I think we got pretty lucky on my first visit to the annual Reno air races. Thunderstorms in the mountains and the high winds in the valley areas which had begun to dog the end of the week gave way to a pretty perfect Saturday afternoon . With temperatures in the mid 60’s and barely a trace of a breeze this must have been a pretty darn good day to fly. It was certainly a good day to watch.

The run over 5 days, from Wednesday through Sunday every year. There are 6 classes of airplanes which take part in the racing section of the airshow with racing planes in the unlimited class reaching speeds in excess of over 500mph which makes this the fastest motor sport in the world. If you’ve  aneed for speed then this is the sport for you…of course, to participate, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny but to watch, just a few bucks.

It’s not all about racing airplanes here though as the event is much wider than that.

At the Reno air races you’ll see stunt and acrobatic aircraft, this year also featuring the stunning USAF Thunderbirds air display team and a wing-walker on a bi-plane, both of which were a sight to behold, military and civil flight demonstrations and a large display of grounded aircraft, some rare, which you can browse around and some you can go inside.

There are also some military demonstrations and military personnel were on hand to answer questions about some of the planes, weapons and vehicles on display.

By the time we dragged ourselves out of bed and got going the air races had been underway for some time already. As we drove up to Reno Stead airfield watching the parking lot prices steadily increase in price as we got nearer, we spotted a few military jets zipping about and parachutists, one trailing the U.S. flag, dropping down to the spectators already there.

We arrived in the middle of an air race, which to be honest, was the part of the show we were least interested in. Watching planes chase each other around a vaguely circular patch of air is something you probably have to be a real aviation enthusiast to appreciate and I can’t count myself among that group.

We instead, headed on over to the grounded military aircraft display which makes up part of the show. Someone told us the selection aircraft on display changes every day but at $22 a ticket we were only coming once this year.

Anyhoo, we took a look around the grounded aircraft which I was pleased to see included a British Harrier Jump Jet, which is the world’s only vertical take off and landing aircraft, developed when we (that’s the British ‘we’) decided for financial reasons that smaller was better in terms of aircraft carriers.

We also got to see a General Atomics Predator Drone equipped with two hellfire missiles, a MIG-21, p-51 mustang aircraft erm, and other cool things. Like I said, I’m not a huge aviation fan and whilst I might ooh and ahh at some of the military muscle on display and enjoy the acrobatics, I’m pretty useless at remembering names and specs.

One very cool exhibit was of the 20mm gun system of an F-15. Fully open to scrutiny this is one serious piece of weaponary capable of unleashing 6000 rounds per minute…umm, although its magazine holds less than a thousand rounds so it’ll never get the chance, you still wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that 10 second burst.

Another interest ‘exhibit’ was of a high powered sniper rifle which we were informed by its owner could still take your arm off even if it missed by a few inches!

About the time we decided to wander off to find some seats was about the time some F-15’s started firing up their jet engines. Man, that’s a sound to make your ears bleed.

We had seats in the general seating area, which is a series of raised stands which although crowded, were never crowded enough to the point where you’d never be able to sit back down if you left. Pit passes were also available to tour the aircraft in the races and talk to the pilots but umm, like I said, not a huge fan, just chillin’ on a Saturday afternoon.

We took seats around the time of the scheduled ‘Heritage Flight’. This featured a somewhat unique flyby of a USAF F-15, F-4 and two P-51 Mustangs.

Following this, the first air race we got to see in full. Flying around ‘bucket’ topped pylons in a vaguely oval track this was pretty entertaining but I guess you’ve got be an enthusiast to fully appreciate the race. Me, well I kinda enjoyed watching this one race but don’t think I could sit through many more without getting kinda antsy.

In terms of air events, I mainly came to see the Thunderbirds and at 2pm they hit the air. I hadn’t actually seen an air display team since I was a kid visiting Duxford Air Museum way back in the 80’s when the Red Arrows were performing so I was pretty interested in seeing this part of the show more than anything else.

Their 40 minutes of precision solo and formation flying was very impressive and worth the ticket entry price alone. Very cool.

We had other plans for the rest of the afternoon so at the end of this show was when we started moving on out, just catching the beginning of a wingwalker standing astride a bi-plane as we left.

In all, whether you’re interested in aviation shows or not, this Nevada event is something which is well worth taking time out to witness if you’re in the area of planning a trip out here. You’ll find more information on the official website over at: http://www.airrace.org/

Where are the pictures? Hah, well I forgot my camera as usual…next year maybe…

Technorati Tags: | | |

Read Full Article