Pushy Galore is a Miller JM-2 Special designed by air race legend Jim Miller of San Antonio, Texas. With its unusual configuration, its notoriety and success as a Formula One air racer, its undefeated record in the AeroShell 3-D speed dashes, and its three world time-to-climb records, Pushy Galore is a one-of-a-kind aircraft.
The JM-2 was constructed of a welded steel tube load-bearing structure encased in an outer shell of molded carbon fiber. Its Continental O-200 engine was buried in the aft end of the fuselage, and, up front, the nose gear was both steerable and retractable, a remarkable engineering feat given the lack of space in the pointed nose in which it was mounted.
Pushy Galore was constructed in 1988, test flown in early 1989, and racing by June of that year. In Reno in 1994, Pushy Galore, piloted by Bruce Bohannan, was the third fastest Formula One qualifier at 236.153 mph. The following year at Reno proved to be a high point in Bruce and Pushy Galore’s racing careers, when they finished second in the Formula One Gold championship race.
At the EAA Oshkosh fly-in in 1994, Bruce set a new Class C-1A world time-to-climb record, reaching 6,000 meters in 12 minutes and 50 seconds. At Galveston, Texas, in January 1996, Bruce set a new 9,000-meter time-to-climb record of 41 minutes and 35 seconds while on his way up to new absolute altitude and altitude in horizontal flight world records. That summer at Oshkosh, Bruce collected the third time-to-climb FAI record, reaching 3,000 meters in just 3 minutes and 8 seconds.
After a long, successful career, Pushy Galore went into retirement after setting its last record. In 1998, Bruce Bohannon donated the JM-2 Special to the EAA Aviation Museum.