Updates from Reno...

[shadow]

Re: Updates from Reno...

Nothing's been up so far, no qualifiers, no formula 1, STOL are supposed to go up now but they're still in their pits.

Edit: 9:08; STOL are now on flightline.

[shadow]

Re: Updates from Reno...

7:51am Wed, smoky, from near the top of the reserved bleachers I cannot make out the pylons on the other side of the course. As the sun comes up visibility is improving. Shanty Irish is on FL. A T6 started up. Saw trucks / cars drive to home pylon, unsure where from or what they were doing.

Remember the bleacher that has been in the pits? Two of those same size are what the GA bleachers are now.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Updates from Reno...

Okay, here are the cliffs notes for tonight. Sport class had some heavy hitters mayday out during qualifying. Karl Grove popped his engine after 3 laps, right at the home pylon. Not a minute later, Jim Rust did as well. Both think they can fix the issue and get back into racing. (I haven't seen the damage to either engine, but we'll see how it plays out.) Andy Findley got his old turbos back from last year, got them installed and went up in IFR conditions to test them out. All appears to be good to go. Clas Thunder did an engine change, tried to do a night run, but the ignition map was wrong so they packed it up and put it away for the night.

Unlimiteds. Dusty got Shanty Irish sorted out, test run, and buttoned up. He will go up for qualification tomorrow morning.
As has been stated above, Scotty is out. He's super bummed and I'm happy to hear he's willing to give it another go next year. Blondie qualified fine, but the spray bar system was having some issue. They think they can get it fixed. I think one other Unlimited will be doing qualifying tomorrow as well.

IF1 and Bipes: I don't have a clue what is going on down there. I was busy helping Dusty and shooting pics when I could.



Tomorrow I'll be out on the pylons. I hope the smoke stays away. So far every day this week the smoke has rolled in at 2:45 like clockwork and closed the field. If conditions continue this way, Sunday's races are going to be tough to hold in the afternoon.

A couple of the NAHI guys snuck in through the smoke this evening. The Firefly is here, a DC3 is here, the Cessna 180 arrived, and a something on floats arrived. I think there might have been a T6 as well.

That is all I have for tonight.

Will

[Matt58]

Re: Updates from Reno...

More to that Yak story, but he is out. Appeal was denied. He does plan to come back next year.

Interesting move?

Are you able to give more details on why?

[Race5]

Re: Updates from Reno...

More to that Yak story, but he is out. Appeal was denied. He does plan to come back next year.

[RAD2LTR]

So, I've managed to get my internet hotspot up and working (only took an hour of screwing with it.)

So, here is the cliff notes from the past couple days.

Apparently on Saturday Andy Finley had a turbo let go the first time he really pushed the power up. He will likely have to race his way into the finals, if it shows up in time to do so.

Thunder Mustang "Guardian Angel" blew up their race engine in spectacular fashion. Called Mayday, had a hard landing with several big bounces.

In Qualifying today, Vicky Benzing may have called a mayday after her hot lap. She pulled way up, landed hot with fire trucks on standby. She taxied in however. I don't know what happened there.

Unlimiteds had their drama as well.

Bernie Vasquez flew a perfect line in 924 aside from one lap where he was passing the P63 and went WAY wide, like right out to the very deadline wide. He still got a time and is good to go.

Shanty Irish apparently had a rather large stack fire on start up. i wasn't there, so I can't say for sure what actually happened. They seem optimistic that they will be up and running tomorrow. I don't know anything more.

Now for the big one. Scotty Crandlemire was black flagged after his timed laps. Apparently he could be out. The infringment was "low and erratic flying" From my standpoint on the hillside, he flew an amazing low and very precise line. In talking with one of his crew members he was +/- 1 second per lap on all 4 of his laps. (You can't be erratic if you are +/-1 second on every lap.) He apparently mistook the guide pylon for being P4, cutting 4. He is hoping they will give him another chance. We will find out tomorrow. That all said, the plane sounds beastly. I hope he is allowed to continue to race. Getting booted seems like an overly harsh penalty for an easily remedied issue.

That is all I have for now, I'll try and get some pics done and posted at some point. We shall see if that happenes.

The smoke has been minimal in the morning, rolling in about 2pm or so. We did get a thunderstorm today that had one MASSIVE lightning bolt, and another small one with some rain.

Okay I need some sleep.

Will