Silver State News Service
www.silverstatenews.com 		Odds x
  xxxxx'Nxxxxxx
  xxxxxxxxxxEnds


John Wright's stock North American P-51D Mustang, Race 20," the day following the 1977 Reno event.


Another view of the Rolls Royce Mk. 57 Griffon-powered Mustang, "Red Baron," Race 5, which dominated Air Racing from 1976 thru 1979. thye aircraft also held the 3 KM Piston-engined speed record setat Tonopah, Nevada, by Steve Hinton, in August, 1979, of 499.083 mph.


Heavy cloud cover and winter storms blanketed Reno-Stead in mid-September, 1977, but Sunday's Gold races were conducted in "clear blue and twenty conditions." The snow came Sunday night, making normally hot Reno-Stead look like a winter wonderland. The RB-51 prevailed with Darryl Greenamyer at the controls, taking over from Roy E. "Mac" McClain, who had a rift with Team Owner Ed Browning over the maintenance and subsequent safety of this particular aircraft.


Now here's something you don't see every day. The third flight of The Human Fly, a daredevil with his own Marvel Comic Book, who rode the back of this DC-8 twice at Mojave, and once in Texas. This flight occurred in April, 1977, and featured The Human Fly setting a record of 250 knots on the back of this former Japan Air Lines Douglas DC-8 Series 55, which was provided by American Jet Industries. Flying the aircraft, United Airlines Boeing 747 Captain Clay Lacy, the 1970 Reno National Champion in Air Racing. The next image in the sequence was published by United Press International (UPI), Los Angeles Office, and went worldwide.


Vickers VC-10 on static display at the Reno National Championship Air Races of 1988. Based on the commercial jetliner proved popular by BOAC (now, British Airways), the VC-10 featured four engines on the rear fuselage and was Britain's answer to the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. Sales were fleeting, despite the transport's popularity with the travelling public, thus the VC-10 wound up in the service of the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a tanker and troop transport.

Photo by Alan Boucher, Minden, Nevada / M. Daniels Collections


Marvin "Lefty"Gardner during his aerobatic performance at the 1988 Reno event in his Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Race 13, "White Lightning."


Home / Directory / Galleries / Silver State Photo News / Water Works Scandal

Index / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20
21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30
31 / 32 / 33 / 34 / 35 / 36 / 37 / 38 / 39 / 40
41 / 42 / 43 / 44 /45 / 46 / 47 / 48 / 49 / 50