Mike Dewey raced in the first two Reno Air Races in 1964 and 1965 in a Midget Racer named “Little Mike.”
He flew in the Goodyear — now Formula One — class.
“Little Mike” used “a custom built race prop that was about 62 inches long (tip-to-tip) and only 2 inches wide (leading to trailing edge),” Mike told me during a recent phone call.
When he sold “Little Mike'” in 1967, the race propeller departed with the plane.
The plane then went through a few owners over the next few decades until Mike bought it back in 1996. At that point he put “Little Mike” into storage in Santa Paula, California.
Fast forward to 2022, when Mike and many others at the Santa Paula Airport began restoring “Little Mike.” They finished the restoration in April 2024 to museum quality and hung it in Mike’s hangar at the airport.
But “Little Mike” as it hangs today has a cruise prop on it. Mike would like to find a copy of the propeller the racers back in the early days of Reno used.
At that point, our conversation wandered a bit. Mike told me he was also a Hollywood stunt pilot with more than 100 shows to his credit.
Superstunt
The stunt that most piqued my interest was performed on the NBC Show “Superstunt” in 1977.
Mike piloted a Stearman from the California City Airport to 10,000 feet so skydiver Dar Robinson could jump from another plane. The goal was to free fall to the Stearman and then ride along for its landing.
Sound familiar?
I had visions of Red Bull’s Plane Swap in my head.
Unlike the Plane Swap attempt, Mike and Dar’s Superstunt did have FAA approval. Oh, and MIke planned to stay in the Stearman.
Luckily, the complete two-hour episode, starring Lee Marvin, is on YouTube thanks to the MrBetamax channel.
The following two clips are forwarded to the segments the stunt was shown in the show.
And the second segment:
Amazing.
Oh yeah, if you have the propeller Mike is looking for, or know someone who does, you can reach him at 805-320-2298 or via email at [email protected].
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