It’s over, this will be the last year apparently the insurance rates are increasing every year significantly, the airport manager decided not to renew their lease………
Reno air races……
- Thread starter 7.62willdo
- Start date
Hopefully they move the venue to a airport that supports and appreciates it.
No what really happened is pressure from residents and safety of the aircraft flying overhead. It’s all the commifornians that have moved to Reno complaining.
Time fer a Kalafornectamee . Anesthetic, Anesthetic .
Hanakan , Hanakan . Hana kana fran , Hana kana fran . Ditt Ditt Ditt . How do ya spell dat . Ditt Ditt Ditt .
Hanakan , Hanakan . Hana kana fran , Hana kana fran . Ditt Ditt Ditt . How do ya spell dat . Ditt Ditt Ditt .
They’re the problem here in kali too. If it wasn’t for retarded commies, kali would be God’s country. Never been to the Reno Air Races, sounds like I’ll have to try to go this year.
Saw the announcement a few weeks ago, and the writing has been on the wall for at least 3-4 years now IMO. I've been going every year for about 20 years, and a friend at work has been going every year for 40+ years. The attendance of both competitors and spectators has been on a rather steep downward slide for 5+ years now and I figured at some point the event wasn't going to bring in enough money to pay for itself. I didn't expect it to end this year though.
It's a combination of things... Development has been pushing closer to the airport, especially as more companies build facilities in the Reno area and more housing is needed, so that means changes in course boundaries to avoid the development expansion-- plus the planes being closer to homes means more liability insurance. A lot of the real fast unlimited guys and planes have retired over the last several years and a couple of the big name unlimited competitors stopped bringing planes over the past several years because of a combination of politics and prize money-- fewer planes in the air means less passing, fewer closely matched fast planes in the field means less close competition in qualifying heats and the finals, so they're less exciting to watch-- and less excitement means less of a spectator draw. On top of that the spectator numbers were never quite the same and some major sponsors started pulling out after the big crash in 2011 (a crash that was totally preventable had the plane owner actually done and tested mods in phases rather than multiple substantial mods all at once, not done mods that required way out of spec control counterbalance weights, and the big one-- reusing one time use locking hardware. The NTSB report for that crash is one massive facepalm.)
Back in the early to mid 2000s you were constantly in a sea of people in the pits on Saturday and especially Sunday, it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder everywhere you walked, and there were always lots of visitors from out of the country you could strike up interesting conversations with. The pits were filled with planes and support rigs all the way from the grandstands to the hangars. On Sunday all the grandstands were packed.
In the last few years the pits have been basically a ghost town in terms of both planes/crews and spectators, and the grandstands are not only smaller now but there are a lot of open seats-- even on Sunday. It used to be a traffic disaster leaving the event on Saturday and especially on Sunday from Stead all the way through Reno, but the last several years traffic leaving the event even on Sunday hasn't been bad at all and it's been smooth sailing all the way from the airport at Stead all the way back to Reno.
With the event insurance going from $780k last year to $1.3 million this year, that's probably not sustainable given the current much lower spectator numbers. Hard to cover $325k/day in insurance (Thursday-Sunday are the main attendance days) when your spectator numbers are way down from what they used to be and you aren't bringing in nearly as much money in ticket sales. Combine the reduced amount of spectators with the huge jump in insurance costs plus the encroaching new development that will undoubtedly shrink the course in years to come and here we are.
Really sucks to see it go, it was an amazing spectacle seeing and hearing that much vintage hardware all in the air at the same time and being pushed hard, and from what my friend at work who has been attending for 40+ years told me it was even crazier in the 70s and 80s when engines and parts were much more plentiful and the racers would really push things to the limits to win not really worrying if they hurt an engine.
I hope they find a new venue for the Air Races, but it's going to be difficult IMO. The airstrip and course has to be far enough from housing to be safe, but as a multi-day spectator event it also has to be close enough to facilities such as ample hotels, restaurants, etc, to support the crowds and keep enough spectators there to make the event financially viable. The current location has (had?) both of those criteria.
It's not just the loss of the Air Races... the Chino Planes of Fame airshow has also been cancelled the last 3 years, which was another great event. Hopefully they can get that event going again, although it had to hurt them losing 3 years of revenue from their biggest fundraising event. There's been pressure on them too with regards to the aircraft noise and crowds/traffic, which is part of the reason they're working on a new facility in Santa Maria.
I really hope some of the fastest unlimited planes that have been absent in the last several years at Reno will show up and fly for the final event at Reno, but we'll see. Several of the former unlimited front runners are basically retired now and on museum duty.
It's a combination of things... Development has been pushing closer to the airport, especially as more companies build facilities in the Reno area and more housing is needed, so that means changes in course boundaries to avoid the development expansion-- plus the planes being closer to homes means more liability insurance. A lot of the real fast unlimited guys and planes have retired over the last several years and a couple of the big name unlimited competitors stopped bringing planes over the past several years because of a combination of politics and prize money-- fewer planes in the air means less passing, fewer closely matched fast planes in the field means less close competition in qualifying heats and the finals, so they're less exciting to watch-- and less excitement means less of a spectator draw. On top of that the spectator numbers were never quite the same and some major sponsors started pulling out after the big crash in 2011 (a crash that was totally preventable had the plane owner actually done and tested mods in phases rather than multiple substantial mods all at once, not done mods that required way out of spec control counterbalance weights, and the big one-- reusing one time use locking hardware. The NTSB report for that crash is one massive facepalm.)
Back in the early to mid 2000s you were constantly in a sea of people in the pits on Saturday and especially Sunday, it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder everywhere you walked, and there were always lots of visitors from out of the country you could strike up interesting conversations with. The pits were filled with planes and support rigs all the way from the grandstands to the hangars. On Sunday all the grandstands were packed.
In the last few years the pits have been basically a ghost town in terms of both planes/crews and spectators, and the grandstands are not only smaller now but there are a lot of open seats-- even on Sunday. It used to be a traffic disaster leaving the event on Saturday and especially on Sunday from Stead all the way through Reno, but the last several years traffic leaving the event even on Sunday hasn't been bad at all and it's been smooth sailing all the way from the airport at Stead all the way back to Reno.
With the event insurance going from $780k last year to $1.3 million this year, that's probably not sustainable given the current much lower spectator numbers. Hard to cover $325k/day in insurance (Thursday-Sunday are the main attendance days) when your spectator numbers are way down from what they used to be and you aren't bringing in nearly as much money in ticket sales. Combine the reduced amount of spectators with the huge jump in insurance costs plus the encroaching new development that will undoubtedly shrink the course in years to come and here we are.
Really sucks to see it go, it was an amazing spectacle seeing and hearing that much vintage hardware all in the air at the same time and being pushed hard, and from what my friend at work who has been attending for 40+ years told me it was even crazier in the 70s and 80s when engines and parts were much more plentiful and the racers would really push things to the limits to win not really worrying if they hurt an engine.
I hope they find a new venue for the Air Races, but it's going to be difficult IMO. The airstrip and course has to be far enough from housing to be safe, but as a multi-day spectator event it also has to be close enough to facilities such as ample hotels, restaurants, etc, to support the crowds and keep enough spectators there to make the event financially viable. The current location has (had?) both of those criteria.
It's not just the loss of the Air Races... the Chino Planes of Fame airshow has also been cancelled the last 3 years, which was another great event. Hopefully they can get that event going again, although it had to hurt them losing 3 years of revenue from their biggest fundraising event. There's been pressure on them too with regards to the aircraft noise and crowds/traffic, which is part of the reason they're working on a new facility in Santa Maria.
I really hope some of the fastest unlimited planes that have been absent in the last several years at Reno will show up and fly for the final event at Reno, but we'll see. Several of the former unlimited front runners are basically retired now and on museum duty.
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