This year provided some of the best racing in recent memory.
It seemed that all the Classes had epic battles, fought before the larger than
expected crowd.
Biplane
Even in the Biplane Class there was some close racing.
Andrew Buehler was flying Phantom this year instead of Tom Aberle. Earlier in
the week, Andrew had some troubles keeping Phantom on the course and on the
right side of the pylons. Jake Stewart in Mojo won 2 of the three Heat Races
and lost to Andrew in the Gold Final.
Andrew was pulling double duty, racing his Mong in the
Silver also. While Jake and his dad, Mike Stewart brought two highly
competitive aircraft and finished are strong competitors and second and fourth.
Nice showing for a father and son team.
Hoping to see more Biplanes in the future, this was likely
the smallest field the Biplanes have had since I started racing in 2003.
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| Phantom 2017 Biplane Winner |
International Formula
1
IF1 always puts on a great show. The battles begin in
Qualifying, move to the runway and finally finish at the checkered flag.
Qualifying held few surprises. Lowell Slatter, last year’s
winner – took the lead with Steve Senegal in Endeavor and Vito Wypraechtiger,
both previous winners, coming in second and third.
Justin Phillipson fought miscellaneous gremlins all week and
ended up winning the Bronze instead of fighting for the podium in Gold. But,
I’m sure Justin will have it all figured out in time for Thailand. More on that
later.
The 5th place qualifier was Philip Goforth.
Philip has some sort of magic prop which enables him to hot rod down the runway
on takeoff. He then leads for the first few laps – until the other props can
dig into the air and get their groove on. You’d have to see it to believe it –
watching Phil on the runway, dodging slower movers, is worth the price of
admission!
The top three jumbled a few times during the week, but
remained the same on Sunday for the IF1 Gold. Lowell, Steve and Vito.
Air Race 1 World Cup
After the race, the IF1s started packing up and heading to
U-Tapao Airport in Thailand on their International tour with Air Race 1. The
Race will be November 17-19.
The Thai government is hosting the event and the Prime
Minister of Thailand will be in attendance. For a country with very little
General Aviation – the IF1 Race Teams are treated like the Rockstars that they
are!
Big hat tip to Jeff Zaltman for putting this together and
making it happen! And to the 18 IF1 Race Teams attending – have fun, fly well,
make memories.
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| Lowell Slatter in Fraed Naught |
T6
The T6 Class always provides close, exciting racing. This
year – they outdid themselves.
The top three qualifiers were Nick Macy in Six Cat, Dennis
Buehn in Midnight Miss III and John Lohmar in Radial Velocity. With barely 3
mph between the three – less than 1.5 seconds on their qualifying laps – the
title was up for grabs.
Nick and Dennis have tossed the win back and forth for
several years – both with 6 wins. This would be the deciding race – first to 7
wins. But, John Lohmar had a different ending in mind.
John Lohmar started racing over 10 years ago – but is still
the newbie compared to Dennis and Nick.
In 2007 when I met John, he had just
won the Bronze and was not happy. He was so focused on winning the Gold, I knew
it was just a matter of time.
The Gold Race was EPIC! Nick had the lead, but John was not
letting up. Every time he would get to the straightaways, he would gain on
Nick. And then lose it in the corners again. Lucky for John, the Home Pylon is
on the front straight. It was “by a nose” – just over half a 10th of
second between the first two racers.
Even if you didn’t have a horse in the race, you were on
your feet. You couldn’t sit this one out – you had to feel like you were part
of the outcome. The entire crowd was mesmerized by the finish. A BIG CONGRATS
to our friend, John Lohmar and his crew. You did it!
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| John Lohmar making his move on Nick Macy |
Sport Class
The Sport Class has its champion back and it seems no one
can beat Jeff LaVelle. They line up to try yet they fail. He’s that good. It
seems the only one able to beat Jeff is Jeff himself.
John Parker always puts on a good fight, but his Blue
Thunder II was cranky all week and he had to sit this one out. Vicky Benzing
has a new ride, but again – close but no cigar. Andrew Findlay keeps getting
closer – but again, failed in the final test.
So, the Gold in Sport Class ended up Jeff LaVelle in that
seemingly benign Super Glasair III, with Vicky Benzing in Second, and Dave
Sterling in third. Vicky is once again the Fastest Woman in Air Racing,
competing in the Sport Gold and the Jet Class.
Another great story coming out of the Sport Class is the
return of Alan Crawford. Alan won the Silver in his Lancair Legacy
affectionately called “The Beast” – but we know her as “The Phoenix”. This
Legacy sports an 8-cylinder 780cc super motor. But, that’s not what makes Alan
a fan favorite.
In 2014, after competing in a cross-country race, Alan’s
last Lancair Legacy, Spirit of America, had a mechanical problem and before
Alan could get the plane down in a field, the cockpit was overcome with smoke
and flames. Alan had severe burns which put him out of flying/racing for
several years.
But, with the love of his amazing wife, Sherri and his friends and
family – he fought back and is the most inspirational person I know. Love you,
man!
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| Jeff LaVelle in his Super Glasair |
Jets
While the winner of the Jet Race wasn’t a surprise, the
racing had you mesmerized. With Rick Vandam sharing the flying duties with Mike
Steiger, American Spirit was always in the lead. From Qualifying to the final
Checkered Flag, it was all Jet #5.
The race then became for 2nd place. Zach McNeill
brought his Vampire back – but this time it’s painted BLACK and looks ominous –
something out of a horror movie {shiver}. David “Killer” Culler, Vicky Benzing
and Scott Farnsworth making the racing heart throbbingly exciting.
Soko O’No flown by Robert McCormack added more excitement to
the racing. Always good to see something unusual in the field. The Vampire and
the 2 Galeb G2s were the only non-L-29/39s in the field.
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| Rick Vandam in American Spirit |
Unlimiteds
I know that 50 years from now, I will be able to say, I WAS
THERE.
For the two weeks leading up to the National Championship
Air Races, Voodoo, Steven Hinton and the crew have been holed up in Idaho going
for the 3KM Speed Record. With wildfires, weather and engine issues adding to
the drama, they set the Absolute Propeller Driven Piston Powered 3KM Speed C1E
Record. Their average speed over 4 runs was 531 mph. They had hoped to break
the now retired record set by Lyle Shelton in Rare Bear in 1989 of just over
528mph. The rules state that a record must be bettered by 1% and they wanted to
get 533 to put all the naysayers to rest. But, because Lyle’s record is now
obsolete – and the C1E record was held by Will Whiteside in Steadfast, his Yak
3U back in 2012. So, they easily beat Will’s record – just not Lyle’s by the
required margin.
A win – but not an absolute win.
After that drama filled experience of record setting, the
Voodoo crew headed to Reno. What did we expect? Did we think they would sit
back and rest up? Did we expect them to go for it from the beginning? I had no
idea if they would be able to hold together after all they went through just
days before.
But Voodoo had a few surprises up her sleeve. And Tiger
wanted nothing more than to say – that Strega beat “The World’s Fastest
Mustang”.
Jay Consalvi flew Czech Mate last year – but was happily
saddled in Strega this year. Steven in Voodoo and Joel Swager in Dreadnaught.
Three Young Guns all ready to take to the air. If the Mustangs coughed, Joel
was there to take the win.
Qualifying saw Jay and Strega in the lead 484.724 vs 479.364
for Voodoo. The first Heat Race on Friday looked like it was going to be all
Strega this year. Saturday’s race didn’t change any minds.
But then came Sunday and the Final Gold match between these
two young men and their Super Mustangs.
Coming down the Chute, Voodoo put the coal to it and took
off. WHAT!? Like the plane was shot out of a cannon – amazing start. But,
Strega wasn’t going to sit back and let that happen. Jay went high, knowing he
had to pass high and outside. The first lap speed was nearly 500 mph. Amazing.
The laps went that way until only two laps to go. They were
passing slower traffic and suddenly, it looked like Jay found another gear. He
wouldn’t be satisfied with 2nd place for two years in a row. He
wanted that win.
They were passing Curt Brown in Sawbones – lapping the 4th
place aircraft – when Jay started pulling ahead. Then Voodoo got the lead back.
Coming up on 924 flown by Mark Watt, Jay went high and Stevo stayed low –
holding his line. Jay dove down and took the lead away – exchanging the altitude
he gained into airspeed and shot passed Voodoo. And that’s all she wrote.
It was a duel between these two amazing aviators and two legendary
Mustangs. Not to mention Tiger vs. Button – two friends who love to compete
against each other in this, the highest stakes racing we can find.
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| Jay Consalvi in Strega for the Gold |
Thank you
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone associated with the Air Races.
The Fans, for coming out and supporting us.
The Racers and the Crews who
dedicated their entire year for one week in the sun. To the Volunteers and
Photographers – thank you all for what you do!
And to the staff and Board at
the Reno Air Races, thanks for giving us a playground again this year.
To
Stihl, thanks for the sponsorship and the chain saws!
And to all the other
sponsors, friends and family of the races. We couldn’t do it without you.
And to Anthony Taylor – thanks for the amazing shots I used
in this column. You ROCK!
