Gold Finals Cancelled Due To High Winds
The Reno Air Races were marred by an accident Sunday, and
gusty winds forced race officials to cancel the finals of the T-6
and Unlimited Gold races later in the day.
George Giboney was injured, but walked away from an accident
after he declared an emergency while flying his Thunder Mustang
replica "Rapid Travel" in the Super Sport Gold Race. The
airplane made a hard landing and reportedly cartwheeled off the
runway. The Des Moines, Washington pilot was able to acknowledge
the crowd before he transported to a Reno hospital and treated for
lacerations.
Multiple media sources including the Reno Journal Gazette report
that the Unlimited Gold final was cancelled for the first time in
its 47-year history Sunday afternoon due to a 15-20 miles per hour
wind gusting to 35 mph. The T-6 Class Gold Race was also cancelled
by the weather. By rule, the fastest qualifiers in those categories
are deemed the winners in the event of a cancellation, giving
Steven Hinton flying Strega the Unlimited Gold title, and handing
the T-6 Class Gold title to Dennis Buehn.
Of course, all of the competition doesn't take place in the air
at Reno. The Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage trophy was awarded to
the 1945 North American P51-D. The Stead, Nevada National Aviation
Hall of Fame Enshrinees joined presenting sponsor Rolls-Royce North
America, Inc in awarding the trophy.
Owned by William Allmon of Las Vegas, NV, and restored by
Pacific Flyers, the NACA 127 P-51D (N51YZ) was used by the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from 1945 to 1952 to get
transonic data in addition to wind tunnel information, to pave the
way for supersonic flight. The airplane retains the heavy machined
plates used to accelerate the airflow to speeds needed for
research. On these plates are mounted both original and recreated
test models. It is a very accurate restoration of a historic
Mustang.
Winners in other categories are:
- Antique Category (Orville and Wilbur Wright Trophy): 1929
Hamilton Metalplane, owned and restored by Pole Pass Airways of
Seattle, WA.
- Classic Category (Paul E. Garber Trophy): 1945 Grumman G44A ,
owned and restored by Bill Scott of Reno, NV.
- Warbird Category (Henry 'Hap' Arnold Trophy): 1945 Goodyear
Corsair FG-1D, owned by John O'Connor of Downers Grove, IL, and
restored by Airpower Unlimited.
- Large Aircraft (Howard Hughes Trophy): 1934 Douglas DC-2, owned
by Clay Lacy of Van Nuys, CA and restored by Pete Regina.
- The National Aviation Hall of Fame People's Choice Award: 1928
Boeing 40C1 owned by Addison Pemberton and restored by Pemberton
and Sons Aviation.
Assisting in the trophy presentations to the winning owners were
National Aviation Hall of Fame Enshrinees Patty Wagstaff, R.A. Bob
Hoover, Dick Rutan, Clay Lacy, Herb Kelleher and Bud Anderson.
Joining them were Hoot Gibson, National Aviation Heritage
Invitational Ambassador; General Jack Daily, Director -Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum, Chris Cyr, Executive
Vice-President, Rolls-Royce North America, Inc., Linda Shiner,
editor of Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine; Ken Perich, Executive
Director of the National Aviation Heritage Invitational and Mike
Houghton, CEO of the Reno Air Racing Association.
The Heritage is held in conjunction with the Reno National
Championship Air Races and celebrates aviation treasures. This
endeavor is a joint effort under the auspices of Rolls-Royce North
America Inc., the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Reno Air
Racing Foundation, with support from the Smithsonian Institution's
National Air and Space Museum, Air Transport World, PilotMAG, World
Airshow News, Airmail Greetings, Super 98, Air and Space
Smithsonian Magazine, Perform Air, LiveAirShowTV and The Perich
Group.
The National Aviation Heritage Invitational encourages
preservation of aviation history through the restoration of
aircraft to original flying condition. The Invitational was founded
in 1998. A five-member panel, including representatives of the
National Air and Space Museum, judges each aircraft on its
technical merit and how well it represents the aircraft early in
its career. Authenticity to the original manufacturer's condition
is the "gold standard" for each plane.