Records and Racing

By Marilyn Dash

Progress is being made, say officials for the Reno National Championship Air Races (RARA). Last month, RARA met with the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority (RTAA) to discuss obtaining the permits needed to hold the event at the Reno-Stead Airport in September.

RTAA is the owner and operator of the Reno-Tahoe International and Reno-Stead Airports. It is governed by a nine-member Board of Trustees.

In this meeting, Mike Houghton, president of RARA told the airport officials that he is “totally satisfied” with the direction the board is taking in considering the permits.

Only two people spoke up against RARA at the RTAA meeting, both having had previous anti-RARA episodes. One of their stated concerns was the NTSB will not complete its probable cause report before the planned September 12 start of the 2012 event. This is quite standard; the NTSB generally takes up to three years to investigate such an accident.

The permits from RTAA are just one of the hurdles RARA needs to manage before the Pylon Racing Seminar in June and the Races in September can be held.

The next hurdle is the Air Racing Waiver from the FAA. This allows us to create the airspace necessary to hold such an event. Waivered airspace allows us to exceed the normal speed limits, fly in “close proximity” to other aircraft, etc. These two key items are essential to holding the event. But, they are not the only things on the task list.