Free Republic

What can be done to save the Reno Air Races? This is the question posed to me by so many of the Air Racing fans. We know changes are being made – but – are they enough. Are these changes coming too late, what are the signs we should be looking for to see if the changes are working? ... Tell me why, the day after Steven Hinton won his 5th Championship he was not being interviewed on Good Morning America, Today and the Tonight Show? This young man has unprecedented achievements and no one knows his name. I’ve said...

*** Since this column was written, Mike Houghton, the President of RARA has been let go. The Board of Directors will be taking over the day to day operations. We plan to continue coverage of the Future of Air Racing. Keep the faith, fans.  Since the Galloping Ghost crash of 2011, the Air Races have been plagued with financial concerns and rumors about closing the doors. In the last few months, Mike Houghton, RARA President, has been talking about this year’s event being in jeopardy if $500,000 was not raised by December 15th. Just in the nick of time, we...

Well, the 50th is in the books. The same kid won, but he was riding a different horse. There was good, there was bad, and there was not a lot of ugly, thankfully. Let’s get started with the review. The UWRC (AKA Unlimiteds) competitors were few and far between, with only 15 racers showing up for race week. But, the big iron was there. Returning champ, Strega, along with Voodoo, Rare Bear, Czech Mate, 232 and Dreadnaught all have the pedigree. All of them could win; nearly all of them HAVE won. But, it was Bob Button’s year --- finally.

It's that time again. The crews are making the final touches on the race planes and the pilots are testing and growing more focused every day. The drama that is Air Racing is ready to play out in front of our incredibly loyal fans. Let’s take a look at who will be there and what to expect...

With all the drama surrounding the transition from the old Unlimited Class to the new, the fans are forgetting about the other five classes of racing. I've decided to give focus this month’s column on the other classes, the innovators and racers who we don’t hear about on the forums. Who they are and what to look for this year – but let’s start with why the fans aren't as enamored with these classes, and why maybe they should be. Air Racing through the years was always about technical advancements -- especially for civil aviation. Among the first races in...

After capturing his seventh championship at the Reno National Championship Air Races, Bill "Tiger" Destefani says he's laying off the throttle.

Marilyn Dash of Hayward, who took her first flying lesson nine years ago on her 37th birthday, is now tearing around pylons at 180 miles per hour, 50 feet off the ground in her souped-up biplane, surrounded by a swarm of other planes all dashing to a finish line in the air. Dash will be one of more than 150 pilots competing in six classes of aircraft - from biplanes to jets - when the National Championship Air Races and Air Show take off Sept. 10 to 14 in Reno. In addition to dozens of wingtip-to-wingtip races at as much...

The fastest race in the world is in the air. Every year daredevil pilots meet in Reno, a gambler's paradise in the US state of Nevada, to find out who's the best. First they appear only as flickering dots dancing above a mountain crest east of the Sierra Nevada. Then a droning hum is heard, as if a swarm of insects were approaching. And then they race past at speeds close to 800 kilometres an hour (497 mph), making an infernal racket: half a dozen gleaming metal hornets, led by a T-33 jet that leads the pack across the starting...