The 2006 Reno National Championship Air
Race

     The sound of air racing returned to the Stead Field for the 43rd edition of the Reno National Championship Air Races and Air Show. Air Race fans from every point of the compass came to watch and enjoy the six classes of racing aircraft: Biplane, Formula One, Sport, T-6, Jet and
Unlimited.
     Entertainment between the races was provided by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and several air show performers including Kent Pietch, Mike Goulin and David
Martin.
     A new name was added to the list of Unlimited Gold winners. Michael Brown raced his modified Hawker Sea Fury around the 8.5 mile Unlimited course at 481.6 mph. Matt Jackson in a Hawker Sea Fury named "Dreadnought" with a P&W R-4360 engine finished second with a speed of 453.6 mph. This years Unlimited Gold race was dominated by Hawker Sea Furies with a lone Yak-11 splitting the field with a third place finish. No American-made aircraft qualified for the Unlimited Gold race, but were still well represented in this class. Bob Odegaard brought his beautiful Goodyear F2G Corsair to Reno. It is the only flyable F2G in the world and added to the fine show. And a beautifully restored P-51A Mustang flown by Dave Morss turned in a respectable performance of 344.2 mph to win the Unlimited Bronze
race.
     The Sport Class is coming on strong. This class, created in 1998, highlights new and innovative developments of high performance kit-built aircraft. Entries must be of production model kit-built aircraft of which five or more kits have been delivered to customers. These aircraft must be powered by a reciprocating engine of less than 650 cu. in. displacement. All entrants must have a current FAA airworthiness certificate. As competition heats up in this class, innovations are pushing the speeds up to that approaching the Unlimited. Since its. . . .