On Friday morning, September 13, some 85 of the AVSIM Conference & Exhibition attendees traveled on the AVSIM charter buses from the Horizon Hotel and Casino in South Lake Tahoe, over to Stead Airport to attend the Reno National Air Races.

No one could have ordered up better weather, as it was ideal, with calm winds and very dry temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s. There were more than one person that showed the signs of having not brought a hat or rubbed on any sunscreen, including myself and Maury Pratt! Friday's air race and airshow schedule was full, including heat races in all of the various race classes plus all of the other activities associated with the airshow part of the Reno National Air Races.

Besides the aerobatic demonstrations of Greg Poe and Julie Clark (of whom showed just how low you can fly a T-34A down the runway), there was also a full demonstration of the flight capability of the USAF F-16 Falcon (or Viper, as the USAF personal call it). At the end of the F-16 demonstration, the USAF F-16 team (with the US Navy FA-18 and F-14) included the "Wall of Fire" pyrotechnics spectacular.

The Bronze Cup Unlimiteds lined up before their start on Friday

Voodoo (P-51), a very beautiful and highly competitive Gold Cup contender (finished 3rd in the Cup this year)

As part of their routine, an F-16 in formation with two fully restored North American P-51 Mustangs and a single P-38 Lightening provided an excellent photo opportunity and an interesting 'then and now' perspective.

Jim Wright of Cottage Grove, Oregon provided a couple of flybys with his beautiful Hughes H1B racer, an aircraft that has required thousands of man-hours to build and is considered serial #2 of this famous record setter, rather than a replica. Being as this Friday was the 67th anniversary of the speed record set by Howard Hughes in the first version of this aircraft (September 13th, 1935), Jim Wright attempted and did break Mr. Hughes' speed record for this type of aircraft (the speed record attempt was not performed by Jim until after sunset, to take advantage of the cool evening desert temperatures, typical here in Reno).

Starfighter F-104 photo courtesy of Conference attendee Tim Suckow

One of the really exciting airshow events was the Starfighter (F-104) demonstration team, as these are very historic aircraft and the Starfighter team fly two of the very few remaining flyable examples of this unique aircraft.

Tommy Rose Air racers come from all walks of life, there are farmers, doctors, lawyers, test pilots, business owners, astronauts, airline crew members, auto mechanics, Hollywood film makers, retired military, firefighters, police officers, real estate sales people, and even accountants, but despite their diverse backgrounds, they all share a common love of aviation and air racing. Air racing, Reno style, is very fast and very exciting, but it is also extraordinarily dangerous and quite unforgiving as well. Each of the participants understand the dangers involved and each racer knows that the next lap could very well be their last. On Friday, September 13th, Tommy Rose, a small business owner from Hickory, Mississippi lost his life while competing in the Sports Plane heat race with his Questair Venture 20, 'Ramblin Rose'. Tommy had been competing in the Sports Plane class for the last 4 years and was considered an excellent pilot that was well known and respected by other racers and fans alike. On lap 4 of his heat race, Tommy's plane had an apparent structural failure in the tail area (the exact cause may never be known) and his plane (from an altitude of 60 feet) nosed in to the Nevada desert at over 320 mph. All of us at AVSIM offer our deepest condolences to Tommy's family and friends and his little 'Ramblin Rose' will always be remembered and missed. — The AVSIM Staff

Each of the airshow events or flights are intended to fill the time between the air race class races and even with the many various airshow flights or demonstrations, it is the air racing that draws the thousands of spectators each year (this year's attendance records showed a total of 225,000 spectators over the three day weekend, with Sunday's attendance just over 100,000). Friday's racing schedule is the semifinals or heat races for each of the racing classes (Formula One, Sports Biplane, Sports Plane, AT-6, and the Unlimiteds. For the first time at Reno, the L39 Jets ran a series of demonstration races).

The majority of those attending (the AVSIM group) were first timers at seeing this very unusual form of motor sports racing, as it is very exciting and very fast, but it is also very dangerous. It was during one of the heat races for the Sports Planes that one of the competitors suffered a catastrophic structural failure and crashed directly in front of the main grandstands (see sidebar to the right) and the crash, tragically, was fatal to the pilot. Due to the necessary delays from this crash, the remaining two events (U-2 flyover and Unlimited Gold heat race) were canceled and so the AVSIM buses departed on schedule.

Despite the obvious sobering effects of the crash, the Reno Air Racing AVSIM attendees enjoyed the full day of airshow demonstrations and air racing and I am sure most will remember the exciting world of Air Racing for many years to come!

A pair of AT-6s round a pylon in close racing formation

On Sunday, I took Bob Klemm (CEO of Meridian Virtual Airlines) and Richard Goldstein (designer of Flying M ranch, Ranger Creek, and Emma Field, among others) out for the full day of final events and though the weather had turned slightly (lower temperatures and high winds), it was a truly exciting day.

The final event of the day (Gold Cup for the Unlimiteds) was what everyone was waiting for and because of the return of Strega (a highly modified P-51 Mustang) to the starting lineup, after replacing a blown engine (blown during qualifying), it was felt that Skip Holm (Dago Red) would have his hands full. This was despite the fact that Dago Red had set a new Reno single lap record of 498.6 mph during qualifying. On the start, Tiger Destefani (Strega) showed his power when he went from 8th place to 4th in the first 1/2 lap, but it was not to be, as he apparently blew an oil line and had to declare an emergency and drop out of the race. This left the door wide open for Skip Holm in Dago Red and he simply walked away from everyone else and lead the race to the end, winning his 4th consecutive Reno Gold Cup! Rookie Michael Brown, in September Fury (Hawker Sea Fury), was second and Matt Jackson clinched third in Voodoo (modified Mustang P-51).

The Strega (P-51) works into the late hours replacing their engine, but it was to no avail, as an oil line breaks during the Gold Cup race. Maybe next year!

Dago Red (P-51) rounds a pylon while winning its 4th consecutive Gold Cup in the Reno National Air Races

Popular Aircraft that failed to start:

Miss America (P-51) received serious damage to its landing gear and wing during an emergency landing (blown engine) while attempting to qualify.

Rare Bear (F8F Bearcat) was unable to qualify when time ran out because of a needed last minute engine change.

Critical Mass (Hawker Seafury) had its landing gear collapse while testing a new engine, when taxiing on the Stead Airport ramp.