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The Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) held their annual air racing event at Reno-Stead Airport in Reno, Nevada from September 14th through September 18th, 2022. The variety of high performance, ex-military aircraft which attend each year always adds to the excitement, with the most popular types usually being the piston-engined, former fighter planes of the Unlimited Class. This year, that class featured a mix of Hawker Sea Furies, P-51 Mustangs, and even a Bell P-63 Kingcobra. The Jet Class featured a mixture of ex-military Cold War trainer types, with all of them this year being variants of the Aero-Vodochody L-29 Delfín or L-39 Albatros. The T-6 Class, by definition, features numerous variants of North American Aviation’s legendary WWII trainer. Although the Sport Class typically comprises high-performance civilian aircraft designs, this year proved to be an exception, with Olivier Langeard racing his former Armée de l’air (French Air Force) Socata Epsilon, nicknamed Zebulon.
Olivier Langeard taxiing out for the race in his former French Air Force Socata Epsilon nicknamed “Zebulon” and competing as Race#130. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Unfortunately, thick smoke from regional wildfires severely curtailed much of the flying activities over the first few days at this year’s Reno Air Races. The smoke-laden skies were so dark at times that they resembled an approaching thunderstorm! Visibility obviously became too poor for performers to fly at times, with RARA cancelling several race heats on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
On Thursday, the only aircraft able to race were two pairs of T-6 Texans which took part in one vs. one drag races. Steve Hinton performed an aerobatic routine for the crowd in his recently-restored Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat. His son, Steve Hinton Jr. then took off in Planes of Fame’s P-51D Mustang Wee Willy II, but soon radioed back to report that visibility was unsuitable for the Air Force Heritage Flight to perform; he landed shortly afterwards. Late that afternoon, Mark Peterson arrived in his beautiful Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, but that rounded out the vintage flying on Thursday. The team I worked for, Race Jet #11, was asked if we would like to pull our L-39 Albatros down to the ramp for some photographs alongside the US Air Force F-22 Raptor demo jets – a task in which we happily obliged. Race Jet #11 is owned by Lt Col (Ret’d) Jerry “Jive” Kerby and L.M. “Lunar” Sawyer.
Steve Hinton Sr. in his F8F-2 Bearcat, BuNo.121707. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Loren Marburg in T-6G ‘Miss Humboldt Hunny’ Race#73. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Greg McNeely in his T-6G Texan Race#90. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Lee Oman in AT-6D ‘Eros’ (Race#69) leading Loren Marburg in T-6G ‘Miss Humboldt Hunny’ Race#73. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Jerry ‘Jive’ Kerby in his L-39C ‘Ivan’ (Race#11). (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Peterson arriving in his beautiful Cessna A-37 Dragonfly. Note the poor visibility conditions at the time… the mountains in the background are barely visible through the murk! (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Moodie in Race #0 – P-51D ‘Spam Can’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steve Hinton Jr. in the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-51D Mustang ‘Wee Willy II’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Joel Stinnett in his AT-6 ‘Midnight Miss III’ Race#43. (photo by Aaron Haase)
On Friday morning, the Jet Class was able to get a Silver Trophy heat in, with Vicky Benzing flying her beautiful L-39 Albatros (Robin I) to victory. The T-6 Class also managed to fly a couple of their one vs. one drag races following the jet heat. The Unlimited Class then got a heat in for the Silver Trophy competition. Among the racers was John Dowd Jr.’s very rare P-51A Mustang and the Palm Springs Air Museum’s P-63 Kingcobra. A few P-51D Mustangs also took part in the race, including Bardahl Special in an all white retro paint scheme harking back to the earliest days of the Reno Air Races. Sadly the afternoon racing events ended up being cancelled again due to excessive smoke levels. However, there was just enough visibility for the Navy Legacy Flight and the Air Force Heritage Flight to perform. Steve Hinton Sr. flew his Bearcat in formation with a VFA-122 “Flying Eagles” F/A-18F Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy’s effort, while Steve Jr. flew the museum’s P-51D Spam Can/Dolly alongside one of the F-22 Raptor demo birds for the Air Force’s routine. As twilight approached, several vintage military aircraft flew including Saunders Aeronautic’s beautiful TBM-3 Avenger, as well as a few T-6 Texans, a C-47 Skytrain, and a couple of P-51 Mustangs giving rides. Another interesting arrival of note featured an F/A-18F Super Hornet from NAS Fallon which Tom Cruise ‘flew’ in the recent movie Top Gun: Maverick; the fighter still bore the same livery it wore for the film.
Steven Coutches in Race #3, P-51D “Bardahl Special”. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steven Coutches in Race #3, P-51D ‘Bardahl Special’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Patrick Nightingale in Race#63, Bell P-63C Kingcobra ‘Pretty Polly’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Palm Springs Air Museum’s AT-6D Texan 42-86068 which once served in the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) as C.6-27. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Greg McNeely in his T-6G Texan Race#90. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steve Hinton Sr. in his F8F-2 Bearcat, BuNo.121707. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steve Hinton Sr. in his F8F-2 Bearcat, BuNo.121707. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steve Hinton Sr. in his F8F-2 Bearcat, BuNo.121707, during the Navy Legacy Flight. (photo by Aaron Haase)
The F/A-18 dressed in the colors it wore while serving as Tom Cruise’s aircraft in Top Gun: Maverick. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steve Hinton Jr. in the Planes of Fame P-51D while flying alongside an F-22 during a U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight performance. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Sanders Aeronautics’ TBM-3 Avenger BuNo.69329. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Sanders Aeronautics’ TBM-3 Avenger BuNo.69329. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Sanders Aeronautics’ TBM-3 Avenger BuNo.69329. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Saturday morning started off beautifully, the smoke seeming to have cleared overnight. The T-6 Class Silver Heat opened up the vintage racing for this day, and soon after they landed, I was lucky enough to find myself heading out to Pylon 7 to take pictures of the Unlimited and Jet Class Gold Heats; obviously the weekend’s fastest races. With blue skies and magnificent mountains as a backdrop, there really was no finer place to watch the air races unfurl. The Unlimted Gold Heat included three Hawker Sea Furies, with Joel Swager flying last year’s winner, the R-4360-powered Dreadnaught; Swager ran away with the race.Three P-51 Mustangs also took part in this heat, but the ‘corncob’ Sea Fury proved too much for them. The Jet Class Gold Heat included several L-29s and L-39s; for me, it was one of the best races of the week as it concluded with an incredible photo finish. After that heat, I headed back to the crowd line to watch a Mustang racing duel of yore take place between Bardahl Special and Lady B – both of these Mustangs had taken part in the earliest air racing events at Reno during the mid 1960s. A T-6 Gold Class Heat then took place, with Chris Rushing winning the race in his AT-6B Barons Revenge. A Jet Class Bronze Trophy heat was up next, with Matt Conklin taking the checkered flag in an L-29 nicknamed Sluggo. Sadly, the smoke returned later that afternoon, but not before the Unlimited Class was able to fly a Silver Trophy heat, with Steve Coutches winning in P-51D Bardahl Special. Soon after, Steve Hinton Sr took off in his F8F Bearcat in preparation for the day’s Navy Legacy Flight, but the smoke-thickened skies were now too murky for safe formation flying, so he scrubbed their performance. Visibility did improve enough later in the afternoon for Steve Hinton Jr to fly Wee Willy II in the Air Force Heritage Flight; this display wrapped up the day’s flying.
Joel Swager in Race#8, the former Burmese Air Sea Fury T.20 known as “Dreadnaught”. (photo by Aaron Haase)
. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Watt in Race#114, the Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 known as ‘Argonaut’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Brant Seghetti in Race#44, P-51D Mustang ‘Blondie’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Dan Vance in P-51D ‘Speedball Alice’ flying as Race#31. (photo by Aaron Haase)
‘Dreadnaught’ scorching down the valley. (photo by Aaron Haase)
A closeup view of Dennis Sanders coming round Pylon 7 in his Sea Fury T.Mk.20 Race#924. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Rob Patterson racing in the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-51D ‘Wee Willy II’ flying as Race#81. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Argonaut pulling past Pylon 7. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Brant Seghetti in ‘Blondie’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Dan Vance in P-51D ‘Speedball Alice’ flying as Race#31. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Joel Swager in Race#8, the former Burmese Air Sea Fury T.20 known as ‘Dreadnaught’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Rob Patterson racing in the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-51D ‘Wee Willy II’ flying as Race#81. (photo by Aaron Haase)
A closeup view of Dennis Sanders coming round Pylon 7 in his Sea Fury T.Mk.20 Race#924. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Joel Swager in Race#8, the former Burmese Air Sea Fury T.20 known as ‘Dreadnaught’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Watt in Race#114, the Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 known as Argonaut. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Rob Patterson speeding past Pylon 7 in the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-51D ‘Wee Willy II’ flying as Race#81. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Brant Seghetti in ‘Blondie’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
L-29s duking it out with an L-39. The red L-29 in front is the late Aaron Hogue flying Race#29 ‘Ballista’. Peter Stavrides is flying L-29 Race#77 in black and gold trim, while David Sterling is bringing up the rear in his L-39, Race#8. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Brant Seghetti in ‘Blondie’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Peter A. Zaccagnino coming round Pylon 7 in his L-29 nicknamed ‘Just Lucky’ flying as Race#24. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Pete Zaccagnino in his L-29 ‘Just Lucky’, flying as Race#24. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Dianna Stanger in her L-139 nicknamed ‘DARKSTAR’, flying as Race#139. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Peter Stavrides showing just how tightly you can fly around the pylons! (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Davis in his L-29 flying as Race#129. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Peter Stavrides banking sharply as he rounds Pylon 7. Note how the background mountains are nearly completely obscured by the smokey conditions. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Dianna Stanger in her L-139 nicknamed ‘DARKSTAR’, flying as Race#139. (photo by Aaron Haase)
David Sterling in his L-39, Race#8. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Davis in his L-29 flying as Race#129. (photo by Aaron Haase)
The red L-29 in front is the late Aaron Hogue flying in Race#29 ‘Ballista’, while David Sterling is bringing up the rear in his L-39, Race#8. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Davis in his L-29 flying as Race#129. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Davis rounding Pylon 7 in his L-29 flying as Race#129. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Vintage Reno Air Racing between two P-51D Mustangs… each of which bore the name “Bardahl” during the earliest days of air racing at Reno in the 1960s. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Michael Pfleger in the vintage 1960s Reno Racer once owned by the late E.D. Weiner and flown as ‘Bardahl Miss’ (now also sporting the name ‘Lady B’). (photo by Aaron Haase)
Steven Coutches in the vintage 1960s Reno Racer once owned by the late Chuck Lyford’s and flown as ‘Bardahl Special’. There were 3 different P-51 Mustang’s sponsored by Bardahl Oil Company between 1964-68: Chuck Lyford’s #8 “Bardahl Special” (N2869D), E.D. Weiner’s #14 x-country racer “Bardahl II” (N335) and E.D. Weiner’s #49 pylon racer “Bardahl Miss” (N335J).
(photo by Aaron Haase)
By Sunday morning, the smoke had finally cleared off, although the skies were still grey with clouds until late afternoon. The T-6 Class opened the day’s racing, with congratulations going to Bill Muszala for his win in SNJ-5 Miss Ellaneous! Mustangs Bardahl Special and Lady B then repeated their classic Reno one vs. one race. A missing man flyover also took place, a poignant tribute to Sherman Smoot, the beloved, long-time Reno Air Racer who tragically lost his life while preparing for this year’s event in his highly modified Yak-11 Czech Mate. The aircraft performing this flyover included Saunders Aeronautic’s TBM-3 Avenger alongside one of their Hawker Sea Furies and Planes of Fame Air Museum’s F4U-1A Corsair and Hinton’s F8F Bearcat. Air racing then continued with the T-6 Class Silver Trophy finale; Gene McNeely capturing the honors. Then it was time for the Jet Class Silver Trophy event, with Alex Eckmann winning in his L-39 Red Thunder. The Unlimited Class Silver Trophy race unfolded next, with John Dowd Jr. winning in his beautiful, highly polished P-51A Mustang Shanty Irish. Chris Rushing then won the T-6 Class Gold Trophy in his AT-6B Barons Revenge.
John ‘Dusty’ Dowd, Jr. in his A-model Mustang “Shanty Irish” competing as Race#6 is ahead of a brace of P-51Ds. (photo by Aaron Haase)
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Joe Swindel in L-29 ‘Vertigo’ competing as Race#23. (photo by Aaron Haase)
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Charlie Camilleri in L-29 ‘Miss Independence’ flying as Race#61. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Joe Swindel in L-29 ‘Vertigo’ competing as Race#23. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Nathan Harnagel in L-29 ‘Spirit of Freedom’ competing as Race#55. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Cyrill Wipfli in L-39 ‘Subito’ competing as Race#73. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Jeff LaVelle taking off in P-51D ‘Sweet and Lovely’ competing as Race#4. (photo by Aaron Haase)
John ‘Dusty’ Dowd, Jr. in his A-model Mustang ‘Shanty Irish’ competing as Race#6. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Michael Pfleger taking off in ‘Bardahl Miss/Lady B’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Michael Pfleger flying in P-51D Mustang ‘Bardahl Miss/Lady B’ leading Mark Moodie in ‘Spam Can/Dolly’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Mark Moodie in the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-51D ‘Spam Can/Dolly’, competing as Race#0. (photo by Aaron Haase)
John ‘Dusty’ Dowd, Jr. in his A-model Mustang ‘Shanty Irish’ competing as Race#6. (photo by Aaron Haase)
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Michael Pfleger in ‘Bardahl Miss/Lady B’ competing as Race#49. (photo by Aaron Haase)
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The missing man formation. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Argonaut pulling up in a ‘missing man’ salute to the late Shermon Smoot. (photo by Aaron Haase)
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Joey ‘Gordo’ Sanders flying his SNJ-4 Texan known as ‘Big Red’ (Race#5) flying against Greg McNeely in Race#90. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Alex Eckmann in his L-39MS ‘Red Thunder’ competing as Race#7. (photo by Aaron Haase)
John ‘Dusty’ Dowd, Jr. in his A-model Mustang ‘Shanty Irish’ competing as Race#6. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Jerry ‘Jive’ Kerby in his L-39C ‘Ivan’ (Race#11). (photo by Aaron Haase)
Patrick Nightingale in Race#63, Bell P-63C Kingcobra ‘Pretty Polly’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
John ‘Dusty’ Dowd, Jr. in his A-model Mustang ‘Shanty Irish’ competing as Race#6. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Patrick Nightingale in Race#63, Bell P-63C Kingcobra ‘Pretty Polly’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Tom Nightingale in his P-51D Mustang ‘Bunny’ competing as Race#62. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Texans tucked in close during their race. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Texans rounding the course. (photo by Aaron Haase)
John S. Lohmar in his SNJ-5 Texan Race#88 ‘Radial Velocity’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Joel Stinnett in his AT-6 ‘Midnight Miss III’ Race#43. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Vitaly Pecherskyy in his Harvard Mk.II (Race#50) ‘Abracadabra’. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Texans rounding the pylons. (photo by Aaron Haase)
Sadly tragedy then gripped the Reno Air Races in the Jet Class Gold Trophy race when Aaron Hogue died in the crash of his L-29 Ballista. RARA understandably cancelled the Unlimited Gold Trophy finale which had been due to conclude the racing events that day. Aaron Hogue was a wonderfully generous human being, and his loss is felt keenly in the tight-knit air racing community… we all want to express our deep sympathy to his family and friends.
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
The Bardahl Special was NEVER owned by ED Weiner. BARDAHL Miss Race #49 and his transcon racer #14 were his two P51s. The BARDAHL Special was owned and raced by Chuck Lyford in the ’60s as Race #8.
In picture 55(of 90) that is not Steve it is John Muszala Jr. Steve wore a grey helmet, John a white one.
Many thanks for your correction (re. E.D.Weiner). We have since updated the text to reflect this detail. However, I am not sure which image you are referring to regarding the incorrect pilot name. Perhaps you could describe what the image shows. Thanks again for your support!
Sorry about the loss of the jet, had it not been for the quick reactions of Jet #77 it could have been worse. No one missed anything for no Unlimited Gold, the “Super Mustangs” are gone, and the only other contender “Czech Mate” crashed weeks before Reno, taking her pilot, Sherman Smoot with her. I think RARA needs to either step up or cease operations of the Air Races.
Why so negative. Yes there have been deaths and some of those may have been preventable. However tragic though how many people get to go out doing something they love and chose to do. By a factor of 10,000x times car deaths take more everyday are are going to tell them to step up road safty or should we all walk/bike everywhere we go
The Bardahl Special was NEVER owned by ED Weiner. BARDAHL Miss Race #49 and his transcon racer #14 were his two P51s. The BARDAHL Special was owned and raced by Chuck Lyford in the ’60s as Race #8.
In picture 55(of 90) that is not Steve it is John Muszala Jr. Steve wore a grey helmet, John a white one.
Many thanks for your correction (re. E.D.Weiner). We have since updated the text to reflect this detail. However, I am not sure which image you are referring to regarding the incorrect pilot name. Perhaps you could describe what the image shows. Thanks again for your support!
Thank you for the edit. The pictures are outstanding and so is the write up for the races. Thank you for the coverage great quality content.
Sorry about the loss of the jet, had it not been for the quick reactions of Jet #77 it could have been worse. No one missed anything for no Unlimited Gold, the “Super Mustangs” are gone, and the only other contender “Czech Mate” crashed weeks before Reno, taking her pilot, Sherman Smoot with her. I think RARA needs to either step up or cease operations of the Air Races.
Why so negative. Yes there have been deaths and some of those may have been preventable. However tragic though how many people get to go out doing something they love and chose to do. By a factor of 10,000x times car deaths take more everyday are are going to tell them to step up road safty or should we all walk/bike everywhere we go