In-Stead News
09-19-01
by: Wayne Sagar
The
News We Did Not Want To Hear
Reno 2001 Cancelled -
Bill Eck's Announcement
As racers
and fans gathered in the Reno Air
Race Association hangar last
Friday, hopes were high that we
were to get the announcement we'd
waited for since flight
operations were cancelled on
Tuesday after the brutal attacks
on Washington and New York. This
was not to be.
As RARA Chairman,
Bill Eck stood on the podium in
front of the hopeful crowd, the
expression on his face spoke in
advance of his words.
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 "I've got bad news,
there's no way to put it any
better...." As Eck spoke these
words, a stunned silence fell over the
room.
There were no tears but an
obviously disappointed Eck continued with
the words he did not want to say...
"We really thought that once this
thing started that we would see a lifting
of the restrictions on VFR... they did
open IFR as some of you heard, they did
not open VFR. We thought we could work
around that through the system with our
people downtown... I've been on the phone
for the last hour or so.. and there just
doesn't seem to be a way to make it
work."
Eck went on to explain that
the plan had been to try a grouping of
racers with one of the flight acting as
the IFR "leader," thereby
allowing those not rated or equipped to
fly instruments to race under the single
airplane's flight plan filed from Stead
to Stead.. Eck stated that the FAA had
finally said no to this plan: "The
rule, is as written, you must be an IFR
rated pilot in an IFR rated airplane to
fly... period. We thought that we could
probably arrange to set up a flight of
five or six with a leader that would lead
a group off the ground, squawk whatever
he was told but that's not to be. ATC
tells us that this can just not be
done... all the way down the line it's
been NO, we can not do it. I gotta tell
you this is one of the worst days in my
life!"
 There was more, Eck
explained: "The other thing is that
I learned today, that nobody thought of,
was with this National emergency went
into effect, our waiver was no longer
valid, so we've been running an airport
for two days that we don't own."
And so it was after four
days of hopeful waiting by the racers,
RARA and the fans, it was over. There was
to be no racing this year at Reno. For
many of the aircraft owners and pilots
gathered for the week, there was a
further problem. How do you get over 100
airplanes out of Reno, many of which
would not be legal to fly for several
days? There would not be an easy answer
to this problem either.
When we left Stead on Sunday
evening, the RARA hangar was full of
airplanes, those lucky enough to get
inside that is. There were several
airplanes that had to be left tied down
on the ramp where they had sat for the
better part of a week.
Will there be a Reno 2002?
When this question was put to Eck, his
answer was "we're still in the
business," though he mentioned that
the Air Race Association was in debt in
excess of 1.6 million dollars from the
loss of revenue due to the cancellation.
As of the time we left Reno,
plans for next year, as well as a final
decision on what could be done for the
racers and fans to help out with some of
the expenses lost by those who attended
had not been drawn. Earlier in the week,
RARA had announced that advance ticket
holders could get a refund for Thursday
and Friday's tickets.
 Everyone lost money this
year, the fans and racers who traveled
thousand of miles to attend, the vendors
and sponsors, the reporters and
photographers. We all lost money.
It may be wrong to
editorialize in a news story but in
conclusion to this particular report, I
am going to make an editorial statement:
If any of us can afford to do it, I think
this is a good time for us all to put our
money where out mouths are. Don't ask for
your ticket to be refunded. Everyone lost
this year, if we stand together in this
time of crisis and do whatever we can to
help our sport, we can help ensure that
it stays healthy and continues to grow.
If we all insist on making "a run on
the bank" we *could* break that
bank.
If you can afford it,
please, make this year a contribution to
Air Racing. We can't turn the clock back
but we can all look forward to a
wonderful next year of racing with a
field healthier than ever before. Never
in the 38 year history have so many
airplanes left Reno in nearly ready to
race condition. Let's help make sure they
have a place to race next time the days
of September roll around.
click here to hear
Bill Eck's announcement on September 14,
2001
(RealTM Streaming Audio)
There was, after all, a
show this year. A show of the sprit of
Reno - making the best of it.
photographs © 2001 Wayne
Sagar -all rights reserved-
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