-turner. Step one was the replacement of the Shvestov 570-horsepower engine with a massive 3,700-horsepower Wright R-3350 turbo-compound radial engine, swinging a cut-down propeller from an A-1 Skyraider. To restore the center of gravity, the fuselage aft of the wing was lengthened by almost seven feet.

Skip Holm qualified "Mr. Awesome" in its first Reno campaign in 1988, turning in a speed of 417 mph, somewhat of a disappointment for Kasparoff and crew. During the first heat race, Holm hit wake turbulence and the "Super Yak's" directional stability problems surfaced. The plane visibly wobbled down the backstretch, but Holm kept flying, albeit with greater caution. "Mr. Awesome" still posted an average speed of 406 mph, but spent the remainder of the event parked in the pits.

In 1989, before Daryl Greenmayer became the owner of the plane, "Mr. Awesome" received further modifications aimed at curing its stability woes that made it look even less like a Yak. Don Pennington designed and engineered the addition of a new tail, taken from a T-33 Shooting Star that all but tamed the stability problems. But, while parked at Van Nuys awaiting its modifications, some miscreants shot at the plane through the airport fence, holing it in several places. Sheet metal work patched the holes easily enough, but the crew could not see that a bullet fragment had somehow entered the oil system. While at Reno, during takeoff for qualifying, the bullet dislodged and ran along the line until it became stuck. Pilot Neil Anderson suffered a loss of hydraulic pressure and an engine failure occurred and declared an emergency. He could get only one gear leg to come down, and the airplane performed an amazing cartwheel that demolished the airframe. Anderson escaped with minor injuries, but the plane was a wreck.

Two years later, the plane is on the verge of racing again, in the same form as it was at the time of its crash-Yak-11 fuselage, T-33 tail and an R-3350 at the business end.

The Kit (click on thumbnails for larger image)

High Planes' kit of "Mr. Awesome" depicts the 1989 edition of the plane, with the T-33 tail. As usual, the model is cast in baby blue plastic, with a fair amount of flash on all of the parts. The cockpit is almost non-existent, with a very basic seat and control panel, rear bulkhead and floor section. These would be invisible under the minute bubble canopy if it weren't so clear; in any event, a small amount of detailing could go along way. No information is provided as to how the canopy opened, which limits the modeler's options a bit. The cockpit opening will require work at the front and back to true them up, as the detail provided on the fuselage halves is a little short-shot, resulting in "v"-shaped notches on the centerline that are quite severe, particularly at the aft of the cockpit.

The detail on the model's surface is very nice. Some may argue that the panel detail is too petite to show through under a coat of paint; I would remind those folks that this is an air racer, and has had its panels filled and sanded flush. The Yak wing is nicely rendered, as are the tail planes; as is always the case, the really important parts of the model are there and require only the efforts of an attentive modeler to create a lovely replica.

The attention will be required while rummaging through the parts box for interior parts and, perhaps, a propeller. The kit prop is flash-encrusted, and the spinner and backing plate are rather rough; the wheels, on the other hand, are the correct size and have the appropriate level of detail for the Yak-11. The white metal landing gear struts and tail wheel are very nice and can be used without modification.

The decals are, as usual, wonderful. The T-33-tailed "Mr. Awesome" was natural metal, with a white tip to its vertical stabilizer and bright orange wings. The decals provide red No. 97s for the tail and a larger orange 97 for the fuselage, a block with the names of pilots Holm and Anderson and owners Kasparoff, and the "Super K" and "Mr. Awesome" logos. The text for the landing gear doors is not legible, but seems to be not the crew names but some pithy bit of wisdom known only to High Planes' Greg Meggs, who has done similar things in the past (I can make out the word "Australian" in the bottom line). This block is reversed for the starboard side, so capital letters are at the end of words. Luckily, in 1:72, this can hardly be noticed.

Although it's not a shake-and-bake kit, it is unlikely that you'll ever find another kit of this unique racer that's as complete and as it is well executed. Race fans with some short-run experience (and, perhaps, a well-stocked spares box) should have fewer difficulties getting past the rough spots than Skip Holm ever did! Coincidentally, I had the nice Polish Waku vacuformed Yak-11 on my desk when the High Planes kit arrived, and I look forward to having the two sitting next to each other someday.

For a nice page on this aircraft, check out http://aafo.com/racing/news/rheat.htm

Our thanks to High Planes for our review sample.