To: RJI Members Date: December 19, 2017 From: Jeff Turney Re: December 2017 Update Happy Holidays Jet Racers.... Just before you settle in for the Holidays with Family and Friends, a quick update for the upcoming 2018 Racing Season: - Annual RARA Class President's Meeting:  Scheduled for February 22-23, during which a workshop will be conducted in conjunction with FAA, RARA, and Class Technical Representatives to help develop a more "standardized" technical inspection program. Steve Picatti and Minh Venator will be representing the Jet Class. - Pylon Racing Seminar (PRS): An "abbreviated" PRS will take place on June 7-10 due...

By: Nathan Harnagel It is commonly held that the second year in a university education program can result in a slump in performance, particularly if the first year was relatively spectacular.  My experience racing jets during my first year in 2016 surprised everyone including my own team.  It would be tough to top that in a second year effort.  None-the-less, our racing team came together in a remarkable way and held on to the objective level of performance set last year. In all racing, but particularly air racing, the results are not necessarily predetermined before the contest happens.  In addition...

To: RJI Members Date: September 26, 2017 From: Jeff Turney Re: Wrap-up of the 2017 National Championship Air Races Dear members- Racing Jets Inc., wraps up our successful 2017 racing season with sincere thanks for the generous support of our Sponsors: Epic Aircraft Grand Sierra Resort Embraer Executive Aircraft Avloft Technologies Ladd-Gardner Aviation Insurance My Go Flight Warriors TapHouse TacAir Kleenmaster Products North American Embroidery Oregon Aero Bruce’s Custom Covers Tom Harter It was a week of exciting, fast paced 500+ MPH racing, outstanding competition, and unparalleled camaraderie displayed among all of our race teams and crews. Racing Results: Jet...

To:  RJI Members Date:  September 4, 2017 From:  Rick Vandam Re:  National Championship Air Races 2017 Members We are in our last week for preparation for this year National Championship Air Races. Just to be sure that you might have all your arrival information and be ready to go when you arrive, I wanted to resend all the arrival information and to have it posted online for reference. So attached to this letter is the RARA arrival letter, the Jet Class arrival letter and a copy of the preliminary schedule for the qualification periods and show schedule. A temporary tower...

To: RJI Members Date: Aug 2, 2017 From: Rick Vandam Re: NCAR Update Dear Members- We are now only 5 weeks from the start of the Air Races this year and we’re looking forward to a very successful race this year. First off, I would like to share a bit of bad news. This past weekend Shifty’s Assistant Air Boss, Jon Proehl was killed in an auto accident. Jon was a pilot with American Airlines as well as a member of the Nevada Air National Guard with Jeff and myself. We will all miss having Jon with us. With this...

To: RJI Members Date: June 24, 2017 From: Rick Vandam Re: Mike Crowell Resignation Dear Jet Class Members, We received word today that the President of the Reno Air Race Association, Mike Crowell, has resigned effective immediately. In the official statement (attached), it is noted that Mike is stepping down to focus on his wife’s health. Donna has been battling cancer for some time now, and we, as a class, wish Mike and Donna all the best, and send our hopes and prayers for a full recovery. We’d also like to thank Mike for his hard work to return the...

By Nathan Harnagel In addition to certifying new race pilots, Pylon Racing Seminar (PRS) is an opportunity for returning qualified racers to practice and review racing skills.  Several qualified racers participated in 2017.  It was my first chance to come back as a qualified racer and I have been asked to write a short summary of some lessons relearned about operating these type aircraft and flying them in formation and on the race course. The Classic Jets Aircraft Association (CJAA) conducts FAA recognized formation training at various events throughout the year to qualify jet pilots for flying air show formations...

To: RJI Members Date: June 22, 2017 From: Rick Vandam Re: NCAR Letter Dear Racers- I would like to thank everyone who attended PRS and helped to make this our most successful PRS ever. Congratulations to our two newest rookies, Pete “Tool” Stavrides who will be joining the Riff Raff Race Team and Jim Beyers who will be joining Bob McCormack in his L-29. It was great to have Larry Labriola and Vicky Benzing back at PRS. They both plan to be racing again with us after missing last year’s race.  Jon Sokolov also joined us again in the Soko...

Please see the note below from the President of the International Council of Airshows, as forwarded by Vicky Benzing. There has been some discussion about this in various flying-oriented FB circles as well. Fellow Reno Racing families, the Hintons and the Sanders are a big part of the Planes of Fame museum and show. I’m sure they’d appreciate a big show of support from their Jet Class compadres! FYI and Action, as you see fit. Rick Vandam Friends: Please forgive the shotgun style of this correspondence. Under different circumstances, I would have liked to write a personalized email to each...

Have you been watching the one-hour episodes of the 2016 STIHL National Championship Air Races on NBC Sports Network? Last Saturday was the airing of episode two of last year’s races and this coming Sunday, April 2nd, the final one-hour episode from last year’s races will air. Yes, this coming Sunday, April 2nd at 12:30pm PT/3:30pm ET on NBC Sports Network.