''September Fury'' is a highly modified

Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy. Developed during the Second World War, the Sea Fury entered service two year ...

that is a regular racer at the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, or Roswell Air Races, officially known as the National Championship Air Races, are a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that took place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, ...

. It races as number 232,

History

''September Fury'' was one of two abandoned Sea Fury wrecks recovered in 1962 from a farmer's field in

New Brunswick, Canada New Brunswick is a province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to the west. It is part of Eastern Cana ...

. It survived a hangar fire that damaged the other airframe, and was restored to airworthiness by Brian Baird. After a landing gear failure wrecked the aircraft, it was bought along with another partial airframe by the Sanders Family in November 1969. Frank Sanders restored the aircraft to airworthiness and registered it as N232J, and raced in the California 1000 at Mojave in 1971. The aircraft would later be bought by Mike Brown, rebuilt with a

Wright R-3350 The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone is an American twin-row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine with 18 cylinders displacing nearly . Power ranged from , depending on model. Developed before World War II, the R-3350's design requi ...

engine and named ''September Fury''. It won the Gold Unlimited race at Reno in 1996. Sanders also eventually restored the other Sea Fury airframe which would be named ''Argonaut''.

Racing career

N232J was entered in the California 1000 race and finished in fourth place. Again it raced in the July 1971 United States Cup Race, with Sanders piloting it to second place. In November the aircraft flew again in the California 1000 race, ending with first place. In 1975 the aircraft raced again at the California National Air Races and finished in 6th place. The aircraft changed owners in 1978 and again in 1988. That September the aircraft was raced as''23'' at the National Championship Air Races in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. In late 1989 the aircraft was sold and moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, not to return to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

again until 1995. Michael Brown bought the aircraft in 1996 and the aircraft was again registered as N232J and was rebuilt. The Mk. 18

Bristol Centaurus The Centaurus was the final development of the Bristol Engine Company's series of sleeve valve radial aircraft engines. The Centaurus is an 18-cylinder, two-row design that eventually delivered over . The engine was introduced into service ...

engine was removed and replaced with a more powerful Curtis Wright R-3350-93 engine. The rebuilt ''232'', racing under the name ''September Fury'', returned to the Reno Air Races in 2000, with the 4th fastest qualifying time. However, it did not race in the final race due to a blown engine. ''September Fury'' would have the engine replaced with a modified R-3350 and the aircraft modified further, ready to race in 2001. In 2002 ''September Fury'' finished in second place in the Unlimited Gold division at the Reno Air Races. During the qualifying round that year, it was recorded going . This made it the fastest Sea Fury in the world. The 2003 Pylon Racing Seminar saw a repainted ''September Fury'' with a more wild scheme. ''September Fury'' however blew an engine at the Reno Air Races that year and did not get to compete. In 2004, ''September Fury'' finished in 3rd place in Unlimited Gold at the Reno National Championship Air Races. In 2006 ''September Fury'' took first place at the Reno Air Races, Unlimited Breitling Gold race. ''September Fury'' competed in the 2007 Reno Air Races however did not finish the Unlimited Breitling Gold race due to a blown engine. The 2008 Reno Air Races, Unlimited Breitling Gold race concluded with ''September Fury'' in third position. In 2009, ''September Fury'' changed owners, and did not race again until 2011 when it had a 4th place finish at the 2011 Reno National Championship Air Races, Unlimited Gold In 2012 ''September Fury'' finished 2nd to ''Strega'' at the 2012 Reno National Championship Air Races, Unlimited Gold. In 2013, the aircraft, racing again as ''232'' had the 2nd fastest qualifying time in the 2013 Reno National Championship Air Races, Unlimited division. However mechanical failure left the aircraft unable to race in the Unlimited Gold final race. On April 29, 2019, it was reported by an aircraft dealer that ''September Fury'' was sold and would be back in the air soon; however, no indication was given whether it would remain its air racing configuration or be converted back to stock. Later in 2019, it was reported that ''232'' had returned to the Sanders Aeronautics and Sanders Smoke Technologies workshop, where it had been originally restored to airworthiness in 1970, to be returned to a "closer-to-stock form".

References

{{reflist Racing aircraft Individual aircraft

History

Racing career

See also

References