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Reno Air Races

Jrskygod

Well Known Member
I'm eliminating one of my bucket list items by attending the Reno air races for the first time. Last year I saw quite a bit of activity on here concerning activities and tips but I haven't seen much this year. I will be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Is there anything I need to know as a first timer? I'm flying commercial and staying at El Dorado. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Sport and Formula races.
 
I'm eliminating one of my bucket list items by attending the Reno air races for the first time. Last year I saw quite a bit of activity on here concerning activities and tips but I haven't seen much this year. I will be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Is there anything I need to know as a first timer? I'm flying commercial and staying at El Dorado. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Sport and Formula races.

It can be quite chilly in the morning, wear a long-sleeve sweatshirt over a regular shirt and bring a small backpack for carrying it later. Binoculars and a hand-held radio are must-haves. Get the pit pass, it's well worth it. Sunscreen and hydrate. Cell-phone coverage at the races is amazingly good considering how many people show up for that week. A piece of padded foam to sit on if you are planning on spending much time in the bleachers - I usually watch the races from the flight line while walking the pit area and talking to folks.
 
If you don't get a pit pass you're missing the whole show! It's the only way to go.

As was mentioned before, it's darned chilly in the morning, so make sure you layer up. It can get pretty warm (or not) as the day goes on. Also it will likely be windy in the afternoon (if not all day). So make sure your hat fits properly. And DO wear a hat. The sun can be brutal at that elevation.

It's a blast. Have fun!
 
reno

I went two years ago and don't think I will go back. None of the vendors that I saw had air plane stuff. it's not snf or osh by any means. Lots of t shirts and craft stuff and food. It was expenses, long walk from parking. I had pit passes which helped a little to see the planes up close. Ya, It was on my list also so we did it once. Carson City was more fun for our group of four. The Daytona 500 was more interesting to me. Just saying!
 
Reno

Formula One and Biplane races start early. I think around 0800.
Reno is not what it once was. Slow decline since the accident in 2011. The most significant factor is the outrageous cost of fielding a competitive Unlimited comparted to the pathetic winnings. Some Unlimited owners have admitted to spending 1 mil a year. Even that does not reflect current costs. So it unlikely that a return of the top unlimited will ever occur. The limited good news is that Sport Class is the future of Reno IF Reno survives.
 
I agree that if you have RARA on your list, do it now - you just never know when it will go away. As great as the upswing in Sport is for all of us homebuilders, I wouldn’t be confident that they will continue to put the whole affair on if Unlimiteds go away, because the public loves huge sound and fury.

Since you’re a homebuilder, yes...you need a pit pass! I will spend at least part of very day this week up at Stead, and will probably never go into the Grandstand area. Nothing there attracts me. You don’t go to Reno to see aviation vendors - and the few that ARE there are in the pits.

Plan to hang around the pits at least one day after the racing is done - there is a much more relaxed feeling about the place, and folks are just wandering around having a good time. There are planes taking off for photo and test flights, engine ground runs, and its just generally interesting.

Weather should be normal this week - some cold, some hot, some calm, some wind...and it looks like we’ll have smoke from a fire to the northwest. Welcome to Northern Nevada!

Paul
 
Not really a place to see lots of vendors.

It is the place is you want to see the biggest collection of fast race planes in the world and spend time with some of the friendliest, most talented pilots and airplane technical people ever collected in one place.

The pits is the place to be to see the cool stuff and mingle. Grandstand, not so much.

If you love engines and motorsports, this is the only place in the world you can hear the unique sounds of really powerful flat engines, big Merlins and radials, the prop noise and the doppler shift as they come around the last pylon before the straight. Truly awesome IMO.
 
Reno BBQ

In past years, didn't the RV folks have a Saturday night BBQ at the hangers as soon as the races were finished for the day? I never got to attend, but read about it. Haven't seen any posts for this year.
 
None of the vendors that I saw had air plane stuff. it's not snf or osh by any means.

If you're going to Reno for the vendors you're missing the point of the whole event! It's all about the airplanes and the races. At least, that's the way I see it. When I go, I don't spend 10 minutes looking at the vendors. But I spend the whole week in the pits, looking at the airplanes and talking to the pilots and mechanics. (And sometimes getting my hands dirty if someone needs some help.) It's that kind of event.

No, it's not Oshkosh or SnF. It's not meant to be, and that's a good thing!
 
It?ll be my first time to Reno. Can?t wait but had prior commitments so won?t be there until Thursday. I?ll be helping crew Neil W & his RV-8, Race 888. He laid down the fastest time ever for a 4cylinder RV yesterday during a qualifying run. 266mph!!! Amazing speed.
 
If you're going to Reno for the vendors you're missing the point of the whole event! It's all about the airplanes and the races. At least, that's the way I see it. When I go, I don't spend 10 minutes looking at the vendors. But I spend the whole week in the pits, looking at the airplanes and talking to the pilots and mechanics. (And sometimes getting my hands dirty if someone needs some help.) It's that kind of event.

No, it's not Oshkosh or SnF. It's not meant to be, and that's a good thing!

Ditto here. The only vendor I pay attention to is the margarita stand.
 
I went two years ago and don't think I will go back. None of the vendors that I saw had air plane stuff. it's not snf or osh by any means. Lots of t shirts and craft stuff and food. It was expenses, long walk from parking. I had pit passes which helped a little to see the planes up close. Ya, It was on my list also so we did it once. Carson City was more fun for our group of four. The Daytona 500 was more interesting to me. Just saying!

This ^^^^^^^.
 
I enjoyed wandering around the pits the times that I went but I was surprised how few vendors of aircraft parts and etc. we?re there.
 
I enjoyed wandering around the pits the times that I went but I was surprised how few vendors of aircraft parts and etc. we?re there.

As has been pointed out above, this isn?t a show like Airventure or SnF - there is never any intent on the part of RARA to bring in lots of vendors. A few who are unique supporters of racing do show up - but they are just a few vendors. So my advice is that if you?re looking to go buy things like at a big show...the races aren?t the place for that.
 
Formula One and Biplane races start early. I think around 0800.
Reno is not what it once was. Slow decline since the accident in 2011. The most significant factor is the outrageous cost of fielding a competitive Unlimited comparted to the pathetic winnings. Some Unlimited owners have admitted to spending 1 mil a year. Even that does not reflect current costs. So it unlikely that a return of the top unlimited will ever occur. The limited good news is that Sport Class is the future of Reno IF Reno survives.

It costs a million just to put together a true race Merlin engine..

Sport class is awesome, with a lot of guys over 350mph now.. Fastest RV this year is an RV-8 at 277mph qualifying speed..
 
Although there is no longer the R^3 BBQ on the field after the races on Saturday, there are enough of us RV'ers there that we could do some kind of get-together for dinner Saturday. I am somewhat familiar with Reno eateries, and no doubt there will be some locals too that can suggest even more. Casa Grande mexican on Robb, Mi Casa Too mexican on 4th, Great Basin Brewing Co. in Sparks are some possibilities.

Maybe we could meet at a rendezvous point at RTS and car pool. Some of us who fly in may not have cars.
 
Add the Hometown Cafe, 9251 Lemmon Dr, Reno, NV 89506 to the list for breakfast and lunch. They open early (630 AM) during race week for the crews and die hard race fans, Good you 'betcha food, servers that are likely to address you as "hon".

Something I like to do in the quiet of the afternoon is walk the F-1, Sport, and Bi-Plane pits, squat down and really look at what these class racers do to reduce every bit of drag they can get. Some of the fairings have been reported to be Coors Lite cartons and tape the night before. Just say'n, never seen it myself of course. On the other hand the use of composites is amazing. Drop by Phantoms pit and take a look at how a pretty stock biplane with an IO-360 was remade into something that turns laps at 245.009 this past Monday. Some of the techniques used on the aircraft might be usable to squeak a bit more speed out of an RV.

Have fun,
-larosta
 
Reno Entries

This is from the entry list, doesn't mean all will be there.
Sport dominates with 36 entries.
25 Formula Ones
Only 12 Unlimiteds, none of the fast Mustangs, no Rare Bear.
 
This is from the entry list, doesn't mean all will be there.
Sport dominates with 36 entries.
25 Formula Ones
Only 12 Unlimiteds, none of the fast Mustangs, no Rare Bear.

2017 - Unlimited had 17 qualify
2018 - Unlimited had 15 qualify
2019 - Unlimited had 11 qualify

I really love the Unlimited class, and it pains me that my young son will not be able to know the glory that this class once was - but the Sport class is taking over the races for sure. The top of sport and the top of unlimited (qualifying speeds) are separated by only 19 mph this year - less than 5%, at a fraction of the cost.
 
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I just watched about an hour Sport Class Heat with lots of RV's.... RV-7 race #101 first, RV-8 came in 2nd. It was a very close race and 2nd overtook 1st right at the finish line. Then 3rd and 4th I believe were two RV-8's also very close photo finish, but 3rd held on by a hair. The live stream is on Youtube. They had over 7 hours of stream yesterday.

In between races they do the STOL drag races.... I have never been to Reno during the races; plan on doing RENO soon. I'd like to race but the min qualifying time is 200mph... "General Lee" #101 below did 240.815 mph in heat 2D. That is a fast RV-7. You need more than a stock 180HP. Some of these RV's are running super-chargers or IO540's. The other fastglass has Lycoming IO540's or Continental IO550's + turbo, NO2. Remember it's at Reno not sea level. The competitive RV's are doing almost 230 or better!!! This is the first time I have seen it live streamed.... pretty cool. From friends that go and are in the know, they go out on the course where the planes fly over.....


This is the 2019 Sport Class - I highlighted RV's in red.
Race
Number
Aircraft Name
N-Number
Aircraft Type
Aircraft Color
Primary Pilot
2 Modo Mio N41VR Lancair Legacy Silver/Red Walker, Vince
3 Havoc N400MC Super Glasair III Gray VanHatten, Sean
15 Lucky Girl N588S Lancair Legacy Red/White Benzing, Vicky
17 Calamity Jane N229X Harmon Rocket II White/Silver/Maroon Schaich, Chris
22 Greenstreak N317RM Glasair II-S Green/White Vandam, Rick
24 Race 24 N430R Super Glasair III White/Blue/Green Rust, Jim
25 Papa's Ride N26PB Glasair SH-2R White/Silver/Blue Murphy, Kirk
30 One Moment N115YP Lancair Super Legacy Orange/White Findlay, Andrew
31 Tenacity N320HM Lancair 320 White/Maroon/Gray Frederickson, Mark
34 White Lightning N510CM Glasair III White Flanagan, John
35 Racing Rivets N11XZ RV-4 Gray/Silver/Red Jordan, Shawn
39 Race 39 N123AJ Super Glasair III White LaVelle, Jeff
42 Relentless N42XT NXT Blue/White Eldredge, Kevin
44 Miss Karen II N23LF Lancair Super Legacy Red/White/Blue Farnsworth, Lynn
47 Mojo N477CM Super Glasair III White/Red Mills, Bob
49 Rocket Six N49VM Super RV-6 Red Stringer, James
54 Navy 8 N854 Super RV-8 Blue Senegal, Steve

56 Bad Dingo N508DB Lancair Legacy White/Red/Silver Catalano, George
61 Blind Luck N8LG Lancair 360 White/Blue/Silver Gabriel, Louis
66 Jus Pass'n Thru N66EL Lancair Legacy White/Red/Gold Sutter, Ernie
67 Swiss Thunder N167BP Thunder Mustang Yellow/Blue Balmer, Peter
68 Wasabinought N330SX SX-300 Blue/White Seguin, Elliot
80 Miss Ruby S N808SJ RV-8 Red/White/Gray Piper, Skylor
90 Breathless N138A Lancair Legacy White/Red/Blue Huffstutler, Conrad
91 Breaking Wind N991RM Glasair III White/Yellow/Red Moran, Ryan
99 Martin & Karens Legacy N499DM Morse 320 Red/White Morss, Dave
101 General Lee N401GL RV-7 Silver Ulrich, Lee
130 Zebulon N130KL TB 30 Epsilon Gray/Orange Langeard, Olivier
151 Clas Thunder I N151CR Thunder Mustang Silver Haid, Mathias
181 GA1 N181KG Lancair Super Legacy Gray Grove, Karl
232 Undaunted N232TB RV-8 Orange/White Rudberg, Todd
270 Whiskey Tango N390WT RV-8 White/Blue West, Dan

314 Phantom Rocket N2691B F-1 Rocket Blue/White Prewitt, Scott
611 Ramp Rat's Ride N385AS Lancair Legacy Red/White/Gold Coraggio, Joe
744 Millennial Falcon N427EF RV-8 Polished/Red Ishii, Tommy
888 Triple Eight N888RX RV-8 Orange/White/Gray Wischer, Neil


Great photos of sport class planes.
https://jaybirdaviationadventures.com/2018/10/10/reno-sport-category/comment-page-1/
 
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Yup, our man Lee just lost 1st place by a fraction at the line. Good race. We'll see what happens on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Yup, our man Lee just lost 1st place by a fraction at the line. Good race. We'll see what happens on Saturday and Sunday.

Looking at his FlightAware history, it looks like he might have some reserve. The streaming is fantastic! Not highly processed or crystal clear, but fuels the spirit real time.

Bob Mills placed well from back in 8th too.

I would kinda like to know what aft fuse and emp mods the General has :D
 
I had the opportunity to fly #17 Calamity Jane early last year. Beautifully built Rocket. 3500 FPM out of the traffic pattern and flew beautifully. But, it was akin to sampling a highly addictive drug. I found myself lurking here and Rocket/F1 sites. I could only afford a -6 project... now where can I find an IO-540 to stuff in the six? ;-)

Some of those RVs are fast!
 
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