Although this year's National Championship Air Races were canceled as a result of the grounding of VFR Part 91 operations, the racers were there, the planes were there, and AVweb was there.
AVweb
Contributor Matt Paxton
started flying gliders in 1970 at age 16 and later earned his commercial
glider certificate and CFIG. Matt instructs or tows most every Sunday for the
Springwood Soaring Association. He also holds a commercial SEL certificate and
is instrument rated. He is a partner in a 1962 Bellanca 260, and is building a
Pietenpol Air Camper.
Matt is president of The
News-Gazette Corp. in Lexington, Virginia, which publishes newspapers, a
regional travel magazine and operates a commercial printing operation. In
1997, The News-Gazette won an honorable mention in AOPA's Max Karant aviation
journalism competition for coverage of an effort to build a local GA airport.
He is a past president of the Virginia Press Association and currently serves
on the board of directors of the National Newspaper Association. Matt never
buys lottery tickets because he used up all his 'luck of the draw' by winning
a flight on the EAA's B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" in 1995. Matt and his
wife, Margaret Ann, live in Lexington, Va. with their two daughters.
Part
One of AVweb's exclusive coverage of the National Championship Air Races
at Reno includes some discussion of the goings-on within the unlimited
racing community, plus some great images of the planes — including the
jets — that had been slated to race this year.
Part Two rounds out AVweb's
coverage with a discussion of the events leading up to the event's
cancellation, plus more great
images.
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