It’s interesting what you overhear while standing in crowds. During the Sport Gold heat race on Friday I heard the people next to me speaking in Spanish. At first I didn’t think much of it because as a southern Californian I hear Spanish everyday, but there was something about the accent that said “Spain” to me.
And yes, it turns out that David Membrives and Laura Crespo are from Spain. Both are pilots, both into aerobatics (David instructs) and they are attending the Reno races on their honeymoon.
“We started with the Reno dates and worked backwards when planning our wedding,” explained Laura.
A romantic couple, these Spaniards.
Maybe even more surprising to us was they were both familiar with Kitplanes magazine, saying they buy it off a newsstand and how Laura’s father is a real fan.
Laura related how bureaucratic flying is in Spain and was pleased to hear how open our aviation system is. But other things proved universal, such as when she also said that in the air David was her instructor, but on the ground… well, it didn’t need any translation.