There’s an aerospace-spec, small-block Chevy nestled into “Sweet Dreams,” the Reno Air Race GP-5 of retired U.S. Air Force pilot Lee Behel. What else would you use in an Unlimited Air race class where the only restriction is the engine must displace less than 1,000 ci, with no restrictions on fuel, boost, or nitrous? Hasselgren Engineering (Hasselgren.com) got the nod for the injected 434ci Chevy, which dyno’d at 650 hp at 5,800 rpm. Getting the power to the ground, er prop, is an EPI Mark-9 PSRU offset propeller gearbox manufactured for not only most Chevys but also both generations of Chrysler Hemis, Ford Windsor and Cleveland engines, and even Jag V12s.
The plane was originally designed and built by George Pereira, with mods and assist from Mountain Aire Aviation in…