VIPER beats Fighterjet!

[Paul Hawker]

On Saturday the VCA hosted a great event at Luke Airforce base. Under the supervision, and videocameras of "Ripley's Believe it or NOT!" a F-16 "Viper" fighterjet lined up against a new 03 Viper convertable. It was a drag race for 1/2 mile. To the amazement of the entire military present the Dodge Viper won!
In a rematch a second jet, this time running full military power plus AFTERBURNERS, ran against a Competition coupe. Once again the car won.
You could hear the General's jaw drop.
This VCA event raised $25,000 for charity, so you might say everyone won.
There is to be a rematch on Sunday.
Special thanks to Tony Estes for perfect execution, and a great fun time for all, and Jon Brobst for bring this concept to a reality. The great driving from experienced drag racer Herb Helbig showed the USAF how to hustle down the track.
A great VCA event.

 

[Craig 201 MPH]

Please say you took pics??? what does the car sound like at WOT?? compared to the current car.

I wish I could have been there.

Craig

 

[Jason-Middle Tennessee]

CONGRATS!! So does anyone know when this will air on Ripley's? How about those pictures or have we got to wait to watch the whole amazing spectacle on TV?

 

[John ACR]

Who has and can post video?
Please.

 

[Bob K]

OK, everyone,

I was there with video camera in hand, but there were major problems with trying to document this race:
1. the starting line was close to 1/2 mile from where we were spectating
2. the car and the jet were on separate runways about 1,000 feet apart and the runways were angled away from us to the left. It was not possible to get both the plane and the car in the same frame because of the distance and angle.
3. The finish line had to be at least 3/4 of a mile away so we could not visually tell who won. We heard it from the announcer. Both cars won on Saturday.

On Sunday the races were repeated only this time a small number of us were taken out to the finish line (by special permission from the General), but we were restricted to 500 feet from the runway. Again, we were dealing with the same problems of angle and distance between the runways making it impossible to get both the plane and the car in the same frame until right at the finish. I believe Tony got the best images of the SRT/10 beating the jet at the finish. In the race with the Comp. Coupe, the plane won by a large margin. However, I was told by the spectators that it appeared as though the plane jumped the gun by about 3 seconds ( I don't know because I was zoomed in on the car and we could not hear the countdown from where we were).

Before any video is shown we are trying to get all of our images together and compiled to see what we can put together in the way of documentation of this race. You will have to stay tuned for more information.

Under ideal situations, both the car and the plane would have been on the same runway and the finish line would have been where the start line was so that they were angled toward us. It would have been awesome for the spectators! Apparently safety issues and regulations supervened.

This was a fun event and I am glad that I went. The air show was great and I met several new Viper people from places like Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Las Vegas, etc. I counted 24 Vipers in the parking area at the base. I also met Kim from VCA Headquarters. She was great and very helpful. You all need to make an effort to meet her if you get the opportunity.

Now excuse me while I go watch Top Gun again!

Bob K

 

[Joseph Houss]

Stay tuned as Ripleys will be airing it in July!

 

[Tony Estes]

Ripley's will be airing the show as far as I know on July 10. Ripley's agreed to give us a copy of the tape for distribution to club members after it airs on TV. If there is enough interest we will offer copies to VCA members at a nominal charge.

 

[Stiffler]

Count me in for a video, and congrats to the Vipers for their victories!!!

 

[ElDiablo Viper]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tony Estes:
Ripley's will be airing the show as far as I know on July 10. Ripley's agreed to give us a copy of the tape for distribution to club members after it airs on TV. If there is enough interest we will offer copies to VCA members at a nominal charge.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can we have it on DVD?

 

[JonB]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Paul Hawker:
On Saturday the VCA hosted a great event at Luke Airforce base. Under the supervision, and videocameras of "Ripley's Believe it or NOT!" a F-16 "Viper" fighterjet lined up against a new 03 Viper convertable. ......Special thanks to Tony Estes for perfect execution, and a great fun time for all, and Jon Brobst for bring this concept to a reality. A great VCA event.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Paul, thanks for the kind words, but may please I give credit where credit is due?

Pac-NW VCA did this in 1993, vs a Blue Angel jet. No crowd. When I did the Ripley's show this past summer, Ripley's saw the excitement that VIPERs generate and asked me in these exact words: "What other craziness do you Viper guys get into?" I offered to try again for a jet vs. Viper race as a possible VCA event. I posted the request HERE last summer. And talked to Tony to 'sanction' it, and sent an e-mail to the other presidents

With Tony's directions I asked Dodge Motorsports to provide NOT an out-of-production ACR, but a "VGX". This has gotta be worth million$ in free Dodge ad$, right? Their current ads use computer-generated Jets and Vipers doing the slither! Why race a discontinued model? PVO, Dodge M/S, and Tony agreed. The Coupe was a bonus!

I then wrote the draft proposal to the USAF for Ripley's, Ripleys accepted, sent it to Tony and Cameron......and the General accepted! The event would have happened anyway.

OK, so I simply had a good idea. Thanks! And I brought Ripley's and their pledged donation. Thanks!

But originally Jeff Snell, derailed by 9-11, and later Tony Estes, truly rose to the challenge. Please know that not only perfect execution, but also bringing my concept to reality should be credited to PVO, and Cameron White and Tony Estes. NOT ME !

Like I said elsewhere on this board: Good Ideas are easy.......execution is difficult. Tony Estes and Cameron and AZ VCA did that. DODGE WINS BIG, thanks to VCA.

Now, buy some doo-dads from AZ-VCA and get ready for the GRUDGE MATCH in 2003 !