Reno Air Races ending
Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Reno Air Races ending

  1. #1

    Reno Air Races ending

    If you want to see the Reno Air Races, this year will be the last. Their contract with the airport will not be renewed. They plan to continue elsewhere. So, if you wish to see planes racing down the valley of speed, this will be the last year to do so.

  2. #2
    I’ve been going to Reno pretty regularly for the last few years, and this is disappointing, but not at all surprising. Due to what happened last year, and a general increase in insurance for airplanes and events across the board , the insurance premiums for the event basically doubled (from about $750k to $1.3 million), and the development of the area around the airport meant that it was a matter of *when* not *if* the airport (or insurers, or local government) pulled the plug.

    Last year, the races got lucky that the fatal jet accident didn’t kill anyone else, since the flight path of the accident airplane could have easily gone into spectators or houses if the pilot had done the same maneuver (a 180 degree turn away from the course to avoid a pylon cut) at a different location on the course and the G-loc happened slightly sooner.

    Reno also dodged a bullet last year, since one of the unlimited airplanes had a fatal crash (probably because of an engine failure) in California just before the races started, so that could easily have happened at Reno.

    While not related to the decision to end racing at Reno, the unlimited class has been dying off at a pretty good clip for the last several years, since most of the fastest airplanes are either retired, crashed, disassembled, or stuck in legal proceedings (and it makes zero financial sense to create a new one) so the unlimited race has basically been one modified airplane that’ll run the first lap 50+ mph faster than everything in the (mostly stock) field, after which it’ll basically cruise around the course with absolutely zero risk of being caught.

Members who have read this thread: 0

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •