Steven Hinton Jr., the exceptional pilot who has won the Unlimited Class in the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, multiple times, added his name to the record books this weekend as he broke the speed record for an internal combustion engine-powered airplane, Class C-1e, on a 3 km closed course. Hinton was flying a highly-modified P-51 Mustang named Voodoo, the airplane he has raced in Reno for the past few years.
Over three laps, Hinton took Voodoo to an average speed of 531 mph, blowing the previous standing record away. The fastest lap was nearly 555 mph according to Pursuit Aviation, an aerial cinematography company that documented the flight. The previous record was set at 318 mph in 2012 by Will Whiteside Jr. in a Yak-3U named Steadfast. The FAI has posted Hinton’s record as preliminary for now.
The success was bittersweet, however, as the ultimate speed record over a 3 km closed course, set in 1989 by Lyle Shelton in Rare Bear — a Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat — still remains. The FAI retired Shelton’s record as there were changes in the sporting code. While Hinton’s speed was quicker than Shelton’s, in order for the ultimate record to be broken it would have to beat by 1 percent, translating to 533 mph.
Steven Hinton Jr. is the son of Steve Hinton, a legendary pilot in his own right who held the 3 km speed record before Shelton, from 1979 to 1989. Hinton Sr. is the president of Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.
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