Reno Air Races 2008 (No 56k)

i took a trip out to watch the Reno Air Races this past weekend. it was my first real (non-working) vacation in a few years so this trip was not only about taking pictures but about enjoying the entire experience. i'll break it down by day which is really the only way i remember what i did.

Thursday, 11 September
thursday was a flying day for me. i nonreved on USA15 JFK-PHX and USA280 PHX-SJC. i wanted to fly into MRY like i usually do but the flights were full. the layover in PHX was short, and as usual we ended up in the penalty box waiting for a gate. it was wierd being in PHX on 9/11. the last time i was in that town on that day was 7 years ago exactly.

since i was getting picked up from SJC i had to wait for my buddy (Ian) to get out of class before driving to the airport to get me, leaving me about 4 hours of time to kill in SJC. thankfully, the terminal has free wifi. i also brought season 5 of N.C.I.S. to watch, so i found a corner with a comfy chair and electric socket and sat down to immerse myself in the only TV show i watch. about halfway through the second DVD i noticed a few cops walking back and forth through the terminal and looking at me each time. one of them finally approached me and with all the curiosity of an 8-year-old asked me if i was a rep for Heckler & Koch. i was wearing thier logo on my polo shirt and have the same sticker on the outside of my laptop. when Ian finally showed up i ran out for the hour drive to Salinas (SNS). along the way we had to stop for lunch at In-n-Out... not much else happened, we had dinner and hit the sack early.

Friday, 12 September
we hit the road early friday morning. we actually left the house around 0815 since we had about 4 hours of driving ahead of us. not a very interesting day until we got to Ian's grandparent's cabin in Arnold, CA. there we relaxed and cooked out on the deck under the stars. i did some night shooting off the deck just to pass the time. after dinner and a few beers i hit the sack. tommorow was going to be another early morning, followed by a very long day.

the cabin:
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this the view off of the back deck of the house. used my flashlight to light up the trees and a 30 second exposure to get the stars.
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this is the view when Ian screws up the shot i was trying to take:
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i thought about using this as my avatar for a while, but the 'hawk is just going to stay there. might go up on facebook though:
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Saturday, 14 September
i think it was the actual excitement that managed to get Shamis up and out of bed even before the sun. we hit the car early again, only stopping once we got to Carson City, NV to have breakfast. once we got to Reno we head out on Red Rock Rd which parallels the actual course the races fly to see, hear and feel the airplanes up close.

we had to stop when Philip overheated the brakes in the Subaru on our way through the Sierra Nevada mts.
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the sound you hear as the airplanes are coming towards you is something no words can describe. i'll now know just how hard it is to shoot from where i was standing. i was poking my lens through a hole in the barbed wire and these guys were passing me by at about 400mph...
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"September Pops" a Hawker Sea Fury:
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"Rare Bear" a Grumman F8F Bearcat
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Sunday, 15 September
this was the day that everybody was waiting for. today was the day that would count, and the day that would crown the winners of the 2008 Reno Air Races. due to the extensive amounts of drinking done by most of our group the night before we very slowly got going around 1100 and drove back up to the airport. we actually split up today. Ian, his father and his uncle decided to head onto the airport grounds to see the pits and static displays and to watch the races from the grandstands. Shamis, Philip and I drove back out to Red Rock Rd to get up close and personal with the airplanes again, and had a great time doing so. it was a little less crowded than Saturday and we weren't there nearly as long due to our late start. we drove back to the cabin after a long, hot and dusty day to recover from the weekend.

i used Ian's boot laces to keep the barbed wire in the fence open so I could shoot through it:
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the start of the Silver Race, just as Steve Hinton in the pace plane dissapears from view. thanks to the valley they're flying in you can literally HEAR as the pilots firewall thier throttles:
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"Big Bossman" a Grumman F7F Tigercat:
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"September Pops" a Hawker Sea Fury. this airplane won the Silver race at 407.457 mph:
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#57, a Goodyear F2G Super Corsair:
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this is how we beat the heat out on Red Rock rd. we covered the windows on one side of the Subaru, then piled all our duffel bags on the other side to make as much shade as possible. it was at least 10 degrees cooler inside the car with the windows covered, and made for a great sleeping spot:
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the view down Red Rock Rd. you can see people just come out and set up camp for the day to watch the reces up close:
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"Viper" was the winner of the Jet Class Gold race at 507.124 mph:
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"Violated" an Aero Vodochody L-39:
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"Euro Burner" is another L-29:
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#8 is an unnamed L-39:
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"American Spirit"
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"Strega" won the Unlimited Class Gold on Sunday flying at 483.062 mph.
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"Dago Red" is the only other P-51 racing in the Gold class:
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"Bearcat" is an unmodified Grumman F8F:
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"Rare Bear" didn't finish the race on Sunday, he was forced out early after losing i think two cylinders. when he flew over us you could hear that the engine didn't want to run much longer. with no flaps to speak of and almost no wing it's one very fast airplane to land but did get safely back on the ground.
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"Strega" passing "Dago Red" and going on to win the Gold Race:
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Monday, 15 September
after another night at the cabin we had to get up relatively early again and drive back to Salinas. the drive itself took about 5 hours and ended early with a pizza dinner.

Tuesday, 16 September
with the help of a very special coworker back home i was able to get on flt 2718 MRY-PHX so i only had to get up around 0330. after a quick shower and a red bull for breakfast we picked up a freind who was on the same flight and made it to PHX in good time. my next flight, USA12 i can't really remember. since i was still trying to get over a cold i popped a few NyQuil and was off to dreamland for the entire flight.

all in all this was a great trip, and i'm glad to have at least made it out to see Reno in all it's glory. nobody knows if they'll even happen next year. the FAA isn't all to happy with what goes on in the "Valley of Thunder" as last year we lost three great pilots. only time will tell, but i'm looking forward to making the trip again next year. i highly recommend it to anyone and everyone alike! it's the fastest motorsport on the planet...