Page 20 - February 2015 Volume 19 Number 2

A NASCAR LegendTurbochargesHis PanelBy Kevin KnightNASCAR champ and Conquest II pilot Bill Elliott seems like a character from The Andy Griffith Show who would have been nicknamed “Rocket.” He lives at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains in Dawsonville, Georgia, an hour north of Atlanta. He speaks with a pleasant drawl and has countless stories, from working at his father’s building supply store as a 10 year old, to building car motors in his back yard, to wondering if he’d survive an F-16 crash. (More about that later.)Strip away the “aw, shucks” exterior, however, and it’s clear that “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” is detail oriented, focused on success, and embraces technology that won’t let him down when push comes to shove. That’s what made it possible for this fit and funny 59-year old to win the Daytona 500 twice, capture the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship, and set speed records at Talladega and Daytona. Elliott recently entered NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, just as his 19-year old son Chase is now shifting the gears, becoming the first rookie to win a NASCAR national series championship when he took the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series.“I got started flying in ‘76 when I was 21, but before that I had never been in a small plane,” he said, speaking from his building complex full of race cars and parts. “I went to the local airport, met an instructor, flew aroundthe pattern once and thought, ‘Yep, I’d like to do this.’ I didn’t realize you could fly in the pattern and have time to talk on the radio.”He laughed about his solo flight, since there’s little he doesn’t know about engines. “We were doing touch- and-goes when my instructor got out and said, ‘It’s time for you to solo.’ I took off with the carb heat on and the engine sputtering. I was thinking, ‘Oh, Lord!’”Within 50 hours he had his license and joined a flying club. He’d rent a 172 for $15 an hour to pick up parts in Charlotte or Asheville. “I’d go to 12,000 feet ‘cause I thought that’s what it took with the mountains around here. Looking back, you thought you knew everything but you knew absolutely nothing.“One time my brother and I went up on one of those terrible, hazy summer days. I raced at Bristol Speedway in Tennessee that weekend, then took off on Sunday and got into the clouds. I wasn’t IFR rated but had the good sense to turn around, land, rent a car and drive home. I decided I’d better get my instrument rating.”Fast forward ten years. After logging nearly 2,000 flight hours, owning several single engine planes, and earning lots of victory laps, Elliott bought a Piper Cheyenne II in 1986, then a Cessna Conquest II in 1992, since he was flying 150 to 200 hours annually for his racing team.“At FlightSafety you learn how much stuff can tear up on these planes. They fail this, they fail that in the sim. At the end of that school I couldn’t remember my own name. It was a lot of learning in a little time. “In January 2008, he bought his current Conquest II in Ohio, after owning several Cessna jets. “I asked myself, ‘Why did I ever leave this thing?’ I can’t recall many trips where I’ve had to stop for gas. And the Conquest can go into any short field. It’s a great plane with all the benefits of my Cessna jets but none of the problems.“In May 2008, West Star gutted the plane and put three Avidyne Entegra screens in the panel. A Garmin 540 and 430 provided the GPS. However, Elliott is always looking for better technology that’s easier to use. When Avidyne introduced a distinctive, yet familiar, new system last July, he made a move up.18 • TWIN & TURBINEFEBRUARY 2015