Reno Air Races - Let's Go Racing!

First the GREAT news!

As we are going to press today, we received word that we are in fact racing in September. The much publicized shortfall of $1M towards the event insurance was eradicated when the NCOT (Nevada Commission on Tourism) came forward to provide the final $600,000.

This was the last hurdle to racing in September. All of the waivers, permits, and requirements have been satisfied and now the final checkbox has been ticked and we are on the road to Reno!

Alan Crawford rounding the pylons at PRS
Credit: Bruce Croft

Other good news includes the addition of a new racer in the IF1 Class. Brian Reberry’s new racer, September Fate, has been completed, tested, approved and registered to race in September. It has been two years since the first time I saw an artist’s rendering of the racer – and it’s now real and ready.

Reberry was introduced to the Reno Air Races through the late, great Gary Hubler, another Boise, ID pilot and long time IF1 Winner. In 2005, he started racing with N-A-Rush. He sold N-A-Rush and put the time, money and energy into building his new racer. You can see the resemblance in the gear to Tom Aberle’s Phantom, which has dominated the Biplane Class for years. 

Brian gives plenty of credit to his team, sponsors and his wife for all the assistance over the last two years.

Reberry’s Racer, “September Fate”
Credit: Sherawn Reberry

Will Reberry’s design dominate the IF1 class? Will he give Steve Senegal and Endeavor a run for the Gold? We will find out in September.

Now for the not so great news…

It looks like Czech Mate will not make it again this year. Czech has been going through a speed increasing and airframe strengthening for the last several years. We had all hoped the work had been completed, tested and the racer would be ready for September, but sadly, that will not happen.

Czech Mate Fans will be disappointed this year
Credit: Tim Adams

John and Marcia Moore have owned the racer since 1997. They have made significant changes to it since it was owned by Bob Yancey and have always said they would not race it if they felt it wasn’t ready – and by ready, I believe they mean tested and tested and tested, again. We will miss Czech this year, but we know they are doing the right thing and it’ll be racing when it’s ready.

Other not so great news…

The numbers are down. For all classes except the Sport Class, we do not have full fields. This fact, coupled with the low attendance at PRS would normally send a slight panic through the air racing world. However, so many folks were waiting to hear that we were DEFINITELY racing in September; there was a “wait and see” attitude. It’s too bad the news has come so late. If we had heard by April, perhaps PRS attendance and the race numbers would have been higher.

We still have time for late entries and there is always the hope that this will happen – but even if we’re down in numbers, we expect to see a full field of fans and fun!

The variety of classes racing in September
Credit: Bruce Croft

More info on Air Racer 3D 

I wanted to end this column on a very high note. We have been working with the Executive Producers of the Air Racers 3D movie about possible venues to view the movie during the Race Week. 

I can now confirm that "Air Racers 3D" will be screened at the four existing multiplexes in Reno for an exclusive 2-week engagement (Sept. 7-20). Show times will be at 7:00 PM and 8:15 PM every day. Audience can already book tickets online at via the Cinemark Theater Website or through the new movie website http://airracers-thefilm.com/.

We are planning on a Team Ruby event at one of the theaters during race week and will make sure we give everyone more details as they become available.

New Ruby Logo
Credit: Thanks to Phil Riek and Tina Leong for creating and tweaking the new design

Finally…

Our fans have been giving us feedback about our Ruby t-shirts. They fact that our current logo only works on light colored shirts and apparently working on airplanes is a dirty business, so we have a redesigned logo which will work on black t-shirts. You can purchase items with the new logo through CafePress. http://www.cafepress.com/rubyredracing

See you in September
Marilyn Dash
Ruby Red Racing