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Summary

This collection consists of fourteen VHS tapes documenting a portion of the racing career of Nemesis, a small mid-wing, single-seat tractor monoplane with fixed landing gear designed and built in 1991 by Jon Sharp, Cory Bird, Dan Bond, and Steve Ericson.

This collection is in English.

Biographical / Historical

Nemesis is a small mid-wing, single-seat tractor monoplane with fixed landing gear designed and built in 1991 by Jon Sharp, Cory Bird, Dan Bond, and Steve Ericson. The aircraft is built of pressure molded graphite epoxy foam core and is powered by a single Continental O-200, 100 horsepower air-cooled engine. The most successful aircraft in air racing history, Nemesis dominated its competition, winning 47 of its 50 contests from 1991 until its retirement in 1999. Flown by pilot and designer Jon Sharp, it won nine consecutive Reno Gold National Championships and 16 world speed records for its class. Nemesis was the International Formula One points champion every year from 1994 to 1998. In 1991 it won the George Owl Trophy for design excellence. Nemesis is also a three time winner or the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's Louis Blèriot Medal for the greatest achievement in speed, and a four time winner of the Pulitzer Trophy for air racing speed records.

Identifier

NASM.2020.0007

Date

1991-1996

Provenance

Jon and Patricia Sharp, Gift, 2019, NASM.2020.0007

Extent

0.39 Cubic feet (14 VHS tapes)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of fourteen VHS tapes documenting a portion of the racing career of Nemesis. Most of the tapes concern the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno, Nevada, but there is also footage pertaining to the Phoenix 500 Air Races in Mesa, Arizona, as well as some additional interviews and press coverage.

Arrangement note

Collection is in chronological order.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Nemesis Air Racing Video Tapes, NASM.2020.0007, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Aeronautics

Airplane racing

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Vhs (videotape format)