If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

[wyhdah]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I believe it has been said around section 36, I know we have heard from members that were in A26 and it was close to those guys.

I have heard from friends in 105 and they were not close, relative of course. The numbers go from west (pits) to east (static), low to high. Anyone knows better feel free to correct me.

[cozmcse]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I believe it has been said around section 36, I know we have heard from members that were in A26 and it was close to those guys.

I have heard from friends in 105 and they were not close, relative of course. The numbers go from west (pits) to east (static), low to high. Anyone knows better feel free to correct me.

Wyhdah,

Thank you for the information with regards to the box layout.

Michael

[badettmann]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

Don and Sylvia are fine. They were in their box (A-81) with Don's brother Bill and had debris in front of the box seats. Some of us in A-81 did not go on Friday and did the Tahoe thing...

Very sad in so many ways - and today the death toll is rising. Such a surreal situation even yet today.

Has anyone heard from Don Hatten? His box seats were close to that area, but I don't know if he attended this year.

Race 29

[wyhdah]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

Wyhdah,

Thank you for the information with regards to the box layout.

Michael

Your Welcome

[Pylon1_Mark]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

First... thanks for opening up the board Mr Wayners... it has been my only source of information regarding the people whom I care about deeply.. and those whom I've not had the pleasure to meet. My stomach has been in knots since yesterday worrying about all of this.

And thanks to everyone who has posted up to let us know you're OK.

[cwbspeed]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I was in box A14 with my son. I had my binoculars on GG and saw it pitch up hard, flatten slightly, pitch up again and begin rolling to the right. It sounded as if there was an rpm fluctuation after that initial pitch up. As it began its rolling, downward trajectory, it seemed like an eternity we were staring at the prop and spinner as the plane appeared to be coming straight for us. I remember spinning around in my seat attempting to reach for my son thinking we should haul ass, but realized there was nowhere to go. The plane continued to roll sparing us, but we will never forget the sight and sound of its impact just a few boxes away.

To me it looked apparent that the plane experienced a flight control failure of some sort. It also appeared to me that Jimmy was definitely attempting to control something uncontrollable, and I believe he did his best to avoid the spectator area.

God bless Jimmy, his family & friends, all of our fellow air race fans, and all the first responders.

It is truly amazing how fast life can go from the joy of witnessing the awesome spectacle of air racing to one of total despair in an instant.

[Race 29]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

Badett, Thank you so much! I'm so glad they are ok!

I also want to give kudos to the announcers for keeping their cool and trying to keep everyone else calm. It would have been easy to leave the microphone and run down to help, but they did their job and did their best to keep the situation from turning into a stampede out of dodge. We can't say enough about the first responder professionals and spectators that did what they could to selflessly help out others in need! That took guts knowing the potential for fire. I can't help but believe there was some divine intervention that day as well. Jimmy did what he could, and I'm sure he had some help from some angels. This could have been much much worse. It was obviously a bad situation, but Jimmy did good with what he had.

Race 29

[Air Boss]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I sincerely appreciate Wayne's work in keeping us all in touch. Thank you, Wayne.

I was at my station at Home Pylon (I'm the base radio operator for all judges on the course) and had been watching GG as she gained on the Bear. While not as close to the accident site as some here, I did see the entire incident from the perspect at Home Pylon. I have no desire to watch it again.

While I'm fine physically, it will be quite some time before I can consider myself "back to normal" mentally. The sites and sounds of those few seconds will live in me for the rest of my life.

CAVU, Jimmy. Condolences to family and friends of Air Races fans who've lost loved ones, and speedy recovery to those in the hospital.

What a community we have here. I've only met a few of you but feel a bond that goes beyond a simple handshake and a smile.

Be well everyone.

Owen

[airtj]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I've been a silent member for a while, looking for information about the air races. I was in the box A-62 right in front of the home pylon, we had debry fly through our box. We were lucky that none of our group was seriously hurt. It was way to close for comfort.


My condolences to the Leeward family and all those that were hurt.

[sandramore]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

Badett, Thank you so much! I'm so glad they are ok!

Jimmy did what he could, and I'm sure he had some help from some angels. This could have been much much worse. It was obviously a bad situation, but Jimmy did good with what he had.

Race 29

I'm sure those angels included Levitz (can you imagine Gary with wings! lol), Ken Burnstine, Bud Fountain, John Crocker, Bob Love, Jimmy Maloney, Ralph Payne and so many others.

I love and miss all our angels.

[glider90]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I have struggled with the aftermath of this as you all have since yesterday. I struggled with posting or not and decided to. My story is a different perspective.

I was not in attendance this year. Every few years I make the trip from Ohio as family, vacation, and budget allows. That said I am a Reno addict whether I am there or in Ohio the week of the races. My brother and his wife however attend every year, and have had the same in the last few rows of the grandstands near the start finish line every year. Some may know of me from posting some stuff relayed to me from him, as I can feel the pain of others stuck at home with no conduit of information.

I had just settled in with my laptop and the LoadedTV video feed (which of note was linked by the RARA site) for the Friday gold race, giddy to see the top six in action finally.
Just as the race was about to start audio feed went out. Several of us (I think a couple others from here?) were joking in the video chat window as the feed went on. I remember after the second lap noting that the Ghost had passed Rare Bear as we saw them fly across home pylon. For those not aware the video feed was amateur footage with many outages and spotty camera work, but I was really happy to have any form of live link to the racing. On the third lap the feed went white for a minute, then the pixels cleared on a scene I could not fathom. With no audio, and having missed the actual incident live they refocused on a section of the box seats. It took my brain what seems to be an eternity in retrospect to fathom what I was looking at with no narration. For some reason the feed zoomed in very tightly on the most effected section, which was a scene I only wish I could un-see. My mind was still in denial regarding what could have caused what I was seeing. It was not until someone posted in the chat (somewhat incorrectly) “[an airplane] is in the grandstands” that it dawned on me what I had been clearly seeing but not believing for several minutes.

There was no reason for the camera to be zoomed in on what it was.

I wanted to turn it off, and would have except I instantly became even more horrified for the condition of my brother and sister in law. I knew from the camera placement throughout the week that this was directly in front of them. Unfortunately the limited view and lack of any sound left me completely clueless regarding the scope of the accident, and the path of it. A panic set in I cannot say I have ever quite experienced before. At about that time my phone rang, an incoming call from my brother. After several lost calls due to the jammed cell towers I was able to get a “We are OK, pass it on” message from him. I shut the feed down after that (which was surprisingly still rolling for whatever reason). We did not talk until later that night. His story from the grandstands was similar to all of the others here. He saw it happen, and knew his only hope was that it missed him. Fleeing would be impossible.

I have been sick since. There are so many things to grieve in this, first and foremost the lives lost, and the lives changed forever. Jimmy Leeward was one of many air racing legends to me. I feel for Ryan who posts here…the list goes on and on and on. My own personal issue is that I tuned in to that live feed. I would much rather have gone through life not seeing the aftermath in such detail. I thought witnessing the jet crash in person was as bad as it could get. I was thousands of miles away from this and it is actually worse. I cannot fathom what it must have been like for those that were there in person. I am so, so sorry for everyone involved in any way shape or form. An unbearable day in air racing history.

[bearfan]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

Glider-
I have almost the exact same story, minus the relatives in the stands. The absolute confusion on my end when the camera panned to people on the ground was something I have never experienced. I was sending text messages to family that there was a explosion or something in the box seats. It almost didn't even cross my mind that it could have been a plane from the way the debris was scattered and there was no part of a plane that could be identified.
When the posts started talking about the ghost going in I was in shock. Unfortunately I did not walk away from the feed and the camera continued to roll (even zoom in a couple of times which was horrifying and a little uncalled for but I'll save that rant for a different post).
I know by watching that camera feed for as long as it was up I saw more than a majority of the people that were at the field and it is something that I will never forget!!!
I didn't think it was possible to be so shaken up being 400 miles from the incident but it is something that will be with me for a long time.

Thanks for posting your story!

[Randy Haskin]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

My dad, brother, and nephew have all checked in as Code 1.

I'm still located in far off lands...and Code 1.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and trudged across the dirt to the chow hall, and while getting breakfast my heart jumped when I saw Mike Houghton's face on one of the tvs.

I'm in a combat zone right now, and all the tvs play around here is the Armed Forces Network, so it was highly unusual to have anything associated with Reno on there.

I put down my tray and walked over closer to the tv to see what was going on, and the TV coverage flashed a photo of Jimmy smiling from the cockpit, with a headline under it saying "2 dead, 54 injured at Air Races".

I literally dropped my food and SPRINTED 3/4 of a mile down the flight line to my squadron tent, so I could log on to my email and find out what the hell was going on. I can't say I've been that scared in a long time -- and I've just spent the last 5 months flying combat sorties!!

Fortunately, my brother had all ready sent a "we're okay" text message to my email.

I know there are thousands of folks out there who had similar terrifying moments in the last couple days, too....tragic.

[glider90]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

Thank you Bearfan. I actually almost posted that I thought the box seats were the target of a bombing initially, but I figured people that did not see what we did would think I was insane. In the first moments that that scene came into focus that was one of the exact thoughts that went through my mind. I could not process what I was seeing.

I appreciate another having the same perspective. In some strange way it helps. Thanks.

[Reever]

Re: If it's alright AAFOers please check in......

I experienced the same feeling watching the live feed. I was sitting in front of the computer thinking, man this is great, I can't be there but I can still watch the unlimited gold on Sunday. Then the camera went a little crazy and focused down into the box seating. At first I thought maybe a vehicle of some sort might have lost control and ran into the crowd. Then it crossed my mind that two might have got together coming of pylon eight and scattered into the crowd. Then I was just stunned.