We all tend to focus on the "Big Dog" Unlimiteds, but some of the most serious Racers at Stead are the little IF1s, that nobody ever sees because they are tiny, and they usually have to race at O Dark Thirty when everybody is just crawling out of bed and shaking off the beer from the night before.
These folks build their own Raceplanes. Most of them build their own motors. Jim Miller even built his own propellers. Some of the most beautiful and innovative machinery on the field is to be found in that hangar down at the end of the ramp.
This photograph is from early in the 1998 Gold Race. It's pretty remarkable, both for the pilots and for the airplanes. Every airplane here is completely different and unique. Every airplane here was at some point a Reno Gold Race Champion. Every pilot in this Photograph was at some point a Reno Champion. The two pilots who have won the most Reno Championships in history are both in this picture.
One 35,000 hour pilot has won 13 Championships in 3 different airplanes. Another has 15 Gold wins in three different airplanes in two different racing classes. Another built his first raceplane in 1949 and took his Championship 40 years later. The fourth took 5 Golds in a row in the fastest Cassutt ever -- running his 50 year old design faster than the legendary high tech Nemesis ever went.
A lot of very serious Racing history in this picture...
Neal
These folks build their own Raceplanes. Most of them build their own motors. Jim Miller even built his own propellers. Some of the most beautiful and innovative machinery on the field is to be found in that hangar down at the end of the ramp.
This photograph is from early in the 1998 Gold Race. It's pretty remarkable, both for the pilots and for the airplanes. Every airplane here is completely different and unique. Every airplane here was at some point a Reno Gold Race Champion. Every pilot in this Photograph was at some point a Reno Champion. The two pilots who have won the most Reno Championships in history are both in this picture.
One 35,000 hour pilot has won 13 Championships in 3 different airplanes. Another has 15 Gold wins in three different airplanes in two different racing classes. Another built his first raceplane in 1949 and took his Championship 40 years later. The fourth took 5 Golds in a row in the fastest Cassutt ever -- running his 50 year old design faster than the legendary high tech Nemesis ever went.
A lot of very serious Racing history in this picture...
Neal
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