2006/09/16 Flight to the Reno Air Races | |
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2006-09-16 23:10
by Merlin
in Flying, Nflying
I had planned to do a flight in the trinidad TB20 I just got checked out in, to
see how it behaved on a cross country, and check its typical fuel burn, and when I found out that that weekend happened to be the reno air races, it was a perfect excuse for a flight. The flight there was barely 90mn thanks to the trinidad's superior speed and no head winds, and after taxing to a very full parking area, we got a quick cab ride to Reno Stead Airport. I had never seen airplane races, and I had no idea that they do fly next to one another around pilons, although in most cases, they do spread out due to noticeable performance differences between the different planes. It was interesting to then see the same thing with jet airplanes too ( see more pictures and videos than the two samples below The intermissions, which were mini air shows, were quite entertaining too, especially the USAF ThunderBirds, which still do an impressive job. A good example was landing a tailwheel on top of a moving RV ( more airshow pictures and videos , and more thunderbird pictures and videos )
Separately from the airshow, and races, there were lots of planes on display, old, and new ones. The old planes on display were a nice touch (although no rival for what you'd see at the typical moffett air show), and while in the end we only spent about 5H there, it was nice to have been able to j ust pop up, watch a good portion of it, and fly back home afterwards (with record speeds of 160 knots GS and better due to tailwinds) Below are a few pictures from the airplane display picture library
Anyway, all the pictures and videos are here (thanks much to Warren for his Canon SLR pictures) |