We Race a Corvette ZR1 Against a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet Because...We'd Already Made all the Ferraris Turn Red
Posted on 07/01/2009 7:13:37 AM PDT by Abathar
For once, even 638 horsepower might not be enough. As I slot the ZR1's six-speed shifter into first and tilt my gaze toward the flag girl, for reassurance I give the throttle a quick stab with my heel. The supercharged V-8 responds with a shock wave that momentarily warps my vision and clouts my stomach like a 7.2 on the Richter scale. Maybe I have a chance.
The finish line lies one mile in the distance, somewhere beyond the heat waves; after reaching it, I'll be at very high speed and won't have a lot of tarmac left to stop. Concentrate, Arthur.
Above the background throb of the engine I can hear myself breathing into my helmet, the sound muffled by my Nomex balaclava. A bead of sweat slaloms down my neck. What's taking so long? I turn my head further to my right.
Maybe I shouldn't have looked. I can see four wheels and a driver, true, but there all familiarity ends. Because aligned with my Corvette on a parallel runway stands Blue Angel 7, an immaculate, blue-and-gold U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter jet; a $25 million ice pick with razor-blade airfoils and 32,000 pounds of afterburner-fed thrust just waiting to flash-fry me and my ZR1 like a hapless bluefish.
A flurry of motion outside my windshield; the nearby navy personnel are signaling that all is ready. My muscles tense as my heart rate goes triple-digit and once again I turn my attentions to the flag girl between us. She nods at our respective thumbs-up, then raises the flag above her head. My right foot inches down on the gas; the revs climb to 3000 rpm. This race has been months in the making, countless emails and phone calls and planning sessions and signed official forms, but right now all I'm thinking is, "Arthur, don't you dare stall this f-"
The start flag drops.
We Race a Corvette ZR1 Against a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet Because...We'd Already Made all the Ferraris Turn Red
This same demonstration was done many years ago in “Popular Mechanics.” They had a top-of-the-line Corvette with twin, intercooled turbo drag race an Northrop F-5 (it might have been a T-38). Chuck Yeager was at the wheel of the ‘Vette and he won. The rest of the article was a test pilot’s critique of the Vette. Fun stuff. I’m guessing it was around ‘82?
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
Way Cool !!!
How long will Bambi allow cars like this to be built?
This is a dang sight better use of my tax money than a large portion of the crap congress and the current executive branch are managing. The Blue Angels are supposed to put on a show; it’s their job. This is just one more show.
You missed the Chevy, Professor Pedantic.
How long will Bambi allow jets like that to be built, if their purpose is the protection of the United States?
Not very.
Their little climate bill, now likely to be rammed through due to Al Franken and the fraudomatic recount, makes gas cost an instant 4$ a gallon minimum.
Preliminary number.
Al Gore will have his 5$ a gallon gas hile Pelosi and crew continues to scream about ‘the poor’ without blinking an eye about high gas prices hurting the very poor she’s screaming about.
(Of course, she can’t blink. Too many face stretches.)
Not at all. The Blue Angels is a recruiting tool, at its foundation. If it helps one more kid decide that it would be cool to join the Navy because, well, as if flying an F-18 isn’t cool enough already, they get to do things like this drag race, then it has served its purpose.
I suppose you disapprove of airshows, stadium flyovers, and all the other stunts the military conducts as ways of attracting potential recruits as well?
I liked the comment in the article about how the Air Force gets all the cool call-signs, like “Maverick”, and yet “Top Gun” was a movie about naval aviators.
Exactly.
The Blue Angels will do a fly by over the USS Constitution at 1:15 today.
As an anecdote on a smaller scale, I was in a military band back in the 90s. While the band did perform many military ceremonies, we also did public parades, rock concerts, festivals, state fairs, and other non-military events. Granted that such performances hardly cost what this one did, but they are of the same ilk. As long as the request was made in the proper way, and didn’t disparage the service, we would perform just about anywhere. This is the same thing.
I thought Obama was going to kill all the GM cars people might actually want to buy.
More than likely, the Cobalt SS Turbo and the Corvette ZR-1 are the last interesting cars GM will build.
Too bad the GM Performance Division can’t be spun off into a private stand-alone company.
What they did with the Cobalt and the Corvette is astounding.
It’s funny to read the reviews comparing the Corvette ZR-1 to European super cars. Same or better performance from the ZR-1 at a third the cost.
Only limited numbers:limited to the number of Congresscritters wanting one and donors who think the right way.
They got free publicity out of it and another avenue for recruiting. Come on, Motor Trend caters to young (and old) men with a need for speed in high performance vehicles. Sounds like ripe grounds for perspective recruits.
Still cool but, Professor Pedantic? That is funny and I am stealing it. Thanks.
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