General News

To: RJI Members Date: June 24, 2017 From: Rick Vandam Re: Mike Crowell Resignation Dear Jet Class Members, We received word today that the President of the Reno Air Race Association, Mike Crowell, has resigned effective immediately. In the official statement (attached), it is noted that Mike is stepping down to focus on his wife’s health. Donna has been battling cancer for some time now, and we, as a class, wish Mike and Donna all the best, and send our hopes and prayers for a full recovery. We’d also like to thank Mike for his hard work to return the...

By Nathan Harnagel In addition to certifying new race pilots, Pylon Racing Seminar (PRS) is an opportunity for returning qualified racers to practice and review racing skills.  Several qualified racers participated in 2017.  It was my first chance to come back as a qualified racer and I have been asked to write a short summary of some lessons relearned about operating these type aircraft and flying them in formation and on the race course. The Classic Jets Aircraft Association (CJAA) conducts FAA recognized formation training at various events throughout the year to qualify jet pilots for flying air show formations...

To: RJI Members Date: June 22, 2017 From: Rick Vandam Re: NCAR Letter Dear Racers- I would like to thank everyone who attended PRS and helped to make this our most successful PRS ever. Congratulations to our two newest rookies, Pete “Tool” Stavrides who will be joining the Riff Raff Race Team and Jim Beyers who will be joining Bob McCormack in his L-29. It was great to have Larry Labriola and Vicky Benzing back at PRS. They both plan to be racing again with us after missing last year’s race.  Jon Sokolov also joined us again in the Soko...

Please see the note below from the President of the International Council of Airshows, as forwarded by Vicky Benzing. There has been some discussion about this in various flying-oriented FB circles as well. Fellow Reno Racing families, the Hintons and the Sanders are a big part of the Planes of Fame museum and show. I’m sure they’d appreciate a big show of support from their Jet Class compadres! FYI and Action, as you see fit. Rick Vandam Friends: Please forgive the shotgun style of this correspondence. Under different circumstances, I would have liked to write a personalized email to each...

Have you been watching the one-hour episodes of the 2016 STIHL National Championship Air Races on NBC Sports Network? Last Saturday was the airing of episode two of last year’s races and this coming Sunday, April 2nd, the final one-hour episode from last year’s races will air. Yes, this coming Sunday, April 2nd at 12:30pm PT/3:30pm ET on NBC Sports Network.

To: RJI Members Date: March 27, 2017 From: Rick Vandam Re: RJI PRS Letter Racers- Good news! We finally have the go ahead from RARA that the online registration for PRS is available. Below is the note and link from RARA to get to the online registration. Please read the entire information on the site before starting your application. This will answer many of your questions and help you through the process. The PRS application is now online and ready to go! Please forward this link to your class members and those that are interested in attending PRS. http://airrace.org/racing/rookie-school/ Deadline...

The second of three, one-hour episodes featuring the 2016 STIHL National Championship Air Races will air this Saturday, March 25th at 3pm PT/6pm ET on NBC Sports Network. A preview can be viewed here. “We received tremendous feedback about the first one-hour episode which took us all right back to race week,” Mike Crowell, President and CEO of the Reno Air Racing Association said. “Partnering with STIHL to help get these episodes on the air has been fantastic and we encourage everyone to tune in this Saturday at 3 pm pacific time.” The first one-hour episode, which aired March 11th,...

By Nathan Harnagel There are times in competitive sports where a team comes out of nowhere and achieves far more than anyone expected. A “Cinderella Season” is one where the previously unknown challengers don’t seem to have anything in their favor and yet they make it into the championships.  The appeal of the story is that the new contenders are not from powerhouse programs with massive resources and hand-picked players.  I had the chance to participate in one of these underdog teams during the National Championship Air Races in 2016. The airplane that was the basis for the team was...

For the second year in a row, NBC Sports will cover the Reno Air Races on national television.  This 3 part special, brought to you by Stihl USA, will air on the following dates: March 11th 2:00 PM ET March 25th 6:00 PM ET April 2nd 3:30 PM ET

How about a quick look back? The pilots and their airplanes are all in Reno for the 2016 races. Today through Wednesday lunch are trial and timing races to set the field - After that, we'll rank our pilots by speed and the racing begins Wednesday at noon. Meanwhile, how about one last look back at the 2015 Reno races and crews? Can't wait for 2016?