Number 8, Dreadnought - Longtime owners of a stable of British Hawker Sea Furies, Frank Sanders, his wife Ruth, and their sons, Dennis and Brian, decide to create a serious racing version of the breed, using as the basis a two-seat Mk. 20 trainer. Dubbed Dreadnought, the plan is to compete at Reno for the Gold Championship. The seeds for this endeavor were sown after witnessing the potential of the mighty Pratt and Whitney R-4360 power plant in the Chino Air Museum’s Super Corsair racer. Modifications to the massive Sea Fury, to enable it to complete in the Unlimited Class, include a much larger cowling with a carburetor induction scoop on top, housing the humongous R-4360 engine, an increase in the height of the vertical stabilizer to help in directional stability, a slight trim modification to the dual canopies, and a general smoothing out of the aircraft fuselage, wing and tail surfaces to reduce drag. And lastly, the standard five-bladed prop was replaced with a larger four-bladed modified unit from a Douglas Skyraider.

History:
1983: Dreadnought wins the Gold at Reno on its initial outing, with General Dynamics test pilot Neil Anderson at the helm.
1984: Mechanical problems keep Dreadnought out of the Gold.
1985: In Sunday’s Gold Race, Neil Anderson cuts the final pylon on the last lap, giving the race to Steve Hinton in the Super Corsair.
1986 through 1990: Rick Brickert is the new pilot of Dreadnought, capturing the Unlimited Championship in 1986, placing second the next three years, and fourth in the last year.
1991 to the present: Dreadnought continues on its long racing career with Dennis Sanders, Brian Sanders and Matt Jackson alternating at the controls. Since that time, it has finished second in eight of the Gold Championships; fifth place twice, fourteenth place once (dropping out of the race), disqualified once (cutting the deadline) and not competing only two times. An impressive and consistent record indeed!