From WWII Fighters to Supersonic Jets: The Thrilling History of the Reno Air Races – Mike Leonard

Most of us never saw it coming or never admitted to seeing it.  Maybe there were news articles or commentaries pointing to rapid development throughout the Reno area, or the skyrocketing cost of insuring the Reno Air Races (RAR), or inconveniencing the Bureau of Land Management’s air fleet, etc. But, in the end, excuses cease to matter. The world-famous Reno Air Races will be history after the September 2023 airshow/racing event. It was decided to bring the event to one final conclusive “Air Show” event, sans racing, in September of 2024 to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Reno National Championship races.

There may be no sadder or more disheartened group of pilots than those members of the Reno (RNO) Quiet Birdmen (QB) Hangar. The RNO QB Hospitality Hangar was well known at the air race venue from its grand opening in 1964 until now. A place where any QB could find comradeship, an adult beverage, and tasty vittles.

Prior to coming to Reno, the National Championship Races were last held in 1949 in Cleveland. Known as the Golden Years of Air Racing (1929-49), the Bendix and Thompson Trophies ceased being offered for Air Racing after an accident caused the races to be canceled. Participants during those Golden Years read like a “who’s who” in the fledgling aviation community. Renowned Quiet Birdmen (QB), such as Jimmy Doolittle, Wiley Post, and Roscoe Turner, were among the many participants.  Many sponsors and flying devotees wanted to bring back those glory days of racing, hoping it could be a yearly event at a new locale. Reno, Nevada, was contemplated as a potential setting to carry on the tradition. Coincidentally, 1964 was the State of Nevada’s Centennial, and so more than just the local Reno businessmen began to enthusiastically support the goal of reconstituting the legendary event.

The person who is credited with the initial idea of bringing the races to Reno was our own RNO QB, Bill Stead. The owner of an F-8F Bearcat himself, and a championship hydroplane boat racer, Bill had campaigned for the air races moving to Reno for almost a decade. The Nevada Centennial Celebration proved to be just what folks needed to get commitments and political cooperation. Bill used his considerable influence with area politicians and businessmen to encourage sponsorship, and then, along with some State money, the Reno Air Races were on. It was 1964!

The photo below is of the Reno Sky Ranch Airport, about 12 miles north of Reno in what is now Spanish Springs. It was established in the 1940s. RNO Hangar Charter Member Ted Morrill was the manager and FBO operator of Reno Sky Ranch Airport. This would be the site of the first Reno National Air Races in 1964 and 1965.

The first event starting off the 1964 Reno National Championship Air Races was the “Transcontinental Dash” for the “Unlimited” class. Mostly, WWII fighters entered the “Dash,” which went from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Reno. Reno QB and Nevada Air National Guard pilot Wayne Adams won the event that year. The remainder of the program set the racing template for the years that followed. Classes of racers were established, and aircraft raced around pylon courses appropriate to their speed.  All of this happened at the Sky Ranch Airport, adjacent to Stead’s 2,000-acre ranch. Aerobatics, the USAF Thunderbirds, the Navy Blue Angels, balloon races, and various entertainment and refreshments were almost always available. For many years, Reno QBs held a majority of seats on the Reno Air Race Association (RARA) board of directors, and other QBs performed volunteer tasks such as pylon judges, safety officers, and security. The RNO QB Hangar did not just “use” the RAR logo, they EARNED it; all with the blessings of the race founders.

A tradition was established by the RNO Hangar during the 1964 Air Races. It was decided to have a Hangar meeting during the event that all visiting QB’s could attend. Needless to say, that meeting was a festive affair! When 126 QB’s and guests from a dozen Hangars across the Country showed up at the Holiday Hotel, the normal meeting rooms were filled to capacity. Although there was enough room for drinking, a spot to eat became a challenge. Any place where a plate full of food would fit became an ad hoc table. But true to the spirit of the occasion, the Holiday Hotel kitchen kept the food coming until the last hungry QB had been fed! As might be expected, the hero of this meeting was RNO Hangar’s own Wayne Adams. After winning the pioneer Florida to Reno “Dash,” the race highlights were relived all evening. Apparently, Wayne was too busy telling tales to sign “The Hangar Book,” and Beam scribe at the time, Gene Hughes, pointed out the reason may have been that “his fuel stop at the bar that night was a hell of a lot longer than the 4 1/2 minutes he spent refueling his Mustang in Albuquerque!”  Gene finished that Beam article with: “This could have been a real good party if the sun hadn’t come up and spoiled it.”

The RNO QB Hangar uses the RAR home pylon as part of its logo. There’s an interesting story about how this came to be. An explanation would be that the Air Races are emblematic of the city of good fun, casinos, and tourism.  All is very true, but that isn’t the actual story.  The simple fact is that RNO QB’s were, and have been, significantly involved at every level of the Reno Air Race Association (RARA) organization. Reno hangar members have been involved in promotions, management, and competition from the inception of the races in 1964, and every year since.

By 1965 the Reno Air Races had become much more organized. Two of the RNO Hangar’s Founding members, Selby Calkins and Ted Forsythe were the Managing Director and General Chairman, respectively.  Many other important positions within the race organization were held by RNO QB’s. When the first Board of Directors was formed, six of the nine directors were either current or soon to become RNO QB’s. This trend of hangar members holding important positions was an inclination that would continue for many years.  1965 would also see the second and last “Transcontinental Dash”, though the rest of the events remained intact.  Attendance records continued to be broken year after year.

The late 1960’s brought on the Vietnam War, and though the air races continued unabetted, the war gained steam and resulted in several RNO QB’s being called to active duty. Guys like QB’s Nick Conti and Jim Edwards, among others, took off to Vietnam and became participants in the “Southeast Asia War Games.” The RNO Hangar lost Bill Stead in 1966. As the architect of the Reno Air Races, the “World’s Fastest Motor Sport,” Bill was certainly one of our most venturesome mavericks.  Bill Headed West while attempting to make an emergency landing in his midget Formula One racer.  He crashed in Tampa Bay and was killed instantly.  Even in death is efforts did not falter.

In 1966, the U.S. Air Force’s Stead AFB was closed, and the facilities were turned over for civilian use. The races were moved to that location because of its excellent infrastructure; hangers, ramps, and of course, hard surface runways. Stead AFB became Stead airfield. The base and airfield were named after Bill’s younger brother Croston Stead, a WW II and Nevada Air National Guard pilot. Croston died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash on December 11, 1949. The National Champion Air Races have been held at Stead every year since, with the exception of 2001 when nationwide airspace closure was caused by the 9/11 terrorist attack. The only other cancellation came during the 2020 Pandemic.

An interesting aside regarding Stead Airfield. RNO QB Charter members Marty Kronberg and Murray Kahn were both crop dusters in the late 1940’s.  Marty was teaching the science of crop dusting from the Sparks, Nevada Airpark.  In 1958, he joined forces with Murray, and they opened an “agriculture academy” (Ag) at the Minden, NV airport, about 40 miles south of Reno. These two pioneer crop dusters included flight training as part of the curriculum. The course took many young men and women right up to professional crop dusting status. The school became the first accredited Ag Flight Academy in the Nation and was approved for GI Bill training at the end of WWII.  The school opened a second location at Stead Airfield immediately after it was turned over for civil use in 1966. Students came from around the world to train in agricultural crop dusting.  As a measure of their success, it can be noted that at its pinnacle, the academy had not only its own hotel for the students but 39 helicopters and airplanes. They even had their own Link trainer on the premises.  Many future QB’s would learn to fly here and even become crop dusters through this school. Several went on to become flight instructors.

The RNO Hangar celebrated its tenth anniversary in 1969. The combination of being co-located, so to speak, with the Reno Air Races and having a cadre of resolute QBs from the Reno area made it almost impossible to fail.  New traditions were established within the RNO Hangar that would remain unchanged for years. The fellowship enjoyed within the group continues to this day. The RNO Hangar roster beginning the year 1969 showed 43 active members.

Like many QB Hangars across the country, the RNO Hangar was home to a plethora of legendary pilots with storied exploits. Guys like Bob Margison.  Bob was with the US Army Air Force in WWII.  He flew 50 combat missions in P-38’s in N. Africa and Europe. He was credited with 3 confirmed kills and 3 probables. After the war, he became a test pilot and flight instructor, rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel.  Lt. Colonel Bill Skliar joined the USAF in 1948. He flew the F-80 and F-84 in Korea. Bill ended the Korean conflict with one probable Mig kill. But Bill wasn’t finished. He flew 98 missions in the F-100 in Vietnam. He was one of the first USAF pilots chosen to join the CIA for the A-12 program. He returned to the USAF, flying the  YF-12A. He was one of a handful of pilots able to take “dubious” credit for ejecting out of a “Blackbird.” Bill also flew a Sport Class racer at the Reno Air Races.

A couple of other interesting RNO QB stories are fondly remembered. QB Shane Theis flew T-6’s during the air races, but his claim to fame might just be that being a pilot and member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), he flew the C-123 in the 1997 movie “Con Air”. And did I mention that RNO QB’s Bill Elander and Doyle Ruff were both alumni of the USAF Thunderbird Aerial Demonstration Team.

There are so many renowned RNO QB’s to pick from, but a couple final shout outs are in order. You may remember the incident but may not have remembered RNO QB Dave Cronin’s role. On February 24^th, 1989, United Flight 811, a B-747 departed HNL for Auckland, NZ. Climbing through FL 220 structural failure occurred in the lower forward cargo door area resulting in a large hole being torn open in the cabin area. Nine passengers were lost through the opening and both engines on the right side suffered damage from ingesting parts of the aircraft. Dave was able to maintain control and make an emergency descent and landing at HNL. The superior airmanship displayed by Dave and his crew resulted in them being awarded the Secretary of Transportation “Award of Heroism.”

No recognition of RNO QB’s would be complete without mentioning one of our most famous members.  RNO QB Leroy “Gordy” Cooper demitted to RNO from the Houston Hangar in 1989. Gordy became a member of the first astronaut group for the Mercury program. He flew “Faith 7” for 22 orbits around the big blue marble in 1963. He later flew aboard Gemini 5. He retired from the USAF/NASA in 1970 with 7000+ hours of flight time and 222 hours in space.

As the years continued on the air races continued to grow in popularity.  In the last ten years alone (2012-2022) well over 1 million spectators attended the Reno National Championship Air Races, which brought an economic windfall to the region of nearly $750 million.

The Reno Air Races feature multi-lap, multi-aircraft races among extremely high-performance aircraft on closed ovoid courses, which range between about 3 miles for Biplanes and Formula One racers and about 8 miles for the Jet and Unlimited classes. In 2003, Skip Holm brought the crowds to its feet while piloting Terry Bland’s modified P-51D Mustang, Dago Red. Skip hit a speed record of 507 mph during a six-lap race around the 8+ mile course. The newly added Sports Class aircraft, which are mostly homebuilt aircraft, are hitting speeds in excess of 400 mph. At the top of the Reno Air Race speed pyramid sits Curt Brown and his L-29 Viper with a top speed of 544 mph.  But then, folks, it’s all about “speed” isn’t it?  The Reno Air Races include two and a half days of qualifying, followed by four and a half days of multi-aircraft heat racing, culminating in the Unlimited Class Gold Race on Sunday afternoon. The biggest downside to hurtling through the stratosphere in aircraft such as these has to be the somewhat inevitable fact that men and/or machines do occasionally fail.  In the preceding 59 years, the Reno Air Races had some fatalities. To be precise, 21 pilots, 1 wing walker, and 10 spectators lost their lives.

Notwithstanding that sad fact of fatalities and that 2023 will be the last year the U.S. National Championship Air Races are to be held at the Reno-Stead Airport, the Reno Air Racing Association remains committed to not only preserving and growing the thrilling and historic sport of air racing but continuing to capture the imagination and hearts of the next generation of air racing fans. I think I can say with some certainty that whenever and wherever the next location for the National Championship Air Races is chosen, there will also be a bunch of guys known as Quiet Birdmen.