From an article written by Jack Cox in Sportsman Pilot Fall 1994.
Both Jim Kimball and Jim Younkin were at the 1994 Reunion to see the products of their shops in action - and they weren't disappointed. The Monocoupe clan likes to fly and someone was in the fly-by pattern almost all the time. Actually, Jim Younkin has a rather competitive relationship with his Monocoupe progeny. He, Bud Dake and John Halterman have had a running feud going for several years, with the bone of contention being the relative speeds of his Mystery Pacer and the Lycoming 0-320 powered Monocoupes of Bud and John. Jim's Piper Pacer (actually a converted Tri Pacer) has fairings as elaborate and effective as those on Monocoupes and has undergone some rather sophisticated drag reduction tweaking, especially under the cowling. It is much faster than a stock 0-320 powered Pacer - maybe even faster than those high and mighty Monocoupes, he has had the temerity to suggest . . . which instantly set Bud and John to snorting and pawing the ground and demanding satisfaction for such a scurrilous affront.
Jim and Bud have already raced, with Bud’s ‘Coupe proving to be the faster of the two, so John has been smarting for his opportunity to further uphold the honor of the Monocoupe name. Jim had his Mystery Pacer, so named because its red and black paint scheme is patterned after his beautiful full scale replica of the Travel Air Mystery Ship, at Creve Couer so there was no avoiding Big John.
With Bill Symmes aboard Jim’s Pacer and Jack Cox in the right seat of John’s Coupe as “neutral observers” the race was on. Running together, Jim and John rammed their throttles in to their elbow and they waited to see who would pull ahead. Both airplanes had fixed props, so it took a few moments for them to wind up, but, eventually, John’s Coupe stabilized at 2,600 rpm and 158 mph. Jack Cox had Jim’s Pacer bracketed in the side window so he could instantly detect any change in their relative position ... but it never came. Interestingly enough, the two airplanes seemed to be almost perfectly matched for as long as they pursued the contest.
Jim, John and Bud are the best of friends, so the fun really began after they landed. There were plenty of excuses ... stuff like Jim's, "Boy, I'm really encouraged. If I had known we were this close, I would have brought my racing prop and gap seals!" ... and John's, "Hey, that was pretty good for an 0-290 - I just tell people I have an O-320!”
Witticisms aside, nearly 160 mph at within- the-stock-envelope rpm is pretty amazing in full size, strut-braced, fixed gear, fixed prop certified light planes. It is perhaps more of a technical achievement for Jim to have achieved such a speed with the Pacer's 4-place airframe and its fat airfoil, but it is also a tribute to the Monocoupe designers who did such an elegant job of cleaning up the 90A airframe in the 1930s.
Later on, John Halterman would run and ad in Trade-A-Plane. Al Stix remembers it: I’ll never forget John’s Trade A Plane advertisement. “We sell Monocoupe speed secrets to Piper Pacer freaks”
