September 13, 2014
Live feed
Should have mentioned this earlier, if you want to stream the Reno Air Races, hit www.LiveAirShowTV.com for the feed. (Haven't verified it, but that's what the banners all say.)
If you do, you'll get a chance to see the final race of the Gold Unlimited class, which, unfortunately, will be running while I'm on a plane going home.
Dammit.
The race announce team isn't nearly as good as the one for Formula 1, I'm sure, but the racing can surprise you by being exciting when you least expect it. Like today's Unlimited race where Strega was dogging Voodoo for the whole race, but taking a very high line, until after the last turn when in a dive, he eked out that one last bit of speed that led to a photo finish. And the average speed was knocking on the 500 mph mark.
Unfortunately, he was behind at the line by about the length of a spinner. But man, that brought everybody to their feet.
And get this, at this point, this race was basically for determining the order on the pole for Sunday's final. They're all already qualified. But pushing that hard strains the equipment. Strega actually maydayed dying the cooldown lap and landed first. No idea what happened. But you can bet they will really be running hard during the race I'm going to miss.
Update: Rumor has it the FAA decided to take issue with Strega's higher altitude tactic, and while hashing it out, the Strega team decided to declare that the engine issue took them out of the running in order to avoid FAA action.
Through the wonder of free wi-fi at the airport, I was able to watch the final race from the webcast which concluded just before boarding. Precious Metal, which I had been rooting for since it clawed it way up from the back of the unqualified Bronze class, through Silver and up to the Gold race, put in a tremendous performance and finished third.
Then the FAA decided they needed to prove their manhood even further against these racing hooligans and declared that they had crossed the "Show line" and they were disqualified. In 51 years of racing, there has only been one accident that resulted in injuries and death in the audience. Compare that to Indy racing. But the FAA has been going overboard in their attempts lately to nerf the event. The "Show line" was pushed much further back, this altitude cap was added (apparently all the way around the track, not just at the show line as some unfortunately believed), and jersey barriers were erected 40' from the box seats, obstructing part of the view (And that fucking security truck liked to park between them, blocking our view of the final pylons.)
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If you do, you'll get a chance to see the final race of the Gold Unlimited class, which, unfortunately, will be running while I'm on a plane going home.
Dammit.
The race announce team isn't nearly as good as the one for Formula 1, I'm sure, but the racing can surprise you by being exciting when you least expect it. Like today's Unlimited race where Strega was dogging Voodoo for the whole race, but taking a very high line, until after the last turn when in a dive, he eked out that one last bit of speed that led to a photo finish. And the average speed was knocking on the 500 mph mark.
Unfortunately, he was behind at the line by about the length of a spinner. But man, that brought everybody to their feet.
And get this, at this point, this race was basically for determining the order on the pole for Sunday's final. They're all already qualified. But pushing that hard strains the equipment. Strega actually maydayed dying the cooldown lap and landed first. No idea what happened. But you can bet they will really be running hard during the race I'm going to miss.
Update: Rumor has it the FAA decided to take issue with Strega's higher altitude tactic, and while hashing it out, the Strega team decided to declare that the engine issue took them out of the running in order to avoid FAA action.
Through the wonder of free wi-fi at the airport, I was able to watch the final race from the webcast which concluded just before boarding. Precious Metal, which I had been rooting for since it clawed it way up from the back of the unqualified Bronze class, through Silver and up to the Gold race, put in a tremendous performance and finished third.
Then the FAA decided they needed to prove their manhood even further against these racing hooligans and declared that they had crossed the "Show line" and they were disqualified. In 51 years of racing, there has only been one accident that resulted in injuries and death in the audience. Compare that to Indy racing. But the FAA has been going overboard in their attempts lately to nerf the event. The "Show line" was pushed much further back, this altitude cap was added (apparently all the way around the track, not just at the show line as some unfortunately believed), and jersey barriers were erected 40' from the box seats, obstructing part of the view (And that fucking security truck liked to park between them, blocking our view of the final pylons.)
Posted by: Mauser at
04:34 PM
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While I've never been, I've seen Reno races before. In most cases I appreciate them but can't really get into it. I keep seeing the classic warbirds that have been hacked and chopped into unrecognizablity.
This is a problem on my end.
This is a problem on my end.
Posted by: Wonderduck at September 13, 2014 05:09 PM (eNsTS)
2
Interestingly, one of them is a total franken-plane, made from bits of other warbirds that were lost or scrapped, so in a way it's preserved.
But that's just the unlimited class. There's a class specifically of T-6 Texans that have rather strict authenticity requirements, and there are a LOT of them flying. That class really does emphasize pilot skill.
I actually find the Sport Class more interesting. Those are just regular, but high performance single engine planes of the sort I could fly with my license. Although the field does tend to be dominated by Lancairs, I'm pleased to see a few RV6's in the mix.
Typically we arrive too late to see the biplanes, which are mostly Pitts.
And the Jet class is populated mostly with L-39's.
This year they had demo flights of the F-22 Raptor, which is simply amazing. They obviously don't show everything it can do, but what they do show has me quoting Douglas Adams. "It's hanging in the air exactly the way bricks don't."
But that's just the unlimited class. There's a class specifically of T-6 Texans that have rather strict authenticity requirements, and there are a LOT of them flying. That class really does emphasize pilot skill.
I actually find the Sport Class more interesting. Those are just regular, but high performance single engine planes of the sort I could fly with my license. Although the field does tend to be dominated by Lancairs, I'm pleased to see a few RV6's in the mix.
Typically we arrive too late to see the biplanes, which are mostly Pitts.
And the Jet class is populated mostly with L-39's.
This year they had demo flights of the F-22 Raptor, which is simply amazing. They obviously don't show everything it can do, but what they do show has me quoting Douglas Adams. "It's hanging in the air exactly the way bricks don't."
Posted by: Mauser at September 13, 2014 09:11 PM (yigXr)
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