1975 Pay 'n Pak
Owner: Craig Mullen (Monroe, Washington)
Driver(s): Craig Mullen
Model Builder: Mike & Jeff Campbell, Mike McIntosh, Mike Gossler, Craig Mullen
Construction: Carbon fiber
Year Built: 2017-18
Motor: HobbyKing
Radio: Spektrum
Electronic Speed Controller: Castle
Propeller: ThRcBoatbitz
Paint Colors: White with orange & black vinyl (PPG/OMNI)
Graphics: Mike Gossler
Notes about the Model: A lot of work.
Notes about the Real Boat: For the 1973 season, a new Ron Jones designed and built Hull was constructed, with Crew Chief Jim Lucero's oversight. Originally designed as a cabover, Heerensperger insisted the boat be built as with a conventional layout due to the teams experience with the '70 cabover. The boat's revolutionary horizontal stabilizer lead to the nickname "Winged Wonder". The boat was also constructed from honeycomb aluminum, marking the first use of this aircraft material in an Unlimited hull. Soon this construction technique would replace the traditional wood construction methods. This boat was simply named Pay 'N Pak, becoming the first boat with this name.
This boat was an immediate success, scoring victories in 1973 at Miami, Madison, Seattle, and Toledo for driver Mickey Remund. She would have won the Gold Cup that year but for a lost prop while leading the last lap of the final. The Winged Wonder did win the first of three consecutive National Championship for Heerensperger, setting a number of competition records along the way. 1974 was similarly successful with George Henley driving to victories at Owensboro, the Tri-Cities, Seattle's Gold Cup, Dayton, San Diego, and Madison on the way to the second National Championship. For 1975, some major changes were made to the hull and the handling was off, particularly in the corners. Henley retired at the end of the '74 season, so Jim McCormick was hired to drive for the 1975. McCormick was unable to be competitive with the poor cornering of the boat, causing him to be replaced after the second race by Henley who was brought out of retirement by Heerensperger. After Henley also was unable to control the boat, the boat was reconfigured to the '74 settings and after mediocre results in the first four races of the season, the boat was back to her old self winning the next 5 of 6 events, including another Gold Cup and the National Points Championship. Having risen to the top of Unlimited's Racing ladder with few mountains to climb, and tiring from criticism he was becoming too successful, Heerensperger chose to sell his entire team to Bill Muncey. Heerensperger did sponsor the Winged Wonder at the Northwest events in 1977.
Notes about 2021: Finally got the boat dialed in.
Driver(s): Craig Mullen
Model Builder: Mike & Jeff Campbell, Mike McIntosh, Mike Gossler, Craig Mullen
Construction: Carbon fiber
Year Built: 2017-18
Motor: HobbyKing
Radio: Spektrum
Electronic Speed Controller: Castle
Propeller: ThRcBoatbitz
Paint Colors: White with orange & black vinyl (PPG/OMNI)
Graphics: Mike Gossler
Notes about the Model: A lot of work.
Notes about the Real Boat: For the 1973 season, a new Ron Jones designed and built Hull was constructed, with Crew Chief Jim Lucero's oversight. Originally designed as a cabover, Heerensperger insisted the boat be built as with a conventional layout due to the teams experience with the '70 cabover. The boat's revolutionary horizontal stabilizer lead to the nickname "Winged Wonder". The boat was also constructed from honeycomb aluminum, marking the first use of this aircraft material in an Unlimited hull. Soon this construction technique would replace the traditional wood construction methods. This boat was simply named Pay 'N Pak, becoming the first boat with this name.
This boat was an immediate success, scoring victories in 1973 at Miami, Madison, Seattle, and Toledo for driver Mickey Remund. She would have won the Gold Cup that year but for a lost prop while leading the last lap of the final. The Winged Wonder did win the first of three consecutive National Championship for Heerensperger, setting a number of competition records along the way. 1974 was similarly successful with George Henley driving to victories at Owensboro, the Tri-Cities, Seattle's Gold Cup, Dayton, San Diego, and Madison on the way to the second National Championship. For 1975, some major changes were made to the hull and the handling was off, particularly in the corners. Henley retired at the end of the '74 season, so Jim McCormick was hired to drive for the 1975. McCormick was unable to be competitive with the poor cornering of the boat, causing him to be replaced after the second race by Henley who was brought out of retirement by Heerensperger. After Henley also was unable to control the boat, the boat was reconfigured to the '74 settings and after mediocre results in the first four races of the season, the boat was back to her old self winning the next 5 of 6 events, including another Gold Cup and the National Points Championship. Having risen to the top of Unlimited's Racing ladder with few mountains to climb, and tiring from criticism he was becoming too successful, Heerensperger chose to sell his entire team to Bill Muncey. Heerensperger did sponsor the Winged Wonder at the Northwest events in 1977.
Notes about 2021: Finally got the boat dialed in.