1979 Squire Shop
Unlimited Hydroplane Restoration Project
The hydroplane community isn’t all that much different than any other sport out there, let's take professional baseball for example.
You always have those hardcore fans that can tell you how many strikeouts a certain pitcher got in a specific game………..little details most of us don’t pay much attention to in the bigger picture. In hydroplane racing, some can tell you how many races a specific hydroplane won in its career, and who the driver was at the time.
My point is, devoted fans gather as much knowledge as possible about their sport as they can, while most simply look to the “future” instead of appreciating the “past”.
It’s those small details that often get overlooked and/or lost to history, and in regards to our restoration project…………it’s no different.
Sure, most fans can find out how many victories a specific driver earned over their career.............but how many people would know who the actual crew members were of any specific hull and year?
When it comes to the 1979 "Squire Shop" restoration, those are the type of details we are after…………the little things.
In the content below, you will learn the ultimate fate (if known) of the major external components of the 1979 Circus Circus hull.
So here we go......enjoy!
You always have those hardcore fans that can tell you how many strikeouts a certain pitcher got in a specific game………..little details most of us don’t pay much attention to in the bigger picture. In hydroplane racing, some can tell you how many races a specific hydroplane won in its career, and who the driver was at the time.
My point is, devoted fans gather as much knowledge as possible about their sport as they can, while most simply look to the “future” instead of appreciating the “past”.
It’s those small details that often get overlooked and/or lost to history, and in regards to our restoration project…………it’s no different.
Sure, most fans can find out how many victories a specific driver earned over their career.............but how many people would know who the actual crew members were of any specific hull and year?
When it comes to the 1979 "Squire Shop" restoration, those are the type of details we are after…………the little things.
In the content below, you will learn the ultimate fate (if known) of the major external components of the 1979 Circus Circus hull.
So here we go......enjoy!
1979 "Circus Circus" hull (1979-31)
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1979 "Circus Circus" original trailer
The 1979 "Circus Circus" trailer was used on numerous boats throughout it's career (Circus Circus, Squire Shop, Oh Boy! Oberto, Miss T-Plus, Miss Freei, and a few others), finally ending up underneath the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum's restored 1982 "Atlas Van Lines". It has been heavily modified over the years (mostly with the addition of steps and to the rear of the trailer), so it was challenging to find enough key features to prove it's authenticity.
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stabilizer wing set #1 / 1979 version "Circus Circus"
This is the set of stabilizers the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum got from Dave Bartush with the sale of the Circus hull to Bob Steil. Through our extensive research, this was the set that Jerry Hopp used on his 1986 "Horizon Air" version of the Squire Shop hull. Jerry's crew either didn't receive these fiberglass skins or simply removed and replaced them with brand new aluminum ones instead. They did however use the inner framework and somehow Dave Bartush eventually ended up with this set many years later. The museum has one of those aluminum Hopp skins from 1986, while Greg Hopp still has the other one.
Brad Haskin came across the caps/covers by chance and saved them from being scrapped years ago, which the Museum now has as well. The original horizontal fiberglass wing itself we believe was scrapped, except for the internal hardware. The internal parts/hardware of the original wing were salvaged and used in the Hopp's new "flat" conventional wing.
Brad Haskin came across the caps/covers by chance and saved them from being scrapped years ago, which the Museum now has as well. The original horizontal fiberglass wing itself we believe was scrapped, except for the internal hardware. The internal parts/hardware of the original wing were salvaged and used in the Hopp's new "flat" conventional wing.
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stabilizer wing set #2 / 1980 version "Circus Circus"
In the pictures below, you will see the 2nd set of Circus Circus “ stabilizers that were later used on the 1984 “Island Security Systems” hull (driven by Mitch Evans) and eventually Wil Muncey's Z-9 hull .
Previously, this wing set was used on the 1981 "Spirit of the Air Force" version and the 1980 "Circus Circus" before that. This is the set we will use on the Squire Shop restoration. There were numerous separate coats of primer/paint to remove from this set, so it was repainted many times in its career.
Previously, this wing set was used on the 1981 "Spirit of the Air Force" version and the 1980 "Circus Circus" before that. This is the set we will use on the Squire Shop restoration. There were numerous separate coats of primer/paint to remove from this set, so it was repainted many times in its career.
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When the team sold the wings to Wil Muncey, he used them on his “Z” class hydroplane, The Z-9 Miss Canada II. You can see this horizontal wing in the photo below before it was repainted.
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The wings were then used on the hull, and he campaigned the boat in the now defunct "Z" boat class. We are 100% sure that this is the correct wing, because we can find traces of exposed yellow paint in its current condition.
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At some point down the road, Dave Bartush came into possession of this stabilizer wing set. This horizontal wing was then sold to Bob Steil, who in turn donated it and the 1979 "Circus Circus" hull to the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum. Mr. Bartush also sold the before mentioned 1979 "Circus Circus" vertical stabilizer skins (used in in 1979 only) as well as part of the deal. The remaining Z-9 original 1979 Circus circus inner upright frames would be purchased from Mr. Bartush later on to complete the set. The vertical stabilizers from this set are what are being used and repurposed for the 1979 Squire Shop restoration. A brand new horizontal wing will be built from the new mold created from this original one.
1979 "Circus Circus" original engine cowling
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Ever wondered what happened to the original 1979 "Circus Circus" engine cowling?
Here's a story from our own restoration team member Brad Haskin, who has first hand experience on its ultimate fate. Here it is in its full "unedited" version as told by Brad himself.
"The Circus cowling sighting was made at what is now known as the Mojave Air & Space Port at Mojave, CA.
Al Letcher was a pilot and vintage aircraft restorer based at the Mojave airport, and he operated several aircraft over the years, including a P-51 Mustang and a rare British Gloster Meteor jet. Al purchased the 3-point Circus Circus during the 1980-81 off season and intended to campaign the boat as the U-77 Spirit of the Air Force, running the team out of his hangar at Mojave.
It appeared at one race (1981 Evansville) and Did Not Start. In 1990, I was driving through Southern California on my way to Florida and decided to take a day to ‘airport slum’ at Mojave (which had been a site used for the California National Air Races as well as a desert storage facility for obsolete airliners). Mojave had been built as a Marine Corps base in WWII, and as such still had all the old hangars, buildings, and infrastructure in place.
Out back of an old pump house, about two blocks back from the flight line the 1979 ‘spine’ cowling from the Miss Circus Circus was sitting gathering dust. It had been nearly 10 years since Letcher had sold all of his equipment to Bob Steil, so it was obvious the cowling was just put out to pasture.
I wish I could have strapped it on top of my van, but I would have had nowhere to put it when I got to my destination. By the time I made it back to the Mojave airport again it was nearly twenty years later. I tried to figure out where the pump house had been, but in the time since the face of the airport had changed dramatically and I couldn’t find its location.
Unfortunately the cowling’s fate was most likely hauled off in the back of a garbage truck to a landfill."
Here's a story from our own restoration team member Brad Haskin, who has first hand experience on its ultimate fate. Here it is in its full "unedited" version as told by Brad himself.
"The Circus cowling sighting was made at what is now known as the Mojave Air & Space Port at Mojave, CA.
Al Letcher was a pilot and vintage aircraft restorer based at the Mojave airport, and he operated several aircraft over the years, including a P-51 Mustang and a rare British Gloster Meteor jet. Al purchased the 3-point Circus Circus during the 1980-81 off season and intended to campaign the boat as the U-77 Spirit of the Air Force, running the team out of his hangar at Mojave.
It appeared at one race (1981 Evansville) and Did Not Start. In 1990, I was driving through Southern California on my way to Florida and decided to take a day to ‘airport slum’ at Mojave (which had been a site used for the California National Air Races as well as a desert storage facility for obsolete airliners). Mojave had been built as a Marine Corps base in WWII, and as such still had all the old hangars, buildings, and infrastructure in place.
Out back of an old pump house, about two blocks back from the flight line the 1979 ‘spine’ cowling from the Miss Circus Circus was sitting gathering dust. It had been nearly 10 years since Letcher had sold all of his equipment to Bob Steil, so it was obvious the cowling was just put out to pasture.
I wish I could have strapped it on top of my van, but I would have had nowhere to put it when I got to my destination. By the time I made it back to the Mojave airport again it was nearly twenty years later. I tried to figure out where the pump house had been, but in the time since the face of the airport had changed dramatically and I couldn’t find its location.
Unfortunately the cowling’s fate was most likely hauled off in the back of a garbage truck to a landfill."
This part will be built brand new from the reverse copied mold of the 1979 Squire Shop engine cowling currently in use on that hulls restoration.
1979 "Circus Circus" original drivers cowling
The Circus Circus drivers cowling is the one we obtained directly from Dave Bartush ourselves (Detroit, Michigan) and is the one the restoration crew had to rebuild back to its original dimensions in order to make a mold for "The Squire Shop". This cowling was used on the Circus Circus, Spirit of the Air Force, and finally on The Squire Shop for the final race in Mexico (1981). During early 1982, the crew decided to make a new cowling and use the Circus one as the plug. To do so, it was cut into 4 separate pieces to make it narrower and set at a different deck angle. The windshield section was removed and wood was added to fill in the voids. A long story short, it took Brad Haskin's skill and expertise to bring it back to its once former glory.
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