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News & Media Aviation history

Aviation history

May 24, 2023
Aviation history

Say goodbye to Reno

After nearly 60 years, the races will end

By Ian J. Twombly

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have a race.” Those iconic words will be heard in Reno for the last time this September, after the National Championship Air Races announced the storied event will compete in the high desert one final time.

The races have been held in Reno since 1964, when Bill Stead capitalized on the growth of air racing and organized competitive classes, an airshow, and more. For two years the races were held at the Sky Ranch airport, moving to the closed air force base now known as Reno Stead Airport in 1966. Stead was a former hydroplane boat racer who structured the events in a similar fashion, with points earned in heats that lead to gold, silver, and consolation races. The first year featured a biplane, formula one, and unlimited class. As now, the unlimited class was the big draw, dominated by surplus P–51s flying as fast as 386 miles per hour. More than 50 years later teams have learned how to eke out considerably more speed, and the current record for the unlimited class is Skip Holm’s 507.105 miles per hour in Dago Red, a modified P–51. The fan-favorite T–6 class was added in 1968. The lineup remained stagnant for 30 years until 1998, when sport airplanes (T–28s ran separately for two years as well) came on. Jets were added in 2001 but didn’t get to race because of the terrorist attacks on September 11. Their official intro came a year later. STOL Drag began in 2021.

The races have weathered airport encroachment, accidents, and rising costs in Reno, running every year except for two—in the days after 9/11 and in 2020 during COVID-19 shutdowns. Although Reno has enjoyed the most longevity of any location, it’s not the only place to hold races. Pylon racing’s heyday was in the post-World War II surplus airplane boom, most notably in Cleveland soon after the war. Races were held in dozens of locations around the country, including Mojave, California; Cape May, New Jersey; and as recently as the mid-1990s in Phoenix.

Although the location and even the character of the races may change, fans should not despair. As long as people fly, they will race. ian.twombly@aopa.org

Worth a trip

Museum reopens

The National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, has reopened to the public. Access to Naval Air Station Pensacola, home of the museum as well as the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, and Fort Barrancas, had been restricted to Department of Defense cardholders and their guests since December 6, 2019, when a terrorist opened fire at the military base, killing three and wounding eight.

Visitors will be required to enter through the air station via the west gate on Blue Angel Parkway. All U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals ages 18 and older must provide a Real ID or passport. Detailed requirements, including restrictions on what can and cannot be carried onto the base, are on NAS Pensacola’s website.

The museum features more than 150 aircraft representing U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviation. The collection includes a North American B–25J Mitchell, a Consolidated PBY–5 Catalina, and an LTV A–7E Corsair II, as well as an exhibit devoted to the recovery of aircraft that crashed in Lake Michigan during World War II carrier qualification. The 350,000-square-foot display also features a flight line located behind the museum’s aircraft maintenance and restoration hangar that houses a Lockheed C–130 Hercules, plus versions of the Navy’s early carrier-based nuclear bombers, and a selection of Navy transport aircraft.

The reopening of the base means visitors also will be able to see Blue Angels practice flight demonstrations on selected days. —Jill W. Tallman

cnrse.cnic.navy.mil

Earhart Museum now open

The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum has opened in Atchison, Kansas, the birthplace of Amelia Earhart. The focal point of the museum is a Lockheed Electra 10–E, an aircraft identical to the one that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were flying when they disappeared on July 2, 1937. Muriel is the last remaining example of the airframe and is named for Earhart’s sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey.

There are more than a dozen interactive exhibits where visitors can learn about Earhart and aviation, including a full-scale mockup of the Electra’s flight deck that visitors can enter, a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radial engine, and a geared turbofan. Other exhibits touch on topics such as Earhart’s different careers, her contemporaries, and aviation subjects like celestial navigation.

“We’re thrilled to welcome visitors of all ages to journey through Amelia Earhart’s trailblazing life as a world-renowned aviator, innovator, educator and activist,” said Karen Seaberg, founder and president of the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation. “It is an honor to bring Amelia’s courageous and persevering legacy to life in her Atchison, Kansas, hometown where the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum is dedicated to inspiring all generations in the pursuit of flight—and like Amelia, encouraging others to boldly pursue their dreams.”

Admission to the museum is $15, with discounts for seniors, members of the military, and children under 12. —Collin Callahan

ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org



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