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The Pylon Place: A Year to Remember
National Air Race Championships
By Marilyn Dash
This year provided some of the best racing in recent memory. It seemed that all the classes had epic battles, fought before the larger than expected crowd.
The Sanders Legacy
Red Bull Air Race Budapest 2015
By Ruggero Piccoli and Alberto Celsan
Paul Bonhomme starts a new lap after passing under the Chain Bridge. (Ruggero Piccoli)Budapest, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, has been the background for the fourth race of the Red Bull Air Race 2015. The stage was held on July 4 and 5 in the city where it all started 12 years ago when the air race format saw its debut. Despite the hot temperatures during the race’s days, about 10,000 people attended on the Danube banks the world’s fastest motor sport series, which returned in Budapest after six years. Thanks to the impressive scenario of the Parliament Building and the famous bridges, the stage is one of the favorites for both pilots and the public, which had the opportunity to see the aircraft flying at speeds close to 370 km/h through the pylons few meters over the water.
The race track was developed over the Danube River in front of the Parliament Building and the planes entered the track flying beneath the famous 19th century Chain Bridge, a spectacular way to start the race, which the master pilots were able to perform safely, as Besenyei explains, “I did this hundreds of times, also upside-down. It’s not a problem.”
Red Bull Air Race 2015
By Ruggero Piccoli
The third act of Red Bull Air Race 2015 was held on May 30 and 31 in the city of Rovinji, Croatia. On the original planning, this race should be staged in Sochi, but during the first months of the year, the Air Race Staff faced financial and organizational problems in Sochi due to the situation of the international markets, as underlined by Erich Wolf, General Manager of the Red Bull Air Race,“Our partners in Russia are facing extremely high exchange rates. This makes it impossible to set up an infrastructure fulfilling our high standards and also to provide our fans with tickets at affordable prices. Nevertheless, we still hope to stage a race in Sochi in the future.”
By the way, Rovinji has been for sure a good alternative with its beautiful scenario. The small city is a well-known tourist site located in the central part of the coast on the Istrian Peninsula. Its pre-Roman origin and the beautiful waters of the Adriatic Sea make the city the second most popular tourist site of Croatia. Together with the success of last year’s race won by Arch who beat Bonhomme for just eight hundredths of a second, the narrowest margin of victory in the sport’s history, these have been good guarantees to bring the race again in Rovinji for the second straight year. The race in Rovinj, the first of four European stops, paid tribute to the rich aviation tradition in the region, which includes nearby Slovenia, Austria, and Italy. For Dolderer and Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic as well as for Arch, it was also a sort of home race.
The Pylon Place: The Man Who Has Flown Everything – Finally Gets His Chance in Strega
By Marilyn Dash
Hoot’s ride for 2015 - Goot Hoot! (Anthony Taylor/Warbirdfotos.com)Robert Lee Gibson, better known to Air Racing Fans as “Hoot” is one of the most highly decorated racers around. Will he finally get the chance to be a Champion?
Hoot was born in Upstate New York, yet considers a town outside of LA to be his “hometown.” He, like so many others, soloed at 16 and earned his pilots’ license at 17. He always knew he wanted to be a pilot– even at the age of 10 when his dad turned the Bonanza yoke over to his side and let him perform his first take off. Both of his parents were pilots, and his dad was an aeronautical engineer. Flying and aeronautics were a family tradition in the Gibson household.
The Pylon Place: Air Race
By Marilyn Dash
Air Race 1 – Tunisia
Thom Richard, Jay Jones and Michael Mundell in the Gold. (Used with permission from Air Race 1)I’ve heard the question a hundred times, why is International Formula One Air Racing called International? Well, Jeff Zaltman and his team have put the International back into IF1.
Last year, in their inaugural season, Air Race 1 put together a great race in Spain. This year, they have a three Race Series, starting in Tunisia and finishing in Reno, Nev. They are revisiting their roots in Spain in the middle of the season. In fact, the teams are heading to Spain as we go to press.
First thing you’ll notice is a bunch of familiar names from the IF1 Class at Reno. Only two competitors are not Reno Air Races veterans, and the planes are very familiar as well!
The Pylon Place: What’s New at the Reno Air Races?
By Marilyn Dash
Last year’s winner, Voodoo and Stevo HintonThe big news everyone is talking about is the hiring of Mike Crowell as the president and chief executive officer of the National Championship Air Races. After a few visits with Mike, I can say that I am very happy to see someone of his caliber taking the reins.
“We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Mike’s caliber step in to take the helm at the Reno Air Races,” said John Agather, chairman of the RARA board of directors. “We are looking to Mike to bring his leadership, experience, and expertise in running efficient organizations to the Reno Air Races so that we can ensure this important northern Nevada event is successful for many years to come.”
Ninety Nines Women Pilots – Flying in Amelia Earhart’s Footsteps
By Donia Moore
OC 99s Aviation Week (Donia Moore)The Powder Puff Derby was in full flight, with aircraft landing and taking off from Lockheed Terminal, piloted by women members of the International Ninety Nines Women’s Flying Club. On the ground, Girl Scout Troop 671 watched in awe as the pilots maneuvered their aircraft around the tower and headed through the clear skies for the next leg of the relay air race. Most of the young Scouts had never even seen a small plane, outside or inside, and few had ever seen women pilots flying them. Amelia Earhart was a distant historical figure to most of them. The girls were at the airport to act as hostesses for the lady fliers, helping out where they could. One of the Scouts was so captivated by the 
Cameron’s first solo - Fullerton 99s. (Donia Moore)scene that she only stare longingly at what looked to her like toy airplanes come to life.
The mother of another of the Scouts was flying in the competition that day. Though she was well known and well liked by them all, none of the other Scouts except her daughter had ever seen her fly her plane before. Noting the rapturous look on the Scout’s face, she decided to return to the airport later that afternoon and offer to take the girls up for a ride. She didn’t know that the experience would fuel the lifelong dream of one young Scout to take her own place above the clouds.
Britain's Nigel Lamb Wins a Dramatic Red Bull Air Race World Championship Showdown, Beating Hannes Arch of Austria and Britain's Paul Bonhomme in Season Finale
Britain’s Nigel Lamb won the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship this month with a dramatic victory under pressure at the season finale in Spielberg, Austria. Lamb’s second place finish after secured him the championship after Austria’s Hannes Arch ended up a disappointing fourth place in a nail-biting final in front of a sell-out crowd of 35,000 spectators.
France’s Nicolas Ivanoff won the race in the Austrian Alps for his second victory this season, but the nine points that Lamb won were enough to stave off a powerful challenge from local hero, Arch, and keep the British pilot in first place with a grand total of 62 points from the eight-race world championship. Arch, who could have won the World Championship with a victory in the final, ended up nine points behind Lamb and second overall for the third straight time in the world’s fastest motorsport series after being the runner-up to Paul Bonhomme of Britain in 2009 and 2010.
The Pylon Place - February 2014
Bringing Elsa Home
By Marilyn Dash
First photo in the new airplane, Marilyn Dash and Elsa. (Courtesy of Marilyn Dash)I thought it would be fun to do a column this month about a personal experience. After racing in the Biplane Class for eleven years, I decided to look at purchasing a potential Sport Class Racer. I’ve always said the perfect two airplane family would be an “upside down” airplane and a “go places” airplane. So, Ruby may now be just for “upside down” flying – and we would need something faster, with some luggage space – to “go places”.
I started in the usual way, perusing ads on Barnstormers and Trade-a-Plane, etc. I found a few older Glasairs and RVs, etc. And then through mutual friends, I heard about an RV-6 which I immediately knew was going to be mine.
The Pylon Place - January 2014
The Future of the Reno Air Races…
By Marilyn Dash
(Bruce Croft)Since the Galloping Ghost crash of 2011, the Air Races have been plagued with financial concerns and rumors about closing the doors.
In the last few months, Michael Houghton, RARA President, has been talking about this year’s event being in jeopardy if $500,000 was not raised by Dec. 15. Just in the nick of time, we were told the event is back on. This leaves many people wondering about the long-term viability – and if this will continue to be a year-to-year endeavor.
The Pylon Place - August 2013
Innovations in Air Racing
By Marilyn Dash
With all the drama surrounding the transition from the old unlimited class to the new, the fans are forgetting about the other five classes of racing. I’ve decided to focus this month’s column on the other classes, the innovators and racers who we don’t hear about on the forums. Who they are and what to look for this year – but let’s start with why the fans aren’t as enamored with these classes, and why maybe they should be.
Air racing through the years was always about technical advancements – especially for civil aviation. Among the first races in the 1910s, the draw was for inventers to show their wares and develop a name for themselves through their innovation. Thousands would flock to these events to watch the historic races and see how far aviation had changed since 1903 at Kitty Hawk.
The Pylon Place - March 2013
New Rides and Awards
By Marilyn Dash
Super Legacy Race 33 in the early morning sun. (Tim Adams)The big news in air racing this month is the re-emergence of Daryl Greenamyer’s and Andy Chiavetta’s sport class racer the Super Legacy, Race 33. This racer has known her share of troubles, but has also won it all with Daryl at the controls.
This year, Will Whiteside will be the pilot – coming off several successful years racing in the unlimited division in both Voodoo and Steadfast. Will actually started racing in the sport class many years ago in CJ Stephens’ Glasair.
What this brings to us is a pretty exciting three-way duel between 2012 winner, Jeff Lavelle; 2011 winner, John Parker; and Will Whiteside in Race 33. We know all three have a competitive spirit. This should be very exciting for Sport Class fans.
The Pylon Place - February 2013
Off Season - History
By Marilyn Dash
Looking forward to seeing the Lewis Air Force flying again soon (Tim Adams)As many of you know, I’m fascinated by aviation, history, science and the direction and sequence of how things came to be. Because of that, I have been doing a “This Day In History” or “This Day In Science” bit every day. I believe we take for granted so many things around us with little thought of how these items came to be. So, while things are slow in the aviation off-season, I thought it would be fun to share some of the “Things we’ve learned from NASA.”
The Pylon Place - January 2013
Aviation Events in 2013
By Marilyn Dash
Big things are happening this year in aviation. Before we get too far into the new year, I wanted to help you plan your vacation time. So, get out your Ruby Aviation calendar (www.cafepress.com/aviation_calendar) and a pen and let’s get started.
Reno Air Races
Reno Air Races action, where else can you see racing Mustangs. (Anthony D. Taylor/warbirdsfotos.com)Priority number one to air race fans will be the 50th Annual National Championship Air Races, which will be held Sept. 11-15, 2013. If you only make one event this year, I am pretty sure this is the one to make.
The planning has started to have many old-time racers in attendance. I will continue to include updates as plans become more solid throughout the year. But, circle this one, and consider coming for the entire week. Qualifying starts on Monday, Sept. 9, 2013.
With all the rumors floating around for the last few years about this being the final Reno, if your bucket list contains “Race at Reno,” you need to go to the Pylon Racing Seminar (PRS), aka Rookie School. This will likely be held the week of June 10. You need to attend PRS if you want to race, so in order to check off that box on your bucket list you will need to be here in June to be there in September.
I should also mention that I don’t believe the rumors; I didn’t believe the rumor about the Mayans either – and they were wrong too.
The Pylon Place - December 2012
That is one Fast Glasair …
By Marilyn Dash
Jeff LaVelle rounding the pylons in his Glasair III. (Bruce Croft /www.twozerowest.com)Honoring my commitment to cover all of the Race Classes at Reno, not just the Unlimiteds, I wanted to introduce you to Jeff LaVelle, the 2012 Sport Class Gold Champion and his Glasair III.
A seemingly mild mannered Glasair III, one that looks remarkably like the others you may see each weekend flying to the next $100 Hamburger location. However, this one is special – very special. But all that is special is on the inside.
Jeff LaVelle, like so many other race pilots, started out racing something else, for him it was motorcycles. He always had a competitive spirit that made him look for ways to improve. He became a pilot about 20 years ago and later attended the Reno Air Races, setting his sights on competing there.
Mister Mulligan: Golden Age Race Winner with a Fine Irish Name
By Alan Smith
Benny Howard’s Mister Mulligan, 1935 winner of both Bendix and Thompson trophies. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)As air racing’s Golden Age of the 1930s went on, the design of new racers continued to lead advancement in both military and civil aviation. In 1935, Benny Howard’s high wing monoplane Mister Mulligan was a classic example of this. With Gordon Israel as co-pilot, Howard won the cross country Bendix from the west coast to Cleveland and then with Harold Neumann as pilot, Mulligan went on to win the Thompson Trophy. The Bendix trophy was won partly because Howard and Israel used on-board oxygen for the first time and stayed above the weather. The oxygen system was another racing innovation passed on to other designers in the military and civil aviation world.
1935 was really Benny Howard’s year of triumph. Not only did Mulligan win both the Bendix and the Thompson, but Neumann also won the Greve Trophy in Howard’s little Mike racer.
The Pylon Place - October 2012
The Return to the Races
By Marilyn Dash
We expected it to feel different, and it did. We expected it to be more difficult, and it was. But we never expected it to be so cathartic. At least I didn’t.
The week started out earlier than usual. Racers were to be on the field by noon on the Saturday before the races. This is by far the earliest we were told to be there. But we were there and we were together.
It was good to see some of the new aircraft, new paint jobs, new owners, etc. And, of course, it was good to see all the new rookies and our old friends. Lots of hugs were exchanged and stories were shared about the off-season and how most of us were absolutely certain we wouldn’t be standing there – but we were.
Before I review the races, I wanted to share a quote from Tim Cone, rookie Sport Class racer, “What do they call the pilot who places LAST in the Bronze heat of a Reno Air Race? An Air Racer!” – And he’s right! Congrats to all the racers and especially the rookies.
The Pylon Place - September 2012
Reno Air Racing Prep - 2012
By Marilyn Dash
Keeping up with the news surrounding the Reno Air Races this year has been exhausting. Racers and fans alike have so many questions, i.e., are we racing, what changes will we see, who will be there, who won’t, will the fans notice any changes? These are all good questions. I hope that I have, through this column, helped everyone understand what the process has been following the horrific event of September 16, 2011. I have tried to listen to the questions the fans have been asking and answer them here.
Why, How and When the Sport of Air Racing Was Born
By Alan Smith
Ever since the industrial revolution we have found ways to race every machine of motion that we have built. We raced steam locomotives on the main line, and steamboats on the nation’s rivers. We raced bicycles, scooters, ice skates and roller skates. We race anything that can move. It wouldn’t be surprising if we raced elevators in new office towers.
Yes, the human is a very competitive animal. It was natural that, a little less than six years after Ohio bicycle builders Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world’s first powered airplane flight on December 17, 1903 that competition between pioneer pilots and their aircraft would begin, and begin it did in France in August 1909.