The airplane was familiar to the racing stalwarts: originally owned and raced by Ralph Rina, the T-6 won two national championships (1978 & 1984) as # 73 Miss Everything. Jimmy Gist bought it and did a major overhaul, bringing it back to race as #59 "Blue Bayou". Steve Dilda, former crew chief for Jimmy Gist's racer had bought the sky blue T-6, painted a new name and number on the side and brought it back to race at Reno in the 1996 NCAR. But the new #22 "Two of Hearts" sported something else not seen in the warbird races for some time. Mary Dilda, Steve's wife and 10-yr USAF veteran flier was in the driver's seat!

Not to disparage the looks of the average warbird racer, but with their cool team-logo polo shirts, and Mary & Steve's perpetual big smiles, these guys looked mahvelous, dahling! The airplane looked gorgeous also with a stunning chrome spinner to go along with the new paint job.

Now an instructor pilot for Federal Express, this was Mary's first foray into organized air racing, but she took right to it. Having flown modern warbirds from the huge C-141 Starlifter to the T-38 Talon fighter-trainer, Mary was no stranger to the pilot's seat. She aced her check-ride and qualified the old T-6 racer at 211.6 mph, 11th in a field of 17 competitors.

Any lingering doubts about her piloting or racing skills were dispelled early on when she battled Jim Bennett in #37 Tinkertoy in one of the most thrilling T-6 heat races in recent years. Mary and Jim were locked up in an incredibly close race for third place for the entire 5 laps of the Thursday T-6 heat 1-B. Mary led Bennett for most of the race, but it was neck and neck at the tight pylon turns with Jim going high and wide trying to pass. At the end, veteran racer Bennett slipped the former champion race plane into the lead, finishing just 0.21 second ahead of the rookie, but all onlookers were suitably impressed! Word on the ramp was there was another racer with "the right stuff" to compete at the big show!

Thanks to an early start, Mary's T-6 heat was one of the few to be run on Friday before the bad weather called a halt to the day's racing activities. This meant that she was one of the few racers to compete on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

A 5th place finish in the Silver race wound up a fabulous week for this new racing team. The Dildas went home to Tennessee happy and looking forward to more spirited competition in the '97 races! The fans went home knowing the T-6 class was live and well with the help of the Two of Hearts!

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