Guide to the Races?

[Coyote Chris]

Ian's Post has me thinking that perhaps it is time for a Featured Post or FAQ edited by our Fearless Leader titled "Guide to the Races."
Like most of you, I have my own little rut I do when I go there. Go to Scolaris and buy tickets, go to NAG trailer and get timing chart, go to Comm shack in big hanger and get current daily schedule, Hang with photogs at end of hangers on first Sunday and make fun of Robert wearing out his shutter, etc etc. But I sure dont know all the ins and outs even after 13 years. Heck, it took me four years just to find out I could save $30 on tickets at Scolaris. I know that if I were coming from some far away place like England or Kansas that I would liked to have had a two page guide to the races, with what to expect from the first Saturday to the last Monday morning. What say you?

[mrcraigarcher]

Re: Guide to the Races?

I'm not really qualified to write it the whole thing myself, but I'd be happy to contribute. Sounds like a great idea!

[JET1]

this is not a bad idea...

...I can't contribute much as my prep starts in Feb. or so, but it would be an interesting project

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Guide to the Races?

This is something that would be good to put on the "general site" main page... (aafo.com/index.html) so that ANYONE visiting the site can find it... You guys would be totally amazed at the difference in visit count to the general site, versus the specific visits to the message board.. it's huge!

Turns out, a ton of people "don't do" message boards and are very uncomfortable with the format..

Anyway... I too would be unqualified to give the visitor's perspective for a FAQ but.. could contribute.. If you guys want to start putting in some favorites, I'll use them in a general FAQ for "going to the races" or some other catchy title and give credit at the end of the feature to those who contribute..

GREAT idea!!

BTW.. Our original goal when we created this site was to "put butts in seats" at RENO.. we knew the races were in trouble (and they were back in '96-97-98-99" era) and we wanted to help generate world wide interest and generate ticket sales for the event!

Ian's post shows that, thanks to you guys, we continue to help in that role!!!!!!!

[Danimal1]

Re: Guide to the Races?

Wayne,
How dare you leave out hanging with your favorite pps in box 96 at adult beverage time......
A good goat would do that ya know.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Guide to the Races?

Wayne,
How dare you leave out hanging with your favorite pps in box 96 at adult beverage time......
A good goat would do that ya know.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Danimal... you know yer my favorite goat dontcha now????

Just back to the hotel after spending time with many good friends outside of Denver, including little brother Daver....!!

I can't believe how cool that guy is... he's covered in paint... no... wait.. he covers canvas in paint... he's got so many irons in the fire right now, I don't know how he does it!!

Bed time for wayner... signing off from outside Denver, happy holidays to all!

[Coyote Chris]

Re: Guide to the Races?

Wow....its been so long since I have been to the parent home page I forgot it was there....but where ever you think the best home for the guide might be is fine...we can always link our friends there...I will see if I can dig up my own Guide to the Races that I hand out to my friends who come down and update it, then folks can add their own thoughts and experiences....I do remember some good threads about various places to camp and hotel it, transportation, etc. I am still addicted to camping out in the church lot, using their showers, and watching the Space station fly by while self medicating in the evenings.

[Coyote Chris]

Re: Guide to the Races?

OK, here is my version of the Guide.....

Guide to the Races, 2010


The races happen at a place called Stead Field, 10 miles north of Reno, Nevada, on US 395. Prudent first time visitors would be wise to use google or mapquest maps to get familiar with the area before they come.

St. Michael’s Catholic Church is a good ground zero for these maps, being located 200 yards from the entrance. Their address is 14075 Mt. Vida, Reno, NV 89506

Plug that address into google maps and you can zoom in and out and see the area. Note two important exits on RT. 395 from Reno. Stead Blvd, exit 76, the official race exit, and the much better exit 74, Lemmon valley Road. Note: if you take the Lemmon Valley exit, you can take Military Blvd right to the races. There is a small shopping center at the Lemmon Valley exit with a Scolari’s Grocery store, a McDonalds, an Ace hardware, a Radioshack, a drugstore, etc. Note the racing murals in Scolari’s and McDonalds. Scolari’s is a big race supporter.

Many of the racing teams shop in Scolari’s and if you mention that you are an out of town air race fan at the checkout, or service desk, they will use a special club card and give you the sale prices that local card owners get on race wear, booze, food, etc. Just like you had a club card. Since I go every year, I filled out the free application for my own club card and carry the keychain version. I always thank the folks there for supporting the races. Money makes the airplanes go around.

At the customer service counter, mention that you are an out of town race fan and buy your general admin. tickets from them for 5 bucks off a day, which is $25 off for the week. This also saves you from any standing in line at Stead Field to buy tickets.

Lots of folks hotel it. I am not one of them. They will have to add their experiences with where to stay, transportation, and parking. I camp out at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, right outside the entrance to the races. They have food, showers, grass camping, dry dirt camping and they only charge me $169 for the 9 days I camp there, and that is tax deductable.

http://www.stmichaelreno.org/rar.htm

There are other lots to camp in with various levels of amenities. I just happen to like the view from the Church lot and the services offered by the Church.

There are advantages to staying on site. Anything can happen at Reno any hour of the day or night. Go to town for dinner and you may well miss three F7Fs flying in formation…or two F7Fs and two P-38s. Much socialization goes on “after hours” . You are most likely going to be woken up by the sound of air race engines being tested over your head early in the morning. You will go to sleep with the sound of engines being tested in the pits. Folks sit outside their RVs in the evening, socialize and watch for the arrival of classic planes and military jets.


The official air race website, http://airrace.org/ is very useful but there is so much more to learn. Anyone that shows up on the first official day of racing (Wednesday) has
missed out on a whole lot.

My friend Robert and I meet on the first Saturday afternoon, pick out our spots in the 13 acre Church dry camp lot, go to Scolari’s, get our tickets and supplies. If you like, you can wander around the race grounds and even go into the pits for free. Not many people around but race folk and die hard fans….I prefer to set up my tent, get the cooler stocked with ice and medications, etc and go inside the gates the first Sunday. Note: I ride my bike to McDonalds before sun-up and many mornings I have seen ice on the seat….it can be cold in the mornings but it usually warms up fast with the high desert sun at 5,000 ft. Sun screen, a hat, and plenty of water are good ideas as the dry Washoe Zephyr wind will dry you out in a hurry if you are not used to being at 5,000 ft.

First Sunday. This is kind of an official practice day. All classes practice in their respective time periods. There is usually a pile of handout schedules in the comm. shack located in the big hanger in the pits. That’s the hanger where the small planes hang out. Entry and pits are free. This is a good time to visit all the hangers where many of the small race planes are and walk the grounds from one end to the other. Make sure you are not hit by any moving propellers or towed planes. On this day, things are like at Oshkosh. You are expected to have a brain and keep situational awareness. Do not fondle the aircraft and if you have children, keep them under control.

Monday First day of qualifications. Hardly any people. Easy parking. No entry fee but you need an inexpensive pit pass, which is sold at the pit entrance. Pit passes go up each day. Planes in individual classes can qualify Mon-Tues and Wed am . There are usually two periods for each class each qualification day. Bring a scanner. Be there in the pits by 7 am and ask questions of people that look like they are fans. There will be no loud speakers to announce what is happening. You need the race control frequency but do NOT post it on any forums. There are enough sick people as it is who try and jam it. Planes in a class will take off, then call race control to take the course. If they want to qualify, they call for the clock “ next time around.” .There is a timing sheet distributed at the NAG trailer in the pits where you can correlate lap times with speeds. Qualification times are posted outside the comm. shop in the big hanger. Ramp security is minimal on Monday so make sure you have situations awareness and don’t walk into any planes, moving or not.

Qualifications/Practice usually ends by 6 pm. But Stead never sleeps.

Tuesday Second day of practice. Not sure if this is true but it seems to me that if the weather is good Monday and the forecast is for worse Tuesday, pilots are more likely to qualify Monday. Or visa vera if the weather is flipped. Really bad weather in the high desert this time of year is rare. But there is always the wind. Food concessions start to open up. Vendors start to appear. So do show planes and static planes.

Wednesday. 8 am till Noon. Last chance to qualify. If you blew your engine Monday or Tuesday you worked all night to fix it for Wednesday. If you don’t officially qualify, you start in the back of the pack when the racing starts. Noon to Five is the offical start of races and air show acts. There will be an admission fee starting on Wednesday.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all pretty much the same, air races and air show acts interspersed. The crowds build each day and on Saturday, you want to be sure to be there early if you want to see the first race which usually gets off at 8 am. The security lines move pretty quickly at 7:30 am…not so quickly at 8:30 am. Chairs are allowed in some areas, but not in the pits. What you can and can not bring in changes from year to year.
Your bags will be searched. It is always best to ask what is good and what is bad.

Sunday. This is for the glory. Gold, silver and bronze classes for each of 6 classes. Expect long lines to get in, at the porta-potties, for parking, and for food.
Good luck getting back to town at the end of the races. Another reason to camp out, party, and watch the gridlock.

Monday morning. Bummer. Where did the last 9 days go? I just got here! It’s a good time to watch the airshow, static, and races planes leave, say goodbye to friends. And make plans for next year.