Comments - The History of Hydroplanes and Folsom Lake - Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum2024-03-29T08:06:52Zhttps://thunderboats.ning.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=6315479%3ABlogPost%3A70407&xn_auth=noWe watched the 1966 race. Whe…tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2015-01-09:6315479:Comment:839002015-01-09T19:23:32.801ZGlenn Landguthhttps://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/GlennLandguth
<p>We watched the 1966 race. When I mentioned it to my dad, who was working for Bill in the Mercer Island store, he mentioned it to Bill. Bill invited us to join him and his wife to watch the 1967 race.</p>
<p>In 1967 my wife and I sat on top of Bill Muncey's (motor home?) to watch the race. We were able to visit during heats that he did not race in.</p>
<p>I have some 8mm home movies taken during the race and some clips of Bill and his wife.</p>
<p>Bill was driving the Miss US. He talked…</p>
<p>We watched the 1966 race. When I mentioned it to my dad, who was working for Bill in the Mercer Island store, he mentioned it to Bill. Bill invited us to join him and his wife to watch the 1967 race.</p>
<p>In 1967 my wife and I sat on top of Bill Muncey's (motor home?) to watch the race. We were able to visit during heats that he did not race in.</p>
<p>I have some 8mm home movies taken during the race and some clips of Bill and his wife.</p>
<p>Bill was driving the Miss US. He talked about how difficult it was to get the Miss US set up consistently. The metal hull seemed to change, probably due to the flexing of the metal joints. It would run great one time and the next time everything would be different. It was a beautiful boat, but due to the constant flexing, it was never consistent. He never knew what to expect.</p>
<p>We also talked about the difficulty of preventing flipping. He mentioned that there had been wind tunnel testing, but that the wind tunnel testing did not correlate with actual behavior on the water. The wind tunnel could not accurately simulate the boat-water interface.</p>
<p>On one occasion, as he was coming back to the (motor home?), some other drivers were talking to him about his agressive driving. His reply was a suggestion that they just stay out of his way and everything would be fine. I came to realize how important phychology was in hydroplane racing. I got the impression that itt was just as important to be able to intimidate the competition as it was to have a fast boat. Bill was obviously a very competitive driver.</p>