Jetrader - November/December 2013 - 18

Miss America

Sawbones

Dreadnought

Voodoo

Rare Bear

A High-Flying
50 years of Reno National
Championship Air Races
Article and photos by Bert van Leeuwen,
Managing Director, Aviation Research, DVB Bank SE

The winning P-51 Mustang, Voodoo, readied to race.

The Patriot demo team show.

Close racing in the exciting T-6 class races.

The response to last year's Jetrader report
on the Reno Air Races (November/December
2012) showed that among the ISTAT membership there are quite a few followers of
what is advertised as the world's fastest
motorsport. Actually, there were even a few
suggestions from ISTAT friends to have an
event to be called "RaceSTAT" 2013, similar
to our unofﬁcial "BaySTAT" this year and
the better known "ChiSTAT."
Indeed, during the week of the Reno
Air Races in northern Nevada, a number
of ISTAT members were in town, despite
competition from the America's Cup boat
races in San Francisco, Calif. ISTAT member
John Culkin organized the 21st edition
of the highly exclusive Annual Aircraft
Investment Symposium in Reno, combining
business discussions with a day of golf,
a day at the races and a dinner for the
beneﬁt of the Reno Air Racing Foundation.
Universal Asset Management was one of
the ISTAT members with a VIP box during
the event and Jeff Lewis hosting friends
and business partners. Willis Leasing was
prominently visible at the races with a VIP
tent as well as sponsorship of an antique
ﬁre engine, traditionally used to drive the
Reno race winners to the grandstands to
receive the applause from the fans.
2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the
Reno races, and clearly the event is still
popular, with an estimated attendance of

18 The ofﬁcial publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

approximately 210,000, of which 75 percent
were visitors and 25 percent locals. During
the week of 11-15 September, several
categories of aircraft competed over Reno
Stead Field airport, all of them following the
adage: "ﬂy low, ﬂy fast, turn left." The slowest category is the Formula One, with Gold
race winner Scarlet Screamer reaching a race
speed of 240 mph over the 3.1875 miles long
optimum course. Formula One planes must
not exceed a minimum dry empty weight of
500 pounds, have a non-retractable landing
gear, a minimum wing area of 66 square
feet, a ﬁxed-pitch propeller and a 100hp,
200-cubic-inch Continental engine.
Slightly faster is the T-6 class, with
the winner Midnight Miss reaching almost
246 mph. The aircraft must be WWII
trainers-AT-6, Harvards or SNJs-and use
the 650hp, nine-cylinder Pratt & Whitney
R-1340 radial engine. As a nearly stock
class of racers, watching T-6 races around
the 4.9657-mile optimum race course is
probably the most exciting of all.
Again, slightly faster than the T-6 class
are the Biplanes. The 2013 class winner,
Phantom, exceeded 254 mph. Biplanes must
have at least 30 percent of the required
75-square-foot wing area contained in
the smaller of the two wings. The largest
engine allowed is a 360-cubic-inch, 180hp
Lycoming engine. The racers utilize roughly
the same course as the Formula One racers.

Jetrader - November/December 2013

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