NOTE: AVweb’s coverage includes many more photos.
Preview
Reno — to air racing fans, the name conjures up thoughts of Mustangs, SeaFuries and Bearcats in full cry bending around the pylons on the racecourse atReno/Stead Airport. The P-51s, Furies and ‘Cats of the Unlimited Class will beback for Reno ’99, along with the T-6s, Formula Ones, Biplanes and the SportClass. With the return of Strega and Rare Bear to challenge last year’s winnerDago Red, this year is shaping to be one of the more competitive in recentmemory.
Rare Bear, Lyle Shelton’s highly modified F8F Bearcat returns to Reno. In practice on Tuesday, the Bear broke a clamp holding an exhaust stack damaging a cylinder and other engine components. The crew was finishing up the cylinder change-out on Wednesday afternoon. |
The theme of the 36th annual event is Heroes of Flight, and eight astronautswill act as grand marshals this year. Shuttle astronauts Dr. Rhea Seddon,Curtis Brown, Robert "Hoot" Gibson and Joe Engle will join RichardGordon, James Lovell, Eugene Cernan and William Anders. Gordon flew on Gemini 9and Apollo 12. Lovell is well-known for Apollo 13 as well as Gemini 7 and 12.Cernan commanded Apollo 17 and also flew on Gemini 9 and Apollo 10. Anders flewon the historic Apollo 8 mission.
There are some changes to the successful Reno air race formula for this year,though. The T-28 class is gone for lack of entrants, but the innovation of lastyear, the Sports Class, remains. The Sports Class features speedy homebuiltslike the Glasair, Lancair and Questair Venture. The Unlimited racecourse hasbeen shortened slightly by about a mile — to 8.3 miles — but the changesinvolve pylons farthest away from the grandstand, and probably won’t benoticeable to the fans. Those who have attended EAA’s AirVenture at Oshkosh andother major international airshows will recognize the voice of GordonBowman-Jones, the colorful Australian announcer. Bowman-Jones takes over the micfrom Sandy Sanders, who has announced the races for all the 35 years that theraces have been at Reno/Stead Airport. Assisting Bowman-Jones will be FrankKingston Smith and Steve Stavrakakis.
 With the cylinder change complete, Rare Bear was towed out onto the ramp for a test run up. |
So far in practice and qualifying, there have been the usual mechanicalproblems and minor incidents, but the pre-race period has been free of anyserious accidents. The P-51 Voodoo Chile made an emergency landing Monday afterits engine began to consume itself; Jim Miller’s Formula One Pushy Cat suffereda nosewheel collapse on rollout and Jim Nezgoda’s Yak 3M was substantiallydamaged when it veered off the runway on takeoff. Tuesday, Jon Sharp and Nemesisset a new record for Formula One qualifying with a speed of just over 263 mph onthe three-mile course.
Tomorrow, September 16, racing begins in earnest. Fans will also see the USAFThunderbirds, Canada’s Northern Lights and aerobatics by Bob Hoover, WayneHandley, Tim Weber and Greg Poe. With the static displays, varieties of foodofferings, the Air Race Shopping Mall and the slots and tables of Reno, racefans will find plenty to keep them occupied.
Thursday — Day One
Polishing Skills And Props
 On static display was Robert Odegaard’s F2G Corsair, which raced in the 1949 National Air Races at Cleveland. The F2G was one of only a handful — less than 20 — produced at the end of World War II with the massive Pratt and Whitney R-4360 engine. This aircraft is the only flying survivor. |
Speed, grace and agility, as well as raw power, were all present at theNational Championship Air Races 1999 opening day of competition on Thursday.Race fans saw speed in the form of heat races among all the classes, the graceof Bob Hoover’s ballet in the sky in his Shrike Commander, agility displayed byWayne Handley and Greg Poe in their aerobatic routines, and raw power courtesyof the USAF Thunderbirds flight demonstration team.
Coming into the day, the qualifying times and rankings indicated that 1999should see fast speeds and increased competition in most classes. In theUnlimiteds, Strega, Dago Red and Rare Bear qualified 1-2-3, with Strega and Dagowithin four tenths of a mile per hour of each other. Strega turned in a speed of479.620 mph. In the T-6 class, Jack Frost in Frost Bite set a qualifying recordon the 4.99-mile course of 240.032 mph. Jon Sharp and Nemesis also set aqualifying record for Formula One at 263.188. The Sport class racers were alsoheating up their course. Dave Morss set a qualifying record for the 6.39-milecourse at 335.287 in his Lancair IV.
In the Unlimited heats, Ike Enns and his Mustang, Miracle Maker, won the 1CMedallion heat. Vlado Lenoch flew his P-51, Moonbeam McSwine, to second place.Bill Anders in Val-Halla experienced a problem at high manifold pressures anddropped out of the race. A member of his crew said they suspected a plugproblem.
 Crew members check over Riff Raff, the Sea Fury flown by Hoot Gibson after its victory in Heat 1B Bronze. |
The 1B Bronze heat was marked by a penalty which moved the apparent winner tolast place. Voodoo with Bob Hannah aboard turned in the fastest time of the dayat just over 400 mph, but were moved to last place for making a deadline cut.Hoot Gibson and the Sea Fury, Riff Raff, were declared the winner. Bill Andersin his Bearcat Wampus Cat came in second.
Gary Levitz in Miss Ashley II took the 1A Silver by four seconds over DennisSanders and his Sea Fury Argonaut. Miss Ashley appeared to have put previousproblems with the cooling system and a leaking prop seal behind her. MissAmerica started strong; she was in second place at the end of the first lap, butfaded later in the race. Howard Pardue pulled his Sea Fury up and out with whathe later described as a gear problem.
The T-6s ran a couple of heats on Thursday. In the 1B heat, Nick Macy in SixCat won, and Jerry McDonald and Big Red were second by nine seconds. In the 1C heat,Tom Campau and Mystical Power took the flag over Alfred Goss and Warlock.
David Rose and his Rose Peregrine won the 1B Biplane heat with a speed of207.012 mph over Chris Ferguson in a Pitts. Jeremy Chelin nosed out Cliff Mageein the 1C heat, both in Pitts.
In the Formula Ones, Ray Cote in Alley Cat won the 1A heat. David Hoover andFrenzy were second. Jon Sharp in Nemesis was penalized 16 seconds for cutting apylon and came in third. Dave Morss and Cool Runnings outpaced Robert Jones inAggressor for the 1B heat.
Dave Morss was also a factor in the Sport class. He won heat 1B in hisLancair IV-P, holding off Mike Jones’s Glasair III Cheeky Charlie.
Friday — Day Two
Action At The Races
Friday saw clear skies and good racing conditions at Reno/Stead. The crowdswere definitely on the increase over those of Thursday, and the pit area wasactually crowded at times. These folks got their money’s worth, because they sawsome great action on the racecourses.
Formula One Legend Nemesis’ Streak Ends After 44 WinsJon Sharp and Team Nemesis finally lost one. Actually, Nemesis came in third in a Formula One heat at the Reno Air Races on Thursday. According to a release from Team Nemesis, Sharp was trying to catch Ray Cote in Alley Cat, and cut a pylon on the final lap. The team jokingly was planning on banishing Nemesis engine guru Jack Wells to his shop and pilot Jon Sharp to his trailer, but remembered that Sharp had the keys to the truck. This is the first loss for Nemesis since winning the National Championship in 1991. Nemesis battled back Friday to win its heat by ten seconds over David Hoover and Frenzy. |
In the Bronze Unlimited heat, Bob Hannah aboard Voodoo finally put togetherall the pieces and took the checkered flag. He got some good competition fromJimmy Leeward in his P-51 Cloud Dancer, but this race was Voodoo’s. FollowingLeeward was Stu Eberhardt in Merlin’s Magic, Ike Enns in Miracle Maker and SkipHolm and his Bearcat. Bill Anders in the Wampus Cat and Bill Rheinschild in hisSea Fury Bad Attitude had to pull out of the race with mechanical problems.
The Silver Limited heat saw Bill Rheinschild back with his P-51 RiskyBusiness. He crossed the finish line first, but was moved to last place becauseof a deadline cut. It was a Hawker race with Stewart Dawson’s Sea Fury Spirit ofTexas the winner, closely followed by John Brown, Dennis Sanders and HowardPardue, all in Furies. Brent Hisey and Miss America was just behind this gaggleand Hoot Gibson followed in Riff Raff.
 Rare Bear suffered an engine problem in the Unlimited Gold heat 2A and dropped out of the race. The crew identified at least one damaged piston and were looking at another. |
The crowd had been anticipating the mid-afternoon Unlimited Gold heat, withRare Bear, Strega and Dago Red head-to-head. After a good start, Matt Jacksonpulled Rare Bear up and out, with what was reported to be a bird strike.Whatever it was, he definitely had engine problems. Examination of severalcylinders after the race revealed piston damage in at least one cylinder,consistent with detonation. The crew was planning a long night. Bill"Tiger" Destefani in Strega and Bruce Lockwood in Dago Red gave thefans what they were looking for and battled it out for six laps. Dago held offStrega to win with a speed of 479.620 mph. Dreadnaught, the R-4360-powered Sea Fury,was third at the finish, followed by Tom Dwelle in Critical Mass and DanielMartin in Ridge Runner. Gary Levitz has more problems with Miss AshleyII, thistime electrical in nature, and pulled out of the race.
In the Formula One class, Nemesis came back to win its heat by 10 seconds overDavid Hoover in Frenzy. Ray Cote, who beat Nemesis yesterday, wasn’t able tofinish the race. Scotty Crandlemire in the Scarlet Screamer took the secondheat, with John Housley and Aero Magic second.
 Jack Frost in Frost Bite leads Mary Dilda in Two of Hearts in the T-6 class 1A heat Friday morning. |
Jack Frost continued to do well in the T-6 class, leading Mary Dilda in Twoof Hearts across the finish in the first heat. Nick Macy and Six Cat held offAlfred Goss aboard Warlock in the second heat.
In the Biplane class, David Rose won heat 1B in Rags over Chris Ferguson inhis Pitts Let The Good Times Roll. Jim Smith in Glass Slipper took the checkeredflag in heat 1A, nosing out Tom Aberle and Class Action.
The Sport class was active. In the morning heat, Dan Wright and his SX 300won, but Dave Ronnenberg in the Berkut was a surprising second.
Tomorrow is the last day for heat races, and promises to offer great racing,if the predicted afternoon thunderstorms hold off.
Saturday — Day Three
Gary Levitz Killed Following Mid-Air Breakup Of Unlimited RacerGary R. Levitz, pilot of Unlimited class racer Miss Ashley II, was killed Saturday when the aircraft suffered apparent structural failure and crashed during a heat race at the National Air Races at Reno, Nev. Levitz had just completed two laps in the Unlimited Gold heat race when part or parts of the airframe broke away. Race officials said that Miss Ashley II lost part of the tail assembly. The aircraft crashed into a neighborhood east of Reno-Stead Airport. One person was reported to have been slightly injured on the ground and at least one home received damage. Power was knocked out to a portion of the Lemmon Valley neighborhood for a time. The accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The remaining aircraft on the course completed the race. Further events for the afternoon were cancelled, including a performance by the USAF Thunderbirds. Reno Air Racing Association officials said that events for Sunday would go on as scheduled. Miss Ashley II was a custom-designed and built racer. It used Learjet wings, and a custom-built fuselage modeled on the P-51 Mustang. Perhaps its signature design feature was the use of the Rolls Royce Griffon engine with counter-rotating three-bladed props. The airplane had flown in several heats at the 1999 Reno races prior to Saturday, and had had several problems, none related to the structure or control system, as far as is known. It had problems with a propeller governor and had aborted a race yesterday because of electrical problems. |
Saturday’s fatal accident at the National Air Races ended the day’scompetition on a somber note, mirroring the leaden skies and drizzle thatprevailed most of the day. There was a lot of racing at Reno, though, with someclosely contested races. The T-6 class saw its leading racing team disqualifiedfollowing what were reported to be protests and counter-protests.
In the Unlimited Bronze heat, Bill Rheinschild and his Sea Fury Bad Attitudetook the checkered flag ahead of Stu Eberhardt in Merlin’s Magic. Ike Enns camein third in his Mustang Miracle Maker.
The Unlimited Silver saw Rheinschild again the winner, this time aboard hisP-51 Risky Business. Mike Brown in Sea Fury September Pops was second leading agaggle which battled it out for second place. Closely following Brown wereHoward Pardue in a Fury and Brent Hisey in Miss America.
 Miss Ashley II was forced out of the Unlimited Gold heat Friday. The crew were blaming the abort on electrical problems. The Unlimited racer crashed the next day, killing pilot Gary Levitz. |
Miss Ashley II’s loss during the Unlimited Gold overshadowed the outcome ofthe race; however, Strega did nose out Dago Red for the win. Rare Bear wasn’t afactor, coming in last. It had just come out of the shop following replacementof two cylinders.
The T-6 class ran one heat in the morning and the T-6 Bronze final in theafternoon. Thomas Campau in Mysical Power edged out Jerry McDonald in Big Redfor first. Carl Penner in Big Wind took the Bronze final and Carter Clark wassecond in Daring Diane.
The fastest qualifier in the class, Jack Frost and T-6 Frost Bite weredisqualified from competition by RARA. Apparently, there were protests from oneor more T-6 teams claiming Frost Bite was in violation of class technical specs.The Frost Bite team counter-protested claiming that the period in which protestscould be made had lapsed. Saturday afternoon, the team packed their pitequipment into their trailer and left. Frost Bite took off but had enginetrouble and had to land back at Stead.
 A crew member put the final polish on Bill Anders’s Bearcat Wampus Cat. The Wampus Cat took fourth in Saturday’s Bronze heat. |
In the Sport class, the morning heat saw Charles Bangert in his SX 300 takefirst, followed by Dave Ronnenberg in the Berkut. The afternoon heat took placejust before the Unlimited Gold heat in which Miss Ashley II crashed, and resultswere unavailable.
Formula One class ran two heats on Saturday. Not surprisingly, Jon Sharp andNemesis won their heat, with David Hoover and Frenzy second. Ray Cote in AlleyCat won the other heat; Robert B. Jones and Aggressor were second. The surprisewas that Cote’s time was better than Sharp’s almost two seconds.
The Biplane class ran their Bronze and Silver finals today. Jeffrey Lo inFlying Lo took the Bronze trophy. Mike Taylor in the Redline Special was second,and Cliff Magee was third. Jeremy Chellin aboard Sticks Adventure was the winnerof the Silver finals and Chris Ferguson in Let The Good Times Roll was second.Guy Paquin was third.
Sunday — Fourth And Final Day
Dago Red Wins Unlimited Gold Second Year In A Row
 The turnstyles were busy Sunday as the largest crowd of the week turned out to see the finals in all classes, including the Unlimited Gold race. |
As if in redemption for yesterday’s tragedy, Sunday’s skies were clear andbright at Reno/Stead. The crowds were the heaviest of all four days of racingand they were there for racing … mostly Unlimited class racing and theUnlimited Gold Final.
There was a lot of other racing before the grand finale, though. The Biplaneclass Gold Final flagged off at 9:00 a.m. from a racehorse start. David Rose inhis Rose Peregrine Rags won the race ahead of Jim Smith, Jr. in a Mong Sport.Tom Aberle took third in Class Action, a Pitts.
The Formula One Silver Final was next off, again from a standing start on therunway. Robert B. .Jones aboard his Cassutt IIIM Aggressor took the checkeredflag. John Houseley, also in a Cassutt was second by only seven seconds, andCarl Swenson, Jr. in Annie, also a Cassutt, placed third.
 T-6 class racing competition pits virtually stock airplanes against each other, providing true one-design racing at Reno. The T-6 class Gold race was won by Nick Macy in Six Cat. |
In the T-6 Silver Finals, six laps around the pylons, Jim Bennett in TinkerToy was the trophy-winner, followed by less than a second by Gene McNeely inUndecided. Bud Granley in Lickety Split was a distant third.
The Sport class Silver Finals saw Mike Jones in a Glasair III, CheekyCharlie, win. Dave Ronnenberg in the graceful Berkut was second and Arnis Luterswas third in a Glasair III.
Between the Sports class Silver race and the Formula One Gold, the NorthernLights aerobatic team put on their usual stellar performance. After landing, oneof the team’s Extra 300s got too close to the aircraft ahead on the taxi out.The prop shredded the tail and clawed up the fuselage. Fortunately, the pilot ofthe leading Extra only got a few cuts. The Extra wasn’t so lucky.
The Formula One Gold was off at 11:25, and there appeared to be thepossibility that Nemesis might have some serious competition in Ray Cote andAlley Cat. Alley Cat’s time in its heat on Saturday had been faster thanNemesis’s time in its heat. At the end of the first of 10 laps, Nemesis trailedin the pack, but it relentlessly began to eat up the distance between it and theleaders, and was firmly established in first by the middle of the race. Nemesiswon the Gold trophy with a speed of 243.513, seven seconds ahead of Alley Cat.Gary Hubler in Mariah was third.
After the Thunderbirds performance at 12:30, the Unlimited Bronze field tookthe course. This race started yet another controversy, when Bob Hannah in Voodoorefused to start, saying that the class had agreed that he should run in theSilver Final. The Race Committee thought otherwise and disqualified him. Later,they changed this ruling at the behest of the pilots in the class. Vlado Lenochin his P-51 Moonbeam McSwine lead from the start and never looked back. ThomasCamp in the Yak II Maniyak was second at the finish and Skip Holm was third in aBearcat.
 The Sport class Gold race saw some action in the field, but was dominated by Dave Morss in his Lancair IV. |
The Sport Gold Final didn’t offer any surprises as the consistent winner inthe class, Dave Morss in a Lancair IV won the Gold trophy, screaming around thecourse at a speed of 319.671 mph. David W. Anders in a Venture was second andLee Behel in another Venture was third.
The Unlimited Silver looked to be "Buckwheat" Hannah’s last shot.Voodoo lived up to her name, appearing to be cursed all week with mechanicalproblems. On Sunday, though, it all came together and the Purple, Yellow andBlack P-51 scorched the field, leading from start to finish. Miss America andBrent Hisey were second. Dennis Sanders in his Sea Fury Argonaut was third.
The T-6 Gold saw Nick Macy in Six Cat hold his lead through the race ahead ofThomas Campau in Mystical Power. Mary Dilda and Two of Hearts was third.
 Two Sea Furies battle it out down low while a Mustang takes the high road in Sunday’s Unlimited Gold final at Reno. |
After the T-6 Gold Final and before the running of the Unlimited Gold Final,a brace of four P-51s performed a Missing Man formation down the center of theracecourse in memory of Gary Levitz, killed Saturday in the crash of Miss AshleyII.
Now comes the Main Event, the signature race of the Reno Air Races, theUnlimited Gold Final. The much-anticipated return of Rare Bear to the UnlimitedGold was, unfortunately, not to be. Flight testing Sunday morning revealedadditional metal in the engine following replacement of two cylinders onSaturday. The team knew the Bear wouldn’t finish a race and elected to pull itfrom the field.
 Bruce Lockwood savors Dago Red’s victory in the Unlimited Gold race Sunday at the Reno Air Races. |
At the start, Bill "Tiger" Destefani in Strega pulled ahead of thepack, closely followed by Bruce Lockwood in Dago Red. The two highly-modifiedP-51 flew a virtual leader-wingman formation, separated by a fraction of asecond throughout seven and 1/2 laps. With a half lap to go, Strega’s enginegave up and Destefani had to mayday out of the race. Dago cruised to the finish,and won the Gold with a speed of 472.332 mph. Brian Sanders in Dreadnaught wassecond and Daniel Martin in the P-51 Ridge Runner was third. Tom Dwelle inCritical Mass didn’t finish the race, the big modified Sea Fury’s engine gaveout on lap six. Voodoo was never in the race, behind several seconds at thestart and lapped by several racers.
In a fitting gesture, the F2G Super Corsair, on static display all week, andthird place winner in the 1949 Thompson Trophy race at Cleveland, Ohio, waspulled to the flight line to stand beside the 1999 Unlimited Gold winner.
