Michael Opel's Likes

Two weeks ago, in a some what involved transaction, my much altered and…

I was at the Museum this morning helping Don Mock work on the horizontal wing for the Blue Blaster when fellow member, Bob Senior, came over to say hello and to check on our progress. Bob…

One of the sport's winningest, most important boats arrives back in Seattle this week.  Dr, Ken Muscatel purchased the 1973 Pay 'N Pak (Atlas Van Lines, Miss Madison) from the…

Bob Steil, former owner of the Squire Shop hydroplanes, has just acquiring the 1979 U-31 Miss Circus Circus from the Dave Bartush collection in Detroit. The hull is a duplicate…

Completed my first visit to HARM on Saturday, met lots of great people, and signed up to work with the restoration crews.

Hi. Just found this promotion for Mobiloil in a technical magazine in Sweden in 1955. This is nice showing that the unlimited hydroplanes were famous in Sweden even though we didn´t have unlimited…

Over 80 hydro fans showed up at the Hydroplane Museum last night to watch H1…

For unlimited hydro racing it was a remarkably uneventful event. Nobody got killed and the boats, most of them powered by aircraft engines, flew so low that Bill Sterett won with his…

     In Feb of 2011 I walked through the doors of a place that "I've always wanted to check out". When I walked into that building, I stood there flashing back to a time in my life when I didn't…

Thirty years ago today, October 18, 1981 in Acapulco, Mexico, the legendary careers of Bill Muncey and his Blue Blaster Atlas Van Lines came to an end. It was an awful day not only for…

The Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum would like to sincerely thank Chip Hanauer for the high quality band saw and table saw he recently donated to the museum. The saws are a huge boost to the…

     As a fan and participant of "Live Theatre" for many years, I have experienced several moments where a particular performance is just "magical". The kind of show where everyone nails their…

I knew that his days were growing short but still, it came as a personal blow to learn that Stan Hanauer had passed away last week. I flat loved the guy and I will miss him a great deal. Stan was…