IF1
-- The Future of Air Racing
First off, this
is no way to be considered an attack on International
Formula One (IF1). IF1 has been the foundation for the
modern era of racing, moving Aviation technology from the
"scratch-built era" to the "homebuilt
era" to "composites" and "computer
design."
IF1 has been
the foundation for the start-up of the Sport Class, in
that the Sport Class aircraft was essentially derived
from the composite learning process that began with IF1.
Bigger aircraft, stronger aircraft, more passengers,
greater power, have all been the quest since the
development of IF1. And mind you, not off
the shelf -- but kit built by the
Pilot and/or his Team.
The Sport Class
will ultimately develop into the Unlimited Class of the
future, which will see composite designs traveling at
speeds in the 500 to 600 mph range, allowing the Warbirds
to be retired to Flying Displays and Museums, preserving
their lot for hundreds of years into the future. Meaning,
Sport Class present and Unlimited Class future will have
IF1 to thank for the presence in Air Racing.
At the
beginning, General Aviation aviators wanted a lower cost
alternative to production line Cessnas, Pipers,
Beechcrafts, Bellancas, etc. These aviators wanted newer,
more modern designs, to avoid the cloning effect common
in a production line environment. They wanted something
that reflected "the future," not the past.
At over fifty
years of age, IF1 did indeed
reflect and ultimately produce the future of General
Aviation. Quite frankly, considering the use of
composites now in anything of size from the Beechcraft
Starship to the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 "Super
Jumbo," now in production overseas, IF1's
contribution is sorely ignored. IF1s were the flying,
racing, "test-beds" and "prototypes"
of the aircraft we now see in existence or under
development, such as the forthcoming 7E7 Dreamliner from
Boeing.
...and of
course, there is now Burt Rutan's design, Spaceship One,
which set a new altitude record this past week, while
closing in on the coveted "X" Prize -- the
first privately owned venture to send a man into space.
IF1 and Air
Racing have long been the testing ground for many of the
things we value or take for granted in Aviation and
Aerospace. IF1 has had its part in moving composite
aircraft closer to Space.
So no way, can
SSNS attack IF1. No one should.
Therefore, that
would not be our intent.
Scotty
Crandlemire, Birch Entriken and the entire IF1
organization, have no option but to go along with
Houghton's plan, considering what we're seeing at SSNS in
regards to the demolition of the Reno National
Championship Air Races by a pack of Corporate Raiders.
There would be severe repercussions if they did reject
the plan.
Truly, the
proposal offers substantial benefits to IF1, since what
is clearly going on at this moment at Reno affects the
future of IF1 and all of Air Racing, and will provide
substantial benefits to IF1 and Sport Biplane
if the proposal can be
safely accomplished.
The latter
italic is SSNS' caveat.
A
Course Change at Reno-Stead Airport
In the matter
at hand, a course change caused by movement of the
IF1/Sport Biplane course to a location nearer the
Grandstands at Reno-Stead, is of concern to Silver State
News. This is something being attempted by the Reno Air
Racing Association and Mike Houghton, President and CEO
of the same.
Mike Houghton
indicates that he has a plan to make IF1 more visible and
viable in Air Racing.
Unfortunately,
its Bob Avery's plan and just one of many things Avery
and World of Wings (WoW) are doing that Houghton must
maintain pace with if he and the Reno Air Races are to
survive -- even if only for a short while.
Houghton
seriously needs to buy more time to find a new location
for the Reno Air Races, or by his own hand and prior
actions, they will have to fold and he will be held
personally responsible for the failure of such a
successfully, profitable, popular, 40-year + venture.
Houghton knows this and Silver State News Service knows
this.
"That's
a fact, Jack!" -- Bill Murray,
Stripes.
As Silver State
News Service indicated at the beginning of its
investigation of both the RARA vs Parker and Water Works
Scandals, Avery's accomplishments at Las Vegas will force
Houghton to compete and start treating the racers better
and likewise, force him and others to make concessions to
the racers as Air Racing switches from a "Buyer's
Market" (Advantage -- Event Organizers) to a
"Seller's Market" (Advantage -- Individual
Racing Teams and/or Classes).
No longer will
pilots in Air Racing have to continue tolerating the kind
of nonsense they've had to put up with over the past four
decades to race, with each decade growing worse in
regards to the misconduct racers and fans have had to
endure from Air Race promoters like RARA -- or worse.
Via Bob
Avery's/WoW's innovative efforts to make Air Racing into
the next "NASCAR" or "IRL," with
emphasis being placed on the pilots and their Teams --
ensuring that they have show money, hotel rooms,
vehicles, other perks and benefits -- other promoters
will have to match Avery's offers to compete in the New
Air Racing Era.
Including, but
not limited to: The Reno Air Racing Association (RARA)
and the National Championship Air Races (NCAR) -- one and
the same organization.
The
Rooster Blinks
With Houghton
announcing this plan "of his" to move the IF1
course closer to the Grandstands, such as what he saw at
the Demonstration Race at Aviation Nation in November,
2003 -- folks, you have just seen the first
"blink" by a promoter in a forty-year-old game
of chicken being played by the participants...
...and by God,
you will see more...that, I promise you. Houghton saw IF1
gravitate towards Avery and the circuit breaker in his
head finally flipped. Houghton suddenly realized that he
was about to lose them all.
Which he's
going to do anyway if he manages to get the races shut
down via his protected racecourse lands sale to his
buddies/contemporaries at AAWC.
Thus, everyone
take notice because like SSNS said at the beginning,
Avery has just succeeded in a major accomplishment that
will affect the empowerment of the Racing Classes in
their dealings with Event Organizers and Promoters in the
current and
distant future.
It's a whole
new World for Air Racing, because
Bob Avery stepped forward, recognized the need for
respect of these Professional Air Race pilots by Event
Organizers, and forced The Rooster
Houghton to blink.
In other words,
"Thug,"
the Chicken Hawk just smacked Foghorn Leghorn upside the
head with the frying pan he's going to cook him with --
and that was just to get his attention. We'll put that
explanation in there especially for you!
At the same
time, Avery has not blinked and Thug, that's tantamount
to telling Houghton and his Gang (including you...) --
and I quote you on this: "Why
don't you get the f--k out of here!"
"Here," being Las Vegas.
Yes, Houghton
was about to lose them all,
because all it really takes is one Class to defect and
others will follow in short order.
Already, two of
three critical Classes to any multi-Class Air Racing
event have already been motivated to sample the
hospitality of Las Vegas Style
Racing, courtesy of the Boyd Gaming
Corporation, brought to them on a silver platter by Avery
and WoW, and quite frankly, that third Class wants in,
too.
Houghton wants
in on Las Vegas. So too, does RARA as a whole, but
they're all limited on time to get that task
accomplished, since this bad publicity they're receiving
these days may have thrown a Monkey Wrench into their Las
Vegas deal -- SSNS doesn't think so, but there is
obviously a delay -- and essentially, Mike Houghton and
RARA have painted themselves into a corner in a building
that's on fire and they can't figure a way out.
They need to
move the races like NOW,
but a delay is holding them up and making things very
difficult. SSNS is informed and believe that any move is
being affected by reports of their misconduct, though
again, SSNS does not believe at this time that it will
end the deal, but Lord Knows, the latter won't be for
lack of trying.
Again -- our
Official Position: The Reno National Championship Air
Races belong to the City and People of Reno. SSNS has no
objection to RARA starting up a new race somewhere, but
the Reno Air Races are staying right here. Houghton and
RARA -- they'll only take the Reno Air Races away from
this City over my dead body.
And word has
it, that's an option they're considering, too! <G>
Where's
Mikey!? Waldo's looking for him...
And yes, though
Mikey H has been very hard to find these days, he still
has someone writing letters for him and keeping him a
player when it comes to Air Racing in general and the
Reno "Invitational" National Championship Air
Races in particular.
Just the same,
from what SSNS has learned from its sources, Houghton is
attempting to "cover his
ass" in regards to the RARA vs
Parker Scandal and, more importantly, the growing Water
Works Scandal, the latter a case which -- at this time of
writing -- is transitioning from Local and State levels
to a Federal Case involving the Washington
D.C. offices of the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation (DOT), General Accounting Office (GAO) and
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), just for starters.
Houghton is
reported by sources to be pain-stakingly
going out of his way to indicate the real reason "The
Foghorn Leghorn Gang" visited
the Demonstration Race at Nellis in 2003, was to learn as
much as RARA could from Avery's Las Vegas Style Air Racing so as to help
improve the Reno National Championship Air Races.
(Seriously,
this is what I am told by reliable sources that Houghton
is claiming. -- Ed.)
Not, as we have
reported under our new "Rumor Control" section,
that Houghton was -- in reality -- attempting to move the
races out of Reno and in particular, to the Las Vegas
area, something that would be a major slap in the face to
the City and People of Reno.
So very
interesting...so very, very
interesting...
...especially
since that
position will cover Mikey's fanny just about as much as a
pinkie-sized Band-Aid® would!
And, of course,
Houghton's still
trying his darndest to escape the "Official
Rumor" <g> -- courtesy
of Silver State News Service via our extremely
reliable sources
-- that Houghton and the Gang are still
attempting to move the Air Races to the Las Vegas area.
Yes, they still
are, from what we know, since new locations have come to
light since -- all in the Las Vegas area, except for one,
since Southern California is mentioned now as well.
Think about
this for a minute folks:
In past
interviews with me, while I worked for that "other"
website, Mr. Houghton indicated with much self-agrandizing
and bravado
that "Reno is Air Racing!"
In fact, Houghton totally dis'd Bob Avery and World of
Wings (WoW) in the process, despite offers made to Start-up
Air Races that if they needed some
experienced advice, they could come to RARA and get the
same.
In dissing
Avery, World of Wings and Las Vegas Style Air Racing,
Houghton himself pointed out what is essentially true:
Las Vegas is not an Air Race yet. However, Houghton ignorantly
ignored the fact that it was only a matter of time before
a legitimate contender would enter the ring to fight and
compete -- with RARA and Houghton.
(SSNS maintains its
Official Position that Bob Avery has his ducks in a row,
that Air Racing is coming to Las Vegas, that the arrival
will signal a new era in 21st Century Air Racing, and
Demonstration Air Race # 3 is on the bill for Aviation
Nation 2004...giving solid proof of that... -- Ed.)
So, here we
have a 40-year-old event and its middle-aged CEO
indicating now
that they have something, anything, to learn from an
event that hasn't even started up, and is only running
demonstration races.
Further, the
Las Vegas experience is creating a scenario that allows
them to bring the IF1s closer to the crowds since the
competition is staged for safety purposes.
RARA intends to
bring the racers closer to the crowds and the contrast is
this: these IF1s will actually be racing, not
demonstrating.
Well, you know,
that makes Mikey's statement rather unbelievable.
However, I
merely remember my last interview with Mikey H and I just
consider the source.
Remember this:
- Houghton
appeared at Las Vegas uninvited with his gang of Red Jackets in tow -- the
Spirit of Cooperation, Communication (of the fact
that he was coming with the Boyz) and Sharing
might have served him better.
- The only
notification World of Wings had of his pending
appearance was a rumor
that we did not start (Curses!
Foiled again! We do try though -- Ed. ).
- Notification
relates to Communication
-- oh, and Courtesy! Avery
and World of Wings received none. Communication
between the two groups was seriously limited, if
any truly occurred at all.
- Houghton
alone handed out old Reno Air Race programs and "Reno
Air Race Participant"
stickers, trying to mooch some free publicity for
the Reno "Invitationals." If he wanted
to learn that
factor about Event
Operations, he could have
joined the Civil Air Patrol (C.A.P). In fact,
Avery could have had Houghton dress up as Barney
the Dinosaur to attract the
attention of passing motorists, something we're
seeing more and more of here in La La Land (Los
Angeles).
- All
proving that it doesn't take nine guys to hand
out bumper stickers and leftover programs.
Frankly, it doesn't take one guy in a Red Jacket to accomplish
the task...nor one in a purple Dinosaur suit.
RARA could have sent the materials via Fed Ex,
UPS, C-A-P or
Sesame Street!
- Thus, an
ulterior motive existed for Houghton and his crew
of Red
Jackets to appear at a
Demonstration Race, and it sure as hell wasn't to
get the "vast experience" of a start-up
that -- as Houghton himself pointed out -- isn't
an Air Race yet. Nor, was it to steal Avery's
ideas -- ideas which Avery would have been glad
to share with Houghton if Houghton weren't so
willing to throw obstacles in Avery's way while
he (Avery) tried to promote Air Racing through
Reno.
So, what were
The Foghorn Leghorn Gang
doing in Las Vegas?
Silver State
News Service absolutely believes that RARA and their Good
Ol' Boyz were there attempting to negotiate the move of
the Reno National Championship Air Races to Las Vegas,
Nevada (Jean, in particular; Henderson and North Las
Vegas had also been mentioned...).
In fact, SSNS
now considers the reported move to Las Vegas
"confirmed" as "True." Frankly, it
makes sense in that, Las Vegas' "cup
runneth over" with cold, hard,
cash -- and lots of it.
Las Vegas isn't
just a City of Dreams.
Las Vegas is the City Where Dreams
Come True, and more importantly, it
is a City that is the path and foundation to The
Dreams of the Future.
As such, Las
Vegas is the launch pad for the World's
Fastest Motorsport in this, the
21st Century and the Second Hundred
years of Air Racing (Era 2009 -
2109 and beyond...).
New
Evidence of a Las Vegas Move?
SSNS now has a
new, additional piece of evidence that Mr. Houghton
purchased a very nice, very luxurious, very large home --
2,043 sq ft., four bedrooms, three baths, 440 sq. ft.
garage, Stucco, Frame, Concrete Tile Roof -- in Henderson,
Nevada, in August, 2001.
This was at
approximately the same time he signed a questionable
Special Event Licensing agreement with the Airport
Authority of Washoe County (AAWC) to hold the Reno Air
Races, and right after Houghton and other AAWC officials
at RARA violated Fiduciary Trust and sold protected
racecourse lands to their parent organization, the AAWC,
which now plans to "aggressively develop those same
lands," Air Races be damned.
If its true that "All roads
lead to the White House," then
it is likewise true that "All
fingers point to Houghton moving the National
Championships to Las Vegas."
Continued...Page 2
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