Twas two nights before Reno.... by Karen Mross

Twas two nights before Reno
The car is not packed.
The plane is ready.
So at least there's that.

Not that we do much
We race as is
Thankfully our pilot's
One of the best in the biz.

This annual trek
To our high desert home
A whole 'nuther family
And memories roam.

The sound of the engines.
The crisp morning air.
When even a run up
Can make your day fair.

Old friends and new ones
Await a great week.
To Race at Reno
It's not for the meek.

A Carmelite Covent
Keeps us all in their prayers.
I am so thankful just
To be headed up there.

Here's to a week of glorious racing
And fun for the pilots and crews.
The 51st Air Race is about to begin.
The best of the best at what they do!

Gracefully submitted by Karen Morss
Wife of Dave Morss
Both are mentors to so many of us! 

Reno Air Races – 2014 - Here we go!

The 51^st National Championship Air Races are just around the corner. While the teams are putting the final touches on the racers, packing the tools and trailers and trying to remember what they forgot, let’s take a look at what to expect.

Unlimited

At this point, we have 14 aircraft on the roster. Again, the numbers are down, but the FAST ones are all scheduled to be there.

Last year’s winner, Voodoo, will be back to challenge all comers. The team has been working diligently all year to make some secret speed mods. They expect to be faster than ever and have 3 engines to utilize. One for Qualifying, one for Racing and one to make sure they get home.

Nelson Ezell and his crew believe they have found the missing horsepower in the Rare Bear’s 3350. Stewart Dawson will be in the pilot seat once again and ready for the challenge. Will all of their hard work pay off? I certainly hope so!

After a catastrophic inlet failure last year, Rare Bear’s little sister, 232 is also ready for the Gold. Sanders Aeronautics and AeroChia have done their magic on the inlet.  Hoot Gibson is back in the pilot seat and Sea Fury fans are looking for everyone’s favorite astronaut to finish in the top three.

Sea Fury 232 could be a spoiler this year

Strega has been a giant question mark again this off-season. First Tiger was retiring her, and then coming back. Then, he attended PRS, but didn’t fly. Then rumors of her being sold, and then unsold. No rumored sightings of Strega test flights and no good gossip. What will we see on the ramp? I hope we see Tiger and Strega in all their glory!

Will Strega be there? 

After coming back from a wild few years of changes by the Shafter Skunk Works, Czech Mate was in impressive form last year, only to suffer a landing incident after the races.  Another year of hard work and they are back again. We look forward to the mighty Yak and her grand pilot, Sherman Smoot, to make some waves out there.

Will the Giant Killer bring home the win this year

Dreadnaught had a difficult off-season but will be ready to go – as they always are. Brian Sanders is the primary pilot this year and we look forward to him doing what he does best.

The Precious Metal team has been working all year on the Griffon Powered Mustang. Haven’t heard any good gossip about speeds or mods, but we know they are looking to win. Good luck to Thom and the team.

The final likely Gold Competitor, Sawbones, had a gear collapse a few months ago and the team has been burning the midnight oil getting ready for the races. She will be there again this year, with a hard working crew and Curt Brown in the pilot seat.

Miss America has decided to stand down this year. I know I will miss having her on the ramp and will miss the team from Oklahoma led by pilot-owner, Doc Hisey. All the best to you guys, I hope we see you again on the ramp.

You Tigercat fans will be happy to know that La Patrona, Rod Lewis’ beautiful Tigercat will be there. And Corsair fans should be happy to know that Jim Tobul is bringing his gorgeous Corsair to race for the first time.

Doug Matthew will have his stunning Mustang, The Rebel and the Seghetti’s Sparky will also be there. Sanders will be bringing their other 2 Sea Furys -- Bristol-powered, 924 and 2800-powered, Argonaut. 

Sparky! The Jelly Belly Mustang! 

This group should lead to some amazing racing. I cannot wait to see who walks away with the big trophy on Sunday! Is in the year of the round engine? Or will Merlin Power take another one? How about that Griffon?

Sports

The Sport Class has the largest number of entries ever this year! Again, they will be running four races, instead of just the usual three. Will Jeff Lavelle be our winner again this year? Or maybe John Parker in the Thunder Mustang will be the one. Will Kevin Eldredge with his Titan Engines Sponsorship make some waves? Or, will it be Lynn Farnsworth in his Super Legacy or someone else?

The Sport Class will be exciting, with so many fast aircrafts and interesting aircraft.

Biplanes

Aberle’s Phantom is the favorite again this year.  Jeff Rose is bringing his new Mong – Reno Rabbit and Jake Stewart will have Bad MoJo there. Both these aircraft could be spoilers.

I will be back in Ruby this year. So, stop by the Biplane Hangar and say HELLO!

Dasher and Ruby are BACK in 2014

IF1

Last year, Vito Wypraechtiger was able to capitalize on a small mistake by favorite, Steve Senegal to capture the win. This year, we expect Steve to be the favorite again in Endeavor.

With only 13 entries this year, I know IF1 will be working on adding new members to their class. So, if you’re interested in racing next year in any class, especially Biplanes and IF1, let me know!

The teams in IF1 have a great time balancing hard work and fun!

T6

Last minutes withdraw from John Zayac leaves the race to returning veterans Dennis Buehn and Nick Macy. But keep an eye on Mike Kennedy, from Airplane Repo fame to have the crowds around this year.

Jets

Seventeen jets are scheduled to race this year – including a Marchetti S211, a Dehavilland Vampire and the Iskra. All the others are the usual L29s and L39s.

This is now the second largest Class at Reno. Interestingly enough, the two largest classes are also the newest. Coincidence? 

Wrap up…

I know that the Reno Air Race Association (RARA) has an exciting show planned with Concerts, Drone Races and a great list of Performers.

Live Airshow TV will be airing the races on their website this year also, so you should be able to watch from your cubicle if you weren’t able to get the entire week off to join us. 

Again, I wanted to give a special thanks to all my fellow Air Racers, Pilots, Owners, and Crew Members for putting in the time and making this event so special every year. And to the people of RARA, thank you for continuing to innovate to build momentum; to the volunteers for giving your time and making it happen; and to the fans who come out each year in heat, cold, rain, and snow, to watch us do what we love.

See you there!
Marilyn Dash
Ruby Red Racing

All Photos used this month are from Rob Miller and Anthony Taylor – Thank you, Phred and Hopper!

Voodoo Pre-Reno Update

2014 Unlimited Racing Roster

This is what we have as of August 1st - there are always changes. 

More soon! 

Airventure Cup 2014

As we are going to press, we are still enjoying our time at Airventure 2014, or, as it is commonly known in the Aviation World as Oshkosh.

The AirVenture Cup just wrapped up for the year. This year going from Mitchell, SD to Mankato, MN and then on to the finish line at Wausau, WI. At that point, everyone would fly to Oshkosh to put their aircraft on display and spend the next week telling stories about their adventure on the 400 nm race course.

This year’s AirVenture Cup is the 17^th running and celebrates the world's fastest cross country air races. Harking back to the spirit of the Bendix Trophy, the AVC is flown to “unite aviation's rich history with its promising future.” 

This year’s AVC had several familiar faces in the ranks. Creighton King of Formula 1 and Cassutt fame was there, and unfortunately had a canopy issue and did not make it to Oshkosh as he had hoped. He is busy repairing some damage so he can make Reno. Fingers crossed, Creighton!

The Sport Class was well represented, with Lee Behel and his son Jay competing against each other and Vicky Benzing in her new Lancair as well as John Parker, Tony Crawford, Charlie Greer and Klaus Savier putting in their appearances.

John Parker and Blue Thunder II

It is nice to see the racing spirit moves from one venue and type of racing to another. All in the name of SPEED!

By now many of you have heard of the demise of Miss Picabo, the stunning Thunder Mustang built by Fred Roscher and flown last year by Brant Seghetti in the Sport Class. Fred went to PRS in June hoping to race his own this year. Unfortunately, Miss Picabo is a total loss after an off airport landing. Fred and his passenger, Jim Adams are okay. And that’s what really matters.

Fred Roscher in Miss Picabo

More on the Sport Class…

The news from the Sport Class is all good, with 40 entries flying in 4 heats, the Sport Class is getting ever more popular.  Within the Class they are now awarding beautiful “type” trophies for the fastest airplane of a particular type any time they have two or more of any type.

Sophomore Andrew Findlay has new turbos for his airplane is promising a lot more speed. Jeff Lavelle will be back and as fast as ever.  John Parker plans on pushing him—and based on his qualifying speed last year, he just may be able to do it.  Kevin Eldredge will bring Relentless with the full support of Titan Engines behind him, so he should be something to watch.  

Lee Behel will have the GP-5 fresh from his World Record setting flights in Mojave earlier this year. While Lynn Farnsworth has Aerochia’s undivided attention this year, so expect him to be fast as well.

The tally shows 2 Thunder Mustangs are entered, 4 Super Legacies, 2 Super Glasairs an NXT, and a GP-5! They won’t all make it into the Gold Championship—one or more will be Silver.  Imagine that much speed! 

Lee Behel racing in the Jet Class in American Spirit

Bottom line is – Lee and his team have done an amazing job of publicizing and leading the Sport Class. I remember their first years on the ramp with just a few aircraft. Things have changed.

More News

Next month we’ll cover more about what to expect in each of the classes. But for now, we know RARA is expecting 18 Unlimiteds and relatively full fields in all the other classes.

If you haven’t already done so, buy your tickets and we’ll see you on the ramp!  

Special thanks to Anthony Taylor for his photos again this month!

Until next time.. Fly low, fast and turn left!

Marilyn Dash

Ruby Red Racing

Pylon Racing Seminar – 2014

A record number of attendees joined forces at Stead Field outside of Reno, NV to qualify and practice for the 51st National Championship Air Races to be held September 10-14th.

The 2014 PRS Graduating Class

IF1

International Formula 1 continues to earn their name – by the addition of Frenchman, Christophe Delbos flying Spaniard, Bill Paradi’s aircraft, N-A-Rush. Bill and his new wife are expecting a baby around the same time as the races, so Bill asked Bobos to fly his plane for him. (This is very bad timing, Bill!).

Some of you may remember Christophe (aka Bobos)  from the Big Frog Racing Team in the Sport Class. The Diesel-powered NXT flew only one year before the engine failed and Bobos had an off field landing, Strawberry Fields Forever.  He’ll be back in another Sport racer in the future – but will be an IF1 racer this year.

Biplanes

Biplanes added three new Rookies to their ranks. Father and son team, Alan and Brian Hoover, recently purchased Brett Schuck’s Pitts. Brett raced it last year and decided to move to a 2-seat Eagle this year. So, the Hoovers bought his Pitts. Also, Philip Ensley will be sharing flying duties with Casey Erickson in her Pitts.

Jeff Rose, a rookie last year in his Pitts, recently purchased Frank Jerant’s old Mong, Reno Rabbit. He wisely brought it to PRS to get some time on the course – knowing he would be seeing 40-50 mph increases in speeds from last year. His dedication to the sport will be chronicled in a future column. Stay tuned for more on Jeff and his team.

Jets

The Jet Class is also seeing some international flavor with Charlie Camilleri from Australia coming back to finish his certification this year. Terry, “SkinS” Fornof was also back this year – passing easily. Doug Matthews was on hand with his SIAI-Marchetti S.211. We hope we’ll see it racing this year. Otherwise, it’ll be a collection of L29s and L39s rounding the course again.

Doug Matthews’ SIAI-Marchetti S.211

T-6

The best thing to happen to the T-6 Class was their Club House. Jerry Thurman of Reno, NV has provided the T-6 Class with access to his wonderful hangar for PRS and the Races for several years now. This has increased the camaraderie of that group and developed a special air around the whole thing. Strong leadership and a tightly knit group have made this a solid class.

This year, Gordo Sanders not only joined the ranks as an instructor, but he also provided Mike Kennedy of Airplane Repo Fame, with instruction and loaned him his T-6, Big Red, for PRS. A total of six students joined the T6 class, giving them a very good chance of having a full field this year.

T-6 Lineup

Sport

The Sport Class originally had 15 students signed up, for some reason only 11 attended. I wish all the classes had 11 Rookies!  The students brought a collection of aircraft from more RVs (6, 7, and 8s), to Thunder Mustangs, Harmon Rockets and even a few Long-EZs.

This year, we even had an Engagement as part of the PRS entertainment. Andrew Findlay asked his lovely girlfriend, Jackie Fair, to marry him… right there at PRS. Congrats to you both!
Other good news in the Sport Class, early information says that Daryl Greenamyer’s Lancair Legacy has been sold and will be at the races in September. I am waiting for confirmation – and the lifting of the cone of silence, before I share more on this interesting deal.

Again, a strong leadership group and a close knit community have created great success in the Sport Class. I have said this for years, but THIS is the class to watch for the future.

One of my favorite paint schemes – Alan Crawford’s Lancair Legacy

Unlimited

And now, the Unlimited Class.  While 4 students (3 rookies and a returning racer) had signed up for PRS, no one actually took the course. Why? Good question.

Jim Tobul had signed up to attend. He is a very highly respected Warbird pilot on the East Coast in his gorgeous Corsair. Unfortunately, a few weeks before PRS, he had a landing incident which changed his plans. He is hoping to get the Corsair back on her feet and ready to go by September, and wanted to attend PRS for Ground School only – hoping to be able to complete the airwork before the races.

Jim Lawrence and Trevor Merton also attended PRS – saying they were working on purchasing “a couple Mustangs” before the races. Hmmmm… okay. We all know a few of them for sale… even RACING Mustangs. So assume there is something interesting in the works.

Tiger Destefani was there to get re-certified in Strega. Since he hasn’t raced since 2008, he is outside of his race certification and needs to go through PRS again. Strega was there, but again - - he didn’t take the course. Not sure why – rumors were flying, but airplanes weren’t.

Who will fly Strega this year? 

So, while the Unlimiteds had students, no one passed PRS because there are both ground school and airwork components. The newbies are talking about racing in September, but none of them has completed the airwork. Right? So, the only way to get them certified is to have another PRS-lite.

For many years now, RARA and the FAA have required the Racing Classes to put together their Racing Training Syllabus and have it reviewed by both governing bodies. If the Unlimiteds were to change their training, they would need to clear it with the FAA and RARA. Not an impossible feat, but not a walk in the park either.

Several racers have said that it is difficult to bring their aircraft from the East Coast, for example, to Reno for PRS and the Races – and it would be easier for them to have the airwork done around Race time. And, if the Unlimiteds get a “Second PRS” – do the other classes get that chance, too?

We're hearing rumblings that there may be up to 18 Unlimiteds there in September - that would be great news!

More good news, I have put my paperwork in to race Ruby again this year.  We’ll be keeping an ear out for interesting Air Racing stories while we all get ready for the 51st National Championship Air Races.

Until then, Fly low, fast and turn left.

Marilyn Dash
Ruby Red Racing
Unicom Buzz
Pylon Place

The Mighty 8th at Planes of Fame

This year’s Planes of Fame Air Show focused around The Mighty 8^th Air force. The 8AF was established in February 1944 by re-designation of the 8^th Bomber Command.  Considered to be the Greatest Air Armada in History under the leadership of the likes of Jimmy Doolittle, at the height of WW2, there were more than 200,000 people assigned to the 8^th with the ability to launch more than 2000 four engine bombers and over 1000 fighters on a single mission. To honor this fine organization, Planes of Fame focused on their accomplishments.

One of the highlights of the show was the opportunity for the public to meet and honor our beloved Veterans. Christina Olds, author and daughter of famous Pilot Ace Robin Olds, moderated the Veteran's Panel during the show. Hundreds of guests, friends, pilots and children were able to meet these fine gentlemen and shake hands with some of our heroes.

Nearly a dozen P-51s from A to D lined up ready to start the show

It was especially touching to see the F/A-22 pilots and crew shake hands with C.E. Bud Anderson, WW2 Triple Ace and quite a character. It’s good to see the next generation appreciate the Greatest Generation.

The array of aircraft to join us in Chino each year is always breathtaking. Three DC-3s (C-47s), 2 B-17s, 3 B-25s, 4 P-47s, nearly a dozen P-51s – from A to D, a couple P-40s, P-38, Dauntless, Val, Zero, Hellcat, Wildcat, Tigercat, Spitfire Mk.XIV (Griffon-powered) along with the N9 Flying Wing.

For Aerobatics, we were thrilled to have Sean D. Tucker return in his Oracle Challenger. If you haven’t seen Sean fly, you’re missing something. And, if you haven’t met Sean – well. He is 100% enthusiasm and intensity.

Sean D. Tucker doing what he does best

The highlight of the show for many of us was the superb flying of the Bremont Horsemen Flight Team. Steve Hinton, Dan Friedkin and Ed Shipley flew their aerial ballet - first in the P-51s and later in the F-86s, to the James Horner composed piece called “Write Your Soul”. Many of you may recognize the name James Horner as the man behind the music of Titanic, Deep Impact and Perfect Storm among others. He was so touched by the Horsemen; he offered to write them their own theme music. And it is perfect.

The Bremont Horsemen in their 3-ship F-86s

The Horsemen also had some VIPs in attendance, including actor Matt Damon, model Cindy Crawford and her husband. While it was interesting to have some Hollywood Stars in attendance, at Chino – the Pilots and the Airplanes are the real stars!

Circle your calendars for the first weekend in May for the 2015 Planes of Fame Airshow. You don’t want to miss it.

PRS Update

Looks like a record number of attendees for the Pylon Racing Seminar this year.  Latest information shows 40 Rookies and returning Racers in the Sport Class alone. If all goes well, we could have an amazing Race in September. Get your tickets, hotels, flights planned and don’t forget to tell the boss you’ll be away the 2^nd weekend in September – every year.

Saying Goodbye

Eddie Andreini was the first Airshow Performer I met when I was volunteering for the Hiller Aviation Museum – BEFORE I started flying. He was always someone you could call to ask a question – whether it be about flying, ICAS, ACE Program, Airshows, or Life. He was arguably the most loved man in the business. We lost him the same weekend as the Chino show – while he was performing at the Travis Airshow.

 Eddie Andreini in his beloved Stearman

I will never forget his kindness, his quick laugh and the sparkle in his eyes.

Special thanks to my dear friend, Anthony Taylor for the use of his photography again this month.

See you at the airport!
Marilyn Dash