News release - Course Change

[tim]

Re: News release - Course Change

We've held our breath for 8 months hoping and praying there would be racing in 2012, so let's not B*TCH too much about this

At this point, we all need to be thankful there is an event and support it to keep it alive. Everybody buy your tickets, pit passes, and t-shirts. Book flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. and generally buy out the town of Reno for race week.

Let's reserve judgement until we see unlimited racers on the new course, and then maybe on Monday 9/17 we can all meet back here to armchair quarterback the course change.

Predictions...
It will be the best pylon racing you can see anywhere
There will be both tears of joy and tears of sorrow upon walking through the gate
My wife will complain about the weather
Whatever changes with the course, someone will speculate about how fast Dago Red would be on said course.

Well put.... especially the line about the wife b****ing about the weather, and the Dago fans. Whatever the course is I'll be happy to sit in the Reno sun with a cold beer watching airplanes go fast.

[LD1]

Re: News release - Course Change

Most people on this forum are merely the peanut gallery. Lets not take ourselves to seriously. For the most part, the nuts and bolts of all this amount to 'co-operate and graduate.' The big players are all playing the cards that need to be played, the rest of us just need to buy tickets and show our support.

Let the Cliff Clavins of the world knock themsleves out, let's just buy tickets and go racing.

[Coyote Chris]

Re: News release - Course Change

What Big Jim, AirDogge, and Air Judge said. What we CAN do as others have said is give money. While I would like to see a loose organization called "Friends of Reno Air racing" form where we could give cash to them and let them become a sponsor to help pay for the tremendous cost of insurance (and in return get a few perks back that would cost them little) what everone can do NOW is buy tickets, DVDs or whatever will give RARA cash. And if it helps out RARA when I am there I will patronize the vendors and buy the official merchandise. I cant control if the good people of Reno attend the races and buy the home wrecker hotdogs or if the Sponsors in town pony up more bucks. What I can do is open my own wallet. I will not stand by and curse the business folk of Reno for not giving more....they are in this for the bucks...this is a business decision for them...but this is much more for me and I want to be able to look myself in the mirrior if the event ends some day due to no cash and say, well, at least I did my part. Are there a thousand fans out there willing to give an average of $1,000? Are there 2,000 fans willing to give $500? I have no idea. But I do know one thing. We are gonna find out this Sept. If the event makes enough money to stay alive, it will....if not....well, as they said in the movie "The Right Stuff"
"No bucks...no Buck Rogers"

[flyingjibus]

Re: News release - Course Change

How is that different that the first time they changed the course in 1971 from the oval to the triangle? How is it different than the time they moved outer 4,5, and 6 in that cut almost a mile off the course? You don't call that 'dramatic'?

Using that logic, how were the pilots able to negotiate the course at Mojave? Hamilton? Phoenix? Kansas City? Dallas? Denver? Tunica? Oh my gawd...those courses were different from the Reno course that they had 'been flying for decades'. How on earth did they ever find the course and race at those venues?

Come on, dude. These are professional pilots. You find the new course, you practice on the new course, and you race the new course. If it changes your racing line, you slow down to negotiate it until you're comfortable going faster.

Just my observation, but my gut feeling is that Steve Hinton Sr. and Jon Sharp have more experience coming down that valley and negotiating that turn than you do...and they wouldn't have recommended it if they didn't feel it was workable.

I thought about this a bunch last night and after some reflection I came to the same line of thinking as this. I still dont like it, but I aggree they will quickly adjust. I think it may suck for us lowly fans though.

[flyingjibus]

Re: News release - Course Change

Panel member Jon Sharp, an aeronautical engineer and the winningest pilot in the event's history, said he likes the plans for the new course layout and expects it to be well received by pilots and fans alike.

"If I had to guess from what I know about it, the fans won't notice the difference," he said. "The planes will be a little bit farther away but they won't be little dots."

groooooaaan

[Leo]

Re: News release - Course Change

The effect on our spectating depends on how far they actually move it and we don't know that. Like said above, with Jon Sharp and Hinton, among others, making the recomendatins, it's in good hands.
Will it make it safer? Not practically, but I would have to imagine a certain political element at play here. Take a hard stand against changes and the public will not accept it and the races could die.
On the positive side as I see it, with course changes there will be more flying at PRS and early in the week of the races as they get familiar with it. That's wghat I am there for so it's a GOOD thing!

[C_roundy]

Re: News release - Course Change

.................................................. . On the positive side as I see it, with course changes there will be more flying at PRS and early in the week of the races as they get familiar with it. That's wghat I am there for so it's a GOOD thing!

Whoa, thats an oustanding point Leo!. Not only will there be more flying during race week as the pilots practice to learn the new fastest line, but also, the course changes will inevitibly level the playing field slightly between the old guard pilots and the newer, and first time racers.

To me, the prospect of stacking the whole equation somewhat more towards pure racing skill rather than rote volume of racing time & experience can only make the whole schmoo a little more exciting!

I guarantee we're gonna see a lot of exciting stories unfold across race week!

[V1670]

Re: News release - Course Change

... Whatever the course is I'll be happy to sit in the Reno sun with a cold beer watching airplanes go fast.

There ya go, I totally agree. I'll leave the changes to guys like Sharp and Hinton (far better for them to judge than I). It's the environment I like; the people, the planes, the sounds, the camaraderie......

[Coyote Chris]

Re: News release - Course Change

Perspective is a funny thing. I can watch my favorite planes slice and dice and blow by others when they are wayyyyy out there at the far side of the course against the mountains and still get excited.....it doesnt bother me at all if the home stretch is moved out a bit....I have alot of respect for Mr. Sharp et al. Let those that ride decide.

[f1-69]

Re: News release - Course Change

everyone is yakkin about all this , if these changes would have been made last year, guess what , people would still be dead. None of this has made us any safer but it has made it so that people that didnt understand how safety concious reno already was could sleep . As far as the pylon changes , its not that big of a deal, where ever you put them we still fly pylon to pylon, who knows we might even get faster from the change. we didnt fix anything because it was not broken, even in f1 we do at a min of 4 saftey briefs a day, then at the end of the day every class sends a rep for the mass meeting to " talk about saftey". just my little rant , cant wait for sept go KNOTTYGIRL

[Ron Lewark]

Re: News release - Course Change

What ever they have to do to save Reno we need to back them. I don't feel that the course change (and we don't know for sure what it will entail) will impact us that much. We are just so happy that they are going to happen. We didn't know what we were going to do if they were canceled. Yes, a fund that we could contribute into to keep the races going might be a good idea. Let's do all we can to make this the largest attendance to ever go to Reno. I just posted a reply on the AOPA pilot forum Reno thread how much we need spectators to participate this year and will do so on several other aviation forums. Talk to anyone you know that has talked about going to the Reno event and convince them to go.
Ron