September 19, 1999
Day 4
Sunday Morning at the 1999 Reno Air Races
Bright Sunny Skies, But...
Not the sight we were hoping for.
After a day of understated emotional upheaval, and a night with not alot of restful sleep for some of us, we got up to start our final day of the 1999 National Championship Air Races. The day usually starts with a trip by one of us to the Texaco station at the corner of Red Rock Road and Hwy 395 for the newspaper, a great breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, and an occasional high altitude lap by a few of the Unlimiteds. This morning, being no different, held a few rounds by our favorite round engine aircraft, "Rare Bear", and by "Voodoo". This is pretty standard to start each day, but holds much more significance on Sunday. The aircraft are being given the last tweak before the Big Race and are wound as tight as they will get. You can usually tell a difference in the sounds between Sunday and the three previous days.
What we saw and heard from "Rare Bear" on this particular morning started pretty good on his first lap. Then.... something broke. The last we saw of this great Racing Aircraft was a rather steep approach over our heads with large, regular puffs of white smoke coming from the engine, and to our surprise, little white contrails from the wingtips. It made for an interesting photo, yet had ominous overtones. Without the benefit of a radio at the time, we correctly surmised that Rare Bear would indeed be an even rarer sight that afternoon. Matt Jackson brought the Bearcat back to earth safely and we decided we could breath again. NO MORE EXCITEMENT PLEASE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, (at least until after breakfast)!
On Sunday, there are certain housecleaning and pre-departure chores to take care of, like packing the telescope, lanterns, sleeping bags, etc. These things we proceeded to prepare before the final Unlimited Races and Air Show got underway. While we got the camp and Mighty Pursuit squared away, we stopped to observe the Biplane Gold race, Formula 1 Silver and Gold Races, and the T-6 Silver and Gold races. The Thunderbirds, (who had cancelled their show on Saturday in respect to Gary Levitz, performed their aerial ballet on the desert stage before us. As always, they made their obligatory low passes over our heads during their show, giving us several of the thrills we have come to expect in the Valley of Speed. All of the preliminary heat races completed, the real racing was about to begin. Soon, the Unlimiteds would be starting the takeoff and form-up for the Bronze finale.
Excitement is relative. The day was getting ready to really start, (according to me). The aircraft for this race took off, closely following thelead of the capable Steve Hinton, in the T-33 Pace Plane. As the racers started the turn for the hills to the Southwest, the last three or four aircraft had to cut their turn a little early, which brought them directly over us. (I really like that part of this whole thing, in case you couldn't tell). In the background was the sound of the Margarita blender and the motorhome generator. It wouldn't be long before they would be coming down the chute, complete with the call from Steve Hinton, "Gentlemen, you have a race!" (Very Cool.) Right on time, here they came, with Vlado Lenoch in Race #51, "Moonbeam McSwine" pulling out a slight lead over the rest of the pack on the approach to Pylon 4. From our vantage point, at the beginning of each race, the aircraft are usually bunched up and really provide some excitement as they round Pylon 6 for the sprint through the Valley of Speed. This was the case today. The real race was, as usual, back with the second and third place aircraft. Thomas Camp in Race #2, "Maniyak, Skip Holm in the Museum of Flying's Bearcat, Race #204 battled from the get-go. John Bagley in "Ol Yeller", Race #47, snuck up on those two and provided more excitement in the latter stages of the race. These three finished 2, 3, and 4, WITHIN 5 SECONDS OF EACH OTHER! A little further back was Gen. Bill Anders in "Val-Halla", Race #68.
Next in line, (another 20 seconds behind), came G.P.Sam Richardson in Yak #29, "Czech Ride", wingtip strobes aflashin'. Following up and fairly well spread out were P-51 #44, piloted by Art Vance, and a lap down, TF-51 #81 with Robbie Patterson, and #51 "Cottonmouth", flown by Brant Seghetti. I even got a picture of Patterson getting lapped by Vlado Lenoch, giving a photo with the two "Blue Nose" Mustangs in close proximity. Vlado had installed a speed kit which involved altering the wingtips, radiator scoop, and other fairings. The aircraft was, (and is), otherwise completely stock. The mods did improve his performance overall, and apparently enough to run away with the Bronze trophy. All aircraft recovered without incident and we returned to the task at hand, (lunch and more packing), Margaritta mixing, etc...
Now, we entered into the traditional spaghetti dinner preparation mode. Every year since 1983, due in large part to a friend and former P3 Flight Engineer, Greg Lonnberg, there has been a spoken and well established tradition of preparing a spaghetti feast for all soon-to-be travellers in the party. (There is an eeeviill dual purpose for this, to soak up the alcohol and prepare us for the inevitable road trip to come). The end of the Bronze race signals the sauce preparation and and the realization that the fun is about to end for another 361 days. Quickly putting that thought aside, (which we are soooo good at doing), we start one more pitcher of Margarittas. The Silver Race was very much in our minds as one for the ages. After the performance of the previous three days, our mouths were drooling. (Or could it have been the sound of the blender?) I digress.
It was time, and here they came down the chute. With the traditional blessing of Steve Hinton, the Silver Race had begun, (again on-time. Good Job RARA!). Bob Hannah jumped, (and I do mean jumped), out to an early lead. That was okay, as we knew the real racing was behind him, albeit not far. Brent Hisey in Miss America gave Hannah a good race, and as always, was wound tighter than a clock, and soundin' good. The two of them screamed by in first and second place. There was a sense of urgency in this race for Voodoo. After all the problems the team had over the prior three days, a dominating performance was a must. We were rooting for Hannah and Voodoo to finish fast enough to be able to get into the Gold without trashing the engine. (In the meantime, there were some bad politics happening, which contributed somewhat to "Hurricane" Hannah's eventual retirement from the Air Race scene. The details were somewhat sketchy until an interview done with Hannah by the folks at AAFO. There is quite a good spiel and explains the politics better than I can, in Hannah's words. I haven't read up on RARA's take on the situation). Yet once again, I digress. (Sorry)
Dennis Sanders and "Hoot" Gibson came next, and provided some tight racing for the entire 8 laps. It was like they were glued together, or sumthin', "Dude". They finished the race less than half a second apart. That was some real, live, racing entertainment. Race 74, "Bad Attitude", a Seafury piloted by Bill Rheinschild, came along next. That man has No Fear! Hustling along at sagebrush plus twenty, with Jimmy Leeward in trail, Bill finished a respectable fifth in a "Mostly Stock" aircraft. It was good to see him in the race after his trouble on Friday. You know, come to think of it, it is good to see anything flying on the course, any time. This particular craft just looked really good. Next on the scene and providing some good race time themselves, came the dualing pair of Eberhardt and Anders. Stu in a Mustang and Bill in a Bearcat. The eventually finished, (a lap or two down), within 2 seconds of each other. That was a pretty good duel from our vantage point in "The Valley".... Ike Enns followed up with the #50 Mustang, "Miracle Maker". I personally thought that the race went pretty well and the results were what one would have expected. The only real question during the whole thing was whether Voodoo and Hannah would hold up, (their track record not being too impressive up to this point), and finish well. That question was answered in fine style. And that was the name of that tune. The fastest Seafuries had all been bumped up into the Gold for the final race of 1999, providing more anticipation of some good racing to come, and they would not disappoint anyone, (except maybe their most ardent fans).
By this time, the spaghetti sauce was in a simmer mode, the water was boiling for the noodles, and we were sufficiently primed for what would be one of the best races to date. The sun had gone behind the "Mighty Pursuit", and low enough to stow the awning. This is a good thing, because it provides a better view of what is happening in the air as well as remove an obstacle for photography. The clouds were moving in though and would have a definite effect on the quality and color of the photos that would be taken. I did learn a few things that should help considerably at R2k, (like, adjust for the lighting conditions dummy. A basic photographic principle that I forgot in the heat of battle). I have taken a bazillion pictures at Reno, in all kinds of lighting conditions over the years. You would have thought.....
The next thing I know, the "Back Straight Bums" are starting to get excited with the realization that the racing is about to begin. All binoculars are trained on the grandstand area across the desert. We can see the occasional flash of propellers as the racers taxi to run up the engines for one last time before taking off. We can also see the bright orange emmanating from Section 3. They finally took off with Steve Hinton in the by-now familiar position of Pace Plane, trailing a nice plume of smoke. The aircraft took off one at a time, soon to join up with their competitors. Strega, followed by Dago Red, followed by Dreadnought and Critical Mass..... Finally, after what seemed a fairly long form-up time, (probably due to the anticipation building up in this Addict's mind), they headed down the chute. Listening in on our neighbors' VHF, we heard Hinton release the racers,
then saw the Planes of Fame T-33 shooting up into the blue. The clouds and seemingly threatening weather to the West were holding off their approach to Stead, but still decreasing the available backlighting for pictures. (Hence, this photographer's brain stoppage and less than fantastic, yet not too bad photos).
And here they came. Diving down onto the course, Strega took an early lead, (however slight), over Dago Red. Screaming low over the junipers and hillside directly East of our position, the race was on! Rounding Pylon 6, the two protaganists were nose to tail and coming right for us. OH BOY! This was going to be a RACE! Destefani and Lockwood would remain locked in this duel for seven exciting laps, (and part of eight).
Critical Mass and Dreadnought would be a little further behind fighting for third place. Unfortunately, this particular competiton was not to last the entire race. Halfway through lap 6, Tom Dwelle and Critical Mass came powering by and the engine seemed to burp. With an increasing amount of black smoke trailing from the cowling, Dwelle pulled up and declared a Mayday. DANG! A real contender was out of the race. The aircraft and pilot returned to earth and rolled to a stop at the southeast end of the airport, and we turned our attention back to the race at hand.
(Sorry, I kinda got ahead of myself;-) There were certainly other things going on that required my switching from video to still and back again. (I am working on that too, by the way). 
It didn't take long before the racing trio of Strega, Dago Red and Dreadnought had lapped half of the field. Dan Martin was actually having a respectable race, and would have shown with a better time if he hadn't cut a pylon on the pace lap, although still slightly less than half a minute behind Dreadnought and Dwelle, (who of course went out on lap six). That said, the next three in the field were having a good race themselves, with Bill Rheinschild in Risky Business, Mike Brown in September Pops, and Howard Pardue in the always competitive #66 Sea Fury fighting it out for fourth place. The two big Sea Furies couldn't quite catch the silver #45 Mustang. The two Sea Furies finished less than a second apart.
Meanwhile, there was another race going on back at the front. Not too far behind this bunch was Stewart Dawson in the #105 Sea Fury, cruising along, and pretty much out of the race competitively, but if it's any consollation, he wasn't to be last. Bob Hannah was raised by a miracle into the Gold race with his win in the Silver, (forfeighting that win to be in the Gold race). I don't recall what happened to the "Hurricane", but he seemed to be cruising to just finish the race, two laps down, maybe having made his point with the Silver race. (Or, maybe his engine was just a little tired after the previous race?) Could be. Expect to see Voodoo back at R2k with a new pilot and hopefully alot more luck. The aircraft certainly has the potential to be "Up There" with the fastest. (Editorial Comment: With Bob Hannah's retirement from racing due to his feeling that it "wasn't fun anymore", I feel that he gave it his best shot, and that sometimes it takes a change, just like in most sporting venues, to produce a change in attitudes and teamwork to produce a winner. We will certainly see if that is true in this case).
Meanwhile, back at the front, Lockwood was creeping up on Destefani and Strega. In an interview later, Bruce stated that his strategy all along was to try to outlast Bill, feeling that he had a stronger engine in Dago Red and that if he kept the pressure up, he might be able to make Strega break. That is indeed what came to pass. Midway through the eigth and final lap, Strega pulled up and out without much more than a Mayday for Race 7. There wasn't much smoke that we could see, and Tiger put her down on Runway 14, (a little too far down the runway for my comfort), and looked like he got Strega stopped before he ran off the end, or worse, into Critical Mass which was sitting at the end he was headed for, and appearing to be in the way. WHEWEE!
That was a most exciting race, (not the best, reference 1991 with Rare Bear, Strega, and Tsunami finishing 1,2,3 and setting a race record at 481 for da Bear, and Tsunami at 478, (as I recall). The rest of the competitors came back to earth with with their aircraft in relatively good condition. 1999 was certainly a year to remember at the Reno National Championship Air Races. I am never glad to see the end of the last race, but, given the overall picture of these four days, I was relieved, in a way, that this one was "in the can", so to speak.
1999 National Champion
Dago Red
Bruce Lockwood, Pilot
472.332 MPH
Epilogue
We settled down after the race and broke out the celebratory imbibements, dished out the spaghetti, and relaxed while the rest of the crowd made their way to Red Rock Road. This has become the tradition for us. It works pretty well, because, by the time dinner is done and the mess, ah, er, the dishes and gear are cleaned and stowed for the trip home, the traffic on 395 has thinned out to a fairly acceptable level. We also get to witness a mini-airshow as competitors leave for home, and other aircraft are out giving media flights or sales related flights. We occasionally get flybys from some of the military aircraft that have been on static display for the weekend. It really is pretty cool. We also get some great sunsets, as we relish our last fleeting moments at Reno.
It is a time for us to reflect on the events of the weekend. And, since this is likely to be the last we see of each other for another year, a time for initial plans for next year's event and exchanges of safe travel wishes, and other small talk. These guys that meet every year are a great bunch of people, and maybe, down the road, there will be more opportunities to renew friendships and acquaintances at another AIR RACE ADDICT EVENT. I look forward to R2k with great anticipation for another really good time, and creating another report for Air Racing Fans to enjoy. I will be adding to, and updating this site with photos and other miscellaneous items of interest throughout the summer, starting with Airshow photos. So, please come back and visit once in awhile. And, thanks for visiting. It makes it worthwhile to me if I can make Air Racing as interesting to someone else, as it is to me. I also like to share my photos as well, and will continue to update my Favorite Photos.
Sincerely,
The Air Race Addict
