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Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

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  • Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

    It's been years since I've gone to the races, but WTH happened to the Unlimited field? Looking at the 2015 NCAR qual pages The jets class outnumbers the Unlimited's!?!?! So many familiar aircraft missing, September Fury, Dego Red, Miss America, Czech Mate to name a few. Has attrition been that much of an impact with the Unlimited's over the past number of years?

    -John

  • #2
    Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

    John, Dago has been away for many years. Some speculation she may come back but it would require a lot of effort and $$. The concern is always over the future of the races themselves. Don't want to develop a plane if there is no place to race!
    Czech Mate is taking a year off. I read that it was no longer advertised for sale. First I heard it was for sale!
    Sept Fury is tucked away behind Rear Bear in the Reno hanger minus an engine.
    Furius had the landing gear issue then was dropped while being lifted on to a flatbed.
    Precious Metal recently caught fire on its first leg of XC trip to Reno this year. Team wants to rebuild. Seeking crowd funding.
    Ridge Runner III was sold to someone in Germany I think.
    There are a few more that could return but again teams waiting to see the long range plans of RARA.
    Chris

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    • #3
      Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

      Originally posted by Rugman66 View Post
      It's been years since I've gone to the races, but WTH happened to the Unlimited field? Looking at the 2015 NCAR qual pages The jets class outnumbers the Unlimited's!?!?! So many familiar aircraft missing, September Fury, Dego Red, Miss America, Czech Mate to name a few. Has attrition been that much of an impact with the Unlimited's over the past number of years?

      -John
      The past few years have been tough on the Unlimiteds. After the crash in 2011, that hurt things. Then there were issues with teams getting paid for their placings.

      Sept Fury/232 needs an engine, is most likely for sale.
      Dago Red was repo'd by the bank a few years ago and is now owned by a former team member and is sitting in pieces in Fresno. It sounds like the owner wants to bring it back but is waiting to see how the races fair since their continuation has been iffy since the crash.

      Miss America apparently won't come back till they are paid what they won in 2012 or 2013 (I can't remember what year it was.)

      Czech Mate, I don't know exactly why its parked in Shafter right now. Apparently the owner didn't want to race it this year.

      Furias had a gear up landing that did a lot of damage that was compounded when it got dropped. It was sold and bought by the owner of Miss Merced who is racing a T6 this year. There is hope that he will bring either Furias back or Miss Merced in the future.

      Steadfast will be back next year. It was sold to someone in Australia. They want to box it back up and ship it back to the states to race it again.

      Risky Business/Goldfinger was bought by Mike Brown and was supposed to race this year but as of early this week was still in pieces and getting paint. Look for it next year.

      Precious Metal had a fire this year and the guys are trying to crowdsource the funds to rebuild. Donate here. https://www.gofundme.com/dg4s583w

      Yes there are quite a few unlimiteds missing, but they aren't necessarily gone, but just broken, out of the country, on hiatus, and/or waiting to see how this year pans out.

      Will

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      • #4
        Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

        Originally posted by Hans Oberev View Post
        Ridge Runner III was sold to someone in Germany I think.
        Chris
        Actually Ridge Runner was sold to Pat Harker in Minnesota. They are in the midst of restoring one of the Soplata F-82's.
        I will just go ahead and get the next comment taken care of.
        Double Threat.

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        • #5
          Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

          Thanks All for the updates. Yeah, I read of PM's fire a week ago, broke my heart. She has been one of my fav's for many years. Just sad to see such a short Unlimited roster. We can only wait to see if it expands in the future.

          -John

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          • #6
            Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

            Lets face it, Unlimiteds are Reno. Sure, I love all types of airracing, T-28's , come on back. To really bring in the number of people that use to come, RARA needs to try hard to increase the field to what we had years ago. I thumb thru my past programs and marvel at how many we had in the good ole days. I really miss those planes and pilots. I see other ways they could improve upon. Granted, they have their hands full these days. Will we ever get back where we were pre 2011 and on back, only time will tell. I want to thank all the participants, sponsers, volunteers, RARA and all who worked so dam hard to bring us this years races.
            Best of Luck in 2016, Ron

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            • #7
              Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

              Originally posted by Ron Lewark View Post
              Lets face it, Unlimiteds are Reno. Sure, I love all types of airracing, T-28's , come on back. To really bring in the number of people that use to come, RARA needs to try hard to increase the field to what we had years ago. I thumb thru my past programs and marvel at how many we had in the good ole days. I really miss those planes and pilots. I see other ways they could improve upon. Granted, they have their hands full these days. Will we ever get back where we were pre 2011 and on back, only time will tell. I want to thank all the participants, sponsers, volunteers, RARA and all who worked so dam hard to bring us this years races.
              Best of Luck in 2016, Ron

              I was having the T-28 discussion with one of our crew guys. That would be a great way to have a Bronze class again.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Unlimited class so thin for 2015!

                Originally posted by Rugman66 View Post
                Dego Red
                It's Dago...with an 'a'.

                Unless it's a TF-51.
                Attached Files

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