Air Racing: A Report

With the announcement of Roswell, New Mexico, as the new home of the National Air Races, it seems a good time to give an update on the go-fast crowd.

Change is the operative word, as the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) and their National Championship Air Races (NCAR) at Reno-Stead were for decades the central characters in what was really a loose confederation of sanctioning bodies and classes. With the decline of the big-iron Unlimiteds and then the huge casualty of Reno-Stead last year, that confederation loosened with the various classes both considering their futures individually while at the same time hoping RARA could find a new place for the big, multi-class NCAR shindig.

Ultimately this could be good for the sport as there could be more racing in front of more people while still having the big NCAR jamboree. And now that RARA has committed to Roswell that one big event seems a certainty, plus some of the classes are already putting on events elsewhere on their own.

RARA

At our deadline, details on the September 2025 NCAR event in Roswell were essentially nonexistent. Speaking with RARA’s Greg Gibson just prior to the Roswell announcement, it was clear that whatever form the National Air Races take at what turns out to be Roswell, there will be some continuity with the old Reno paradigm. But more importantly, “We’re not picking up Reno and putting it somewhere else. There will be comparisons, sure, but the goal is not to replicate Reno.”

This is the right attitude, of course. Reno was ideal for air racing given the relative open land north of Stead Field and the vibrant nightlife of Reno on the south. Roswell has more open land but not the nightlife, but if different geographically, RARA says they are open to new possibilities. Considering many critics found the RARA show grown a bit stale then some changes could be welcomed. Easily applaudable items on RARA’s shopping list have been allowing fly-in spectating, enlarged recreational vehicle camping and increased hangar space, and at first glance Roswell might offer these improvements. Some of the thornier issues surrounding procedures and the business side of the event are not as clear and in other ways culturally ingrained, so I’m not getting the tailwheel in front of the spinner on this one and reserving my opinion until after the NCAR resumes. But a change in venue often loosens a cascade of follow-on changes, so we simply need to wait and see how the Roswell NCAR is assembled.

We do know that Roswell Air Center offers the expansive room associated with an ex-Strategic Air Command base. Built during WW-II as Roswell Army Airfield, it made the news during the 1947 Roswell UFO incident, explaining the alien and saucer motif spread around town. The field then expanded into the Walker Air Force Base during the Cold War, explaining the 10,000- and 13,000-foot runways suitable for loaded B-52s. Those huge runways and associated hardstands remain and should provide a comforting safety margin for air racers. Field elevation is 3671 feet and there is an operating control tower.

We can also observe Roswell is quite off the beaten path, especially by airliner, and with a population just under 50,000 this isolated town is not awash in hotel rooms. Expect a mainly local crowd at first, although the races would make a fine road expedition, especially for motorhomes and other campers. To put it in perspective, Roswell is approximately in the center of the Phoenix, Denver, Dallas triangle; the closest airline service seems to be Albuquerque, New Mexico, a three-hour drive. Naturally, those of us sporting cross-country airplanes see Roswell as more centrally located than Reno to much of the U.S. and the desert southwest is a great place to fly.

The truly important point is the big, all-classes NCAR will resume in 2025, including a pylon racing school (likely in June 2025) at Roswell to vet every pilot on the new courses. RARA is planning on running all seven existing classes, and we can note this will be at a density altitude, in a dry climate and on course lengths similar enough to Reno’s that no meaningful technical changes should be necessary to the race planes.

A Class Society

Historically, RARA has acted as a promoter providing a venue and business umbrella for the National Championship Air Races while each aircraft class is self-defining and regulating. Class rules and organization are provided and adjudicated by each class, meaning there are many cooks in the air racing kitchen. If a bit messy (ha!), this organizational hydra gives flexibility, so without getting lost in the details it definitely merits looking at the classes individually because the reality is, when Reno was lost the classes could no longer ignore they were really on their own. This was spooky as suddenly there was nowhere to race, but also unshackling as everyone was free to invent their own future. In this brief overview I’m ignoring the T-6 and Jet classes as they are culturally distant from this magazine, and the same is true to a lesser extent of the Unlimited class. Suffice to say all are welcome with RARA, and none have made more than cursory explorations of running outside of RARA’s National Air Races. However, the Sport, Formula 1 and Biplane classes are germane to Kitplanes and each sees their future running both the NCAR and in their own events outside the RARA umbrella. Organizationally this would make them like the STOL Drags, which has always done its own thing and only performed tangentially at the NCAR.

Sport Class

Easily the most organized of the pylon-rounding classes is Sport. I’ve previously chronicled their impressive two-year growth into an incorporated group with their own Accredited Race Organization (ARO) status with the FAA; four approved racecourses in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Madras, Oregon; their own Pylon Racing Training Camp; and at our deadline two demonstration races in front of the public. Sport includes everything from stock RVs to 400-mph Glasairs and Lancairs, and their culture is heavy on formation flying, a slick presentation and safety-first attitude. They’re also the class running current airframes and engines people can relate to and are best situated to embody air racing with a contemporary audience.

Not incidentally, Sport is the only class to put on any form of pylon air racing since Reno’s demise and at our deadline was scheduled to hold another race at Las Cruces this October. Expect to see Sport continue to branch out to multiple venues along with supporting the NCAR, and don’t be overly surprised if another class makes overtures to run at a “Sport event.” It’s possible, although any other class would have to do things the Sport way, and that might be a step too far for some. Sport is not really interested in standing “racehorse” starts, for example, which seems problematic for F1 and Biplane.

Formula One

With an immense legacy spanning back to the immediate postwar era, Formula 1 has been incorporated (as a 501(c)3 like the other classes) since the early 1970s. Furthermore, they have relatively recent experience racing internationally in Spain, Tunisia, Thailand and elsewhere under the auspices of a promoter now divorced from the class. And in fact, F1 sees renewed international racing as their best immediate option. Have no misunderstanding: Like Sport and others, F1 desires to run at Roswell, but in the meantime they are looking offshore, saying the financial and especially the insurance climate is far more workable outside the U.S. So far F1 has not applied for ARO status with the FAA and therefore in the U.S. needs to run under a sanctioning ARO authority—RARA in practical terms—although any ARO such as the Sport class would do as far as the FAA is concerned.

Biplane

Caught in their chocks last year due to an intramural legal squabble, the Biplane class was essentially disbanded when the final Reno NCAR ran and so sat out 2023 in shambles. Reinventing themselves completely and formally organizing for the first time, most of the strut-and-wire crowd recently voted themselves into the all-new BARC—Biplane Air Racing Class—as a 501(c)3. They were busy writing bylaws, operations manuals and possibly working toward ARO status at our press time but had no concrete plans to run other than with RARA at the new NCAR.

STOL Drags

A non-pylon racing incorporation with ARO status orbiting well outside the pylon racing culture, the STOL Drags has been unaffected by the turmoil within the NCAR and has continued their own series of events across the U.S. Expect them at Roswell as they are a crowd favorite.

All Together Now?

While air racing had the luxury of one big event with Reno for six decades, and even with all racers eager to see the big NCAR tent continue, the loss of Reno and the year hiatus of the NCAR has forced new thinking throughout the racing community. Specifically, each class has considered where and how it could race outside of the NCAR. It’s a tall order putting on your own air race, but given strong leadership willing to work long, hard hours and a cohesive attitude among the racers it’s (almost) possible. Cities are willing to host such events, the FAA has been very helpful to everyone in the pylon community, but insurance…isn’t playing. Some say at any price, others say at an affordable price, but the reality is only demonstration races (scripted results) have been run since Reno 2023 due only to the lack of insurance. RARA is adamant they can get insurance for Roswell, and given the sponsorship possibilities, likely input from Roswell the city and the state of New Mexico, plus the gate receipts the NCAR can possibly draw, they likely can foot the approximately $1+ million insurance premium. Other, single-class races not so much. Longer term regulatory reform (state caps on liability payouts) and other mitigations could make insurance more achievable for everyone, but we have to get there first. One idea yet to be tried but agreeable in theory to the Sport, F1 and Biplane classes is club racing. That is, private, no-spectator, no-purse racing as widely practiced by all other motorsports at the amateur level.

All turbulence aside, air racing is continuing. There are too many people with too many airplanes in love with the sport for it to fade away. It’s a fascinating outlet for amateur and pro builders alike to experiment in, but keep an open mind as to where and what it will look like. Next shot at the pylons: Sport Class at Las Cruces, New Mexico, Oct. 17–20, 2024.