Warbird Information Exchange

Interview with Joel Swager on getting Dreadnought back on the ground after the engine failure.

I was at Stead Wed-Sun and was at Pylon Two when the accident happened. I didn't see anything, the first I knew was the pylon officials behind me saying they'd heard a mayday and red flag. A lot of confusion out there - my friends were in the T-6 pits and one saw the whole thing.

Up until that point it had been a terrific event with successful maydays (including Dreadnought's spectacular, machinegun-sounding engine failure) and big crowds. It was a terrible way for the last Reno to end.

_________________
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Possibly a tad crass under the circumstances, but I couldn't see evidence of the Unlimited Gold being completed. Was the event cancelled after the crash?

Yes, the final Gold races for Unlimited, Sport and Jets were all cancelled. Nothing else happened after the crash, event-wise. No airplanes flew immediately after and for several hours later. For a period of about 1.5 to 2.0 hrs, the announcer gave periodic updates as RARA confirmed and verified information. The FAA and RARA gave authorization for the races to continue, but let the race pilots decide what they wanted to do. The pilots, collectively, felt it was inappropriate to continue the races, so they cancelled the rest of the events.

They did have the final awards banquet later that night in the big hangar. It was a very somber mood and really heart-wrenching to see the 1st and 2nd place T-6 trophy's being accepted by people other than their two pilots. It was a really, really horrible time, and very reminiscent of last year's fatality.

On the bright side though, Fred Telling (RARA President), confirmed very emphatically that he was confident that the races would go on, with 2025 being the return year at the new venue. He confirmed that the new location had been narrowed down to 6 possible cities. He did not specify where they were, but the rumors I've heard suggest the Western or Central U.S. are the leading contenders.

It was a truly awful conclusion to a 59 year year run, but hopefully lessons can be learned from the crashes of last year and this year to prevent them from ever happening again.

RIP and blue skies to our fallen brethren!

I was watching the Reno Air Races livestream at the time of the collision, and it was cut off for no apparent reason (I was looking forward to watching the Unlimited Silver race, which was going to be the next race before tragedy struck). Because of this, I could tell something was wrong before the accident was confirmed. About an hour later, it was confirmed that the worst had happened, and as soon as I saw the announcement, I thought it was the most terrible way for the Reno Air Races to end and I still feel sad about it now. Rest in peace Chris Rushing and Nick Macey, my thoughts are with the families and friends of both pilots and everyone else who was affected by the tragedy!

_________________
Tom

Many thanks for the extensive explanation: much appreciated. Let's hope that Son of Reno can continue the many, many great things that came from its forebear.

Yes, lets hope it continues! Since it's now in the public domain, Pueblo, CO, is one of the locations vying for contention:

https://news.yahoo.com/heres-why-pueblo ... 02451.html

I was in Section 3 on Sunday - sort of a tradition for the last day gold races. It’s almost as far from the accident site as you can be and still be on the grounds, but some people did see the collision. The dust clouds were easily visible. Photos do exist of the collision and of the damaged Race 14 still in the air, but I’m not posting them here. Again, a very sad end to a proud event.

Be advised that there is a website for the 2024 “Las Vegas Air Race”, claiming to be ready to go in Pahrump in October. Never been there, but it sounds a bit like the site where Burning Man is held. Nearest hotels and rental cars will be an hour away. Best of luck to them!

_________________
Chris

There is extensive documentation in both photo and video of the accident and yes, this is not the appropriate place to post them. From what I've been told, the NTSB and FAA has a lot of evidence to use to help determine what went wrong.

On another note, the Vegas Air Race is not at all affiliated with RARA. This is a separate endeavor started by Rob Lauer and his Vegas Spaceport company. He doesn't even have FAA approval, nor have they even started construction on the airport yet. All of this and an anticipated air race that is supposed to occur next October? Even beyond that, the race is going to be a "demonstration" and not even a real race. I'm guessing this is because the FAA standards/certification for an actual Unlimited/Jets race is much more strict and lengthy than a "demonstration" event. Finally, the website and publicity for this is not exactly engendering confidence in his operation or plans. Selling "astronaut training/zero G rides" without even having FAA approval yet seems to be indicative of funding issues. The way this whole operation has been publically rolled out smacks highly of a project that is severely underfunded. I wish him success, but I'm skeptical that any of this - Air Races, astronaut training/space tourism, etc. - will come to fruition.

Yes -the Pahrump races are, IMHO, the stuff of mind altering chemicals. There is really no airport at all there as of today. There ae no hotels, a two lane road. . . . smoke and mirrors I say but what do I know.

One of the challenges of a national level race is this: insurance - cost went from $750K to $1.3M
https://jalopnik.com/one-of-the-most-dangerous-races-in-the-world-will-end-a-1850223940#:~:text=The%20final%20Reno%20Air%20Races,from%20%24780%2C000%20to%20%241.3%20million.
Plus, it takes a small army of volunteers - around 1200 or so who will commit to helping twice a year (pylon race school and the races) and those are some long but exciting days on the ramp. Where ever the races go will that army of volunteers keep coming? Will the host city be able to drum up that many dedicated volunteers?
To me the races are characterized by a very unique "family of aviationists" feeling and again, that needs to be a part of the next hpme for the National races.

BTW - also public record - Roswell, NM is also one of the bidders: https://www.rdrnews.com/news/county-commissioners-hear-about-reconnaissance-trip-to-air-races/article_8f78219a-5993-11ee-95b1-fbb192117b9b.html

Tom P.

I have flown out of the Pahrump airport. Single runway -- not very long, and next to no faclities. No fuel.

Racing in Pahrump is less than a pipe dream.

_________________
Neal Nurmi

---Wingman Photo---

And just to be clear, the airport/runway we are referring to now hasn't even been built yet. It is conceptual only, with nothing on it started as of yet. The one you landed at is not what we are talking about. But, you make a good point that there are no facilities or infrastructure in that area which includes the current airport and the one that hasn't broke ground yet.

They could add another race category.

_________________
45-47=-2

The latest image on Google Earth is dated last month. It looks like someone ran a grader around the perimeter fence.. & it's going to be built in the alluvial fan run off from the hills to the North.

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

I was at Pylon Two (was there as accredited media) and thankfully didn't see a thing. We were dependent on second- and third-hand info from friends and contacts, and were out there until about 45min after the incident. The only official thing I heard before they put us on the bus to come back was the official press release about 10min before we were herded up. A very confusing and emotional time.

I'm very sorry I never made it to Section 3 - that's about the only part of The Reno Experience I didn't get.

Up until what happened, happened, it was a fantastic event that truly lived up to my expectations.

Photos are out there if you want to find them. Air Classics made a Facebook post pushing their November issue and the post included a photo of the moment of the collision...you can imagine the discussion that followed that rather bizarre marketing idea.

_________________
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22