History
Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, hydroplane racer, and World War II ace, in 1964 came up with the idea of reviving the National Air Races to help celebrate the centennial of Nevada's statehood.
He persuaded Reno businessmen to sponsor the races as part of a major air show that included the national aerobatics and balloon championships, skydiving competition, and a performance by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Stead also talked ABC Television into covering the races.
Competition was held at the Sky Ranch, where the runway was simply a 2,000-foot stretch of dirt. Pilots wanted to take off from Reno Municipal Airport, fly to the course, and return to the airport after racing, but Stead had guaranteed ABC that takeoffs and landings could filmed at the ranch. He threatened to disqualify any flyer who didn't use the makeshift landing strip and the pilots reluctantly went along with it.
The opening event was the finish of a trans-continental race from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Reno. Over the next several days, closed-circuit races were held for five classes of planes: Unlimited, Formula One, Midget, Stearman, and Cherokee 180s with women pilots.
Because of Stead's experience with hydroplanes, the races used a scoring method borrowed from powerboat racing, with points awarded for a pilot's finishing position in each heat. In the Unlimited class, Bob Love finished first in the final heat, but the championship trophy went on points to Mira Slovak.
The points formula was discarded in 1965 in favor of a series of heats leading up to a final race for each class of planes, with the championship going to the winner of the final.
The races were staged at the Sky Ranch for the first two years. When Reno's Stead Air Force Base was closed in 1966, it was turned over to the city and renamed Stead Airfield, which has been the site of the Reno National Air Races ever since.
(Bill Stead was killed in a Formula One race in Florida shortly after the 1965 races. Ironically, Stead AFB was named for his brother, Croston Stead, who had been killed in a crash while flying with the Nevado National Guard.)
Classes of Competition
There's now competition in six classes:
| Unlimited | The only restriction on the Unlimited class is that planes must be propeller-driven and powered by piston engines. Most of the entries are World War II fighters. P-51s and F8F2s have won most of the championships. |
|---|---|
| Formula One | As in auto racing, planes in this category must be built to certain specifications as to overall size and engine power. |
| Biplanes | These planes are built to the same general specifications as Formula One planes, but they must have two wings--that is, an upper wing and a lower wing. |
| AT6/SNJ | The AT6 was a training plane used by the Army in World War II and the SNJ was the Navy designation for the same plane. Therefore, the planes entered in this category are essentially identical, except for the paint jobs. |
| Sport | Added in 1998, the sport class includes kit-built planes with reciprocation engines generating 650 horsepower or less. These planes reach speeds of 360 miles per hour and higher. |
| Jet | Added to the program as a by-invitation-only race in 2002, the jet class has been open to all qualified entrants since 2004. The planes raced are Czech-built Aerovodochody L-39 "Albatros" jets, which reach speeds of over 400 miles per hour. |
The races take place over a four-day period in September, from Thursday through Sunday, but time trials are held earlier in the week. Planes are assigned to heats based on their qualifying times and those with the eight fastest times in heat races move on to the "Gold" championship race on Sunday.
If the number of entries permits, there are two other championships in each class, the "Silver" and "Bronze" races, each with eight planes, based on their times in heats.
The closed-circuit course is a little over 9 miles long. Since speeds approach 500 miles an hour in the Unlimited class, it takes a little more than a minute for a plane to negotiate one lap, and all the action is in clear view of spectators. The Unlimited "Gold" championship race is usually flown over eight laps, the "Silver" race over eight laps, and the "Bronze" race over six laps.
About 150,000 spectators turn out over the four-day period. In addition to racing, they get to see exhibitions of aerobatics, stunt flying, and skydiving, as well as flyovers and demonstrations by military teams.