by admin | Dec 21, 2023 | Air Race News, Media
To our amazing September Family,
As 2023 draws to a close, it would not be overstating to say that it has been one of the most challenging and yet highly successful years in our six decades as the Reno Air Racing Association. Following notice from our airport authority, we announced in March that this would be our last year of air racing at Reno-Stead. While it was indeed a sad and undesirable announcement, you, our fans, volunteers, sponsors, racers, staff, exhibitors, and vendors, all made it clear early on that 2023’s National Championship Air Races would be a grand finale like no other. Initial ticket sales on opening day received such an overwhelming response that our servers crashed! They were quickly back in action, and the following months demonstrated that our September Family was going to be there in numbers the likes of which we have not seen in many years.
Behind the scenes, once the announcement was made, we immediately embarked on a three-phase mission, which we are proud to say is not only proceeding well, but in all likelihood will exceed even our most ambitious expectations!
Our mission was threefold. First, we wanted to have a successful, profitable final race week at Reno that would give proper justice to our long tenure, as well as provide the funding to weather the search for a new location. Second, we planned to create and deliver an open national RFP process that would facilitate the vetting and selection of this new venue for NCAR with our full 7-race class and airshow complement. Finally, we would announce and host a farewell airshow in 2024 to celebrate our 60th anniversary and give a big introduction to our next chapter in a new home.
Fast forward to December, and we are thrilled to report that all three phases are well in hand. Checking the first box, the 2023 National Championship Air Races was an incredible success. While the tragic losses of Nick Macy and Chris Rushing after the T6 Gold Race on Sunday will forever sadly punctuate this historic week, the event itself and its results far exceeded our projections and provided us with the funding needed to proceed with our relocation efforts.
As for our search, as of this writing we have six finalist cities whose proposals have been reviewed and site visits to each have been completed. We are now in the deliberation phase of narrowing the decision down to our final selection, which we expect to announce in early spring 2024. We’d like to recognize Terry Matter, RARA Board Vice Chairman and Site Selection Committee Chairman along with our entire Site Selection Committee for their tireless work in finding our new home.
Finally, at the International Council of Airshows earlier this month we received the wonderful news that we will host not one, but TWO of the world’s most exciting and dynamic jet demonstration teams at our 2024 Airshow – the US Navy Blue Angels and the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds. Our show is scheduled for October 4-6, 2024, at Reno-Stead. We have a host of military and civilian performers plus static displays, a racing heritage area and our STEM Discovery Zone rounding out an amazing weekend of aviation excellence, along with a few surprises we have planned. Even though we are not racing, we are planning an epic celebration of our history and certainly our future that promises to be yet another amazing event for Northern Nevada.
Throughout these challenging yet triumphant times, our core mission has thrived. NCAR 2023 was a first-class air racing and airshow event, and we were able to honor our military with several key ceremonies and recognitions during the week. Our STEM Discovery Zone once again experienced incredible attendance, and we are proud to report that our first and second-year awardees of our Flight Training Scholarships are doing well, and we will be announcing our third year of scholarships this spring.
While the year began with what seemed insurmountable challenges, we are blessed with an incredible Board, Staff and Leadership team, and thanks to their amazing efforts combined with the support of our September Family we now have much to celebrate.
As we enter the holiday season reflecting on our mission, circumstances, and performance, we are humbled by the pride, resilience, and loyalty that all of you have shown as we embark on this next step in our journey. Please accept our sincere and heartfelt appreciation for persevering, celebrating, and joining us as we continue Racing for the Future. We are truly blessed by you and hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
With deepest appreciation and thanks,
Fred Telling
Chairman / CEO
Tony Logoteta
COO
by admin | Dec 8, 2023 | Air Race News, Media
Are you ready for some BIG NEWS about a BIG SHOW coming to Reno?!
The Reno Air Racing Association is thrilled to announce that the US Navy Blue Angels, the Canadian Snowbirds and the USAF F-16 Viper Demonstration Team will all be coming to Reno on October 4-6, 2024!
So mark it on your calendar, and then keep an eye out for more details on the event and ticket release coming soon, as we celebrate 60 years of aviation excitement in Reno!
by admin | Nov 28, 2023 | Air Race News, Media
Today is a special day for all charitable organizations around the world, when a simple ask of support is highlighted a little extra through the creation of Giving Tuesday.
The Reno Air Racing Association’s Scholarship Program has a long standing history of success in helping young people get their feet (and planes) off the ground, and begin their trajectory toward a career in aviation.
So if you’re looking to be a part of something special on this global day of giving, we hope you’ll consider donating to this wonderful program. Then you can even follow along through social media and email as we highlight pilots making progress toward their future, thanks to the support you offered.
Learn more and make a donation by clicking below.
by admin | Nov 27, 2023 | Air Race News, Media
With so much to be thankful for this holiday season, we’re hoping to help spread the love around. Giving Tuesday offers a special opportunity to do just that through our Scholarship Program.
The Reno Air Racing Association’s Scholarship Program has a long standing history of success in helping young people get their feet (and planes) off the ground, and begin their trajectory toward a career
in aviation.
2023 saw several new pilots take their first solo flight thanks to the wonderful donations of our many supporters. We aim to make 2024 our best year yet, and the effort toward that begins now.
While we accept donations any time of the year, Tuesday, November 28th is #GivingTuesday. So if you’re looking to be a part of something special on this global day of giving, we hope you’ll consider donating to the Reno Air Racing Association’s Scholarship Program.
by admin | Oct 19, 2023 | Air Race News, Media
Reno, Nev. – Over fifteen hundred pages of supporting documents have been submitted by six cities vying to become the new home of the National Championship Air Races (NCAR) after responding to a request for proposal distributed by the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) earlier this year. RARA is looking for a new venue for the event after announcing its departure from Reno following the final race in September. The world-renowned event has contributed over $100 million annually in economic impact to the region, while also establishing itself as the global standard for air racing. The National Championship Air Races is the only event in the world to feature seven classes of exciting air racing action in one incredible venue. Six closed-course pylon contests and the immensely popular and entertaining STOL Drag combine to create a motorsport experience like no other.
“Seeing the interest to host the National Championship Air Races at each of these unique venues gives me great hope for the future of air racing,” said Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Association. “We’re looking for our next home, somewhere we can celebrate many more anniversaries, so we’ve assembled an expert committee that is putting an extreme amount of care and diligence into choosing our next location.”
The bidders that responded to the request for proposals include:
- Casper, Wyo.
- Buckeye, Ariz.
- Pueblo, Colo.
- Roswell, N. Mex.
- Thermal, Calif.
- Wendover, Utah
The National Championship Air Races is a unique event that has called northern Nevada home since its founding in 1964, nearly 60 years ago. In the past 10 years alone, the event has attracted more than one million visitors to the region, generated more than $750 million for the economy and contributed significant aviation related education and outreach to schools and non-profits all around the area.
The committee researching the bid submissions is made up of RARA personnel from all areas, including operations, safety, security, business development and more. The race classes are also represented in the group and will continue to be an integral part of the selection process. At this point, the selection committee is thoroughly vetting the different proposals and will conduct site visits later this year. There are numerous factors to consider, but a few of the critical requirements for the event include considerable open landavailable for the racecourses, suitable runways, ramp and hangar space, administrative and security facilities, as well as proximity to hotels, commercial airports and restaurants.
“We only want to go through this process once and because of that, we’re going to make sure our next location is the best fit for the future of the air races,” said Terry Matter, board member and chairman of the selection committee. “Each of the bidders’ proposals were thoroughly prepared and completely addressed the RARA RFP requirements. We are so grateful for their initial attendance at the bidders’ conferences and at NCAR in September, and for the time and effort each one of them put into their proposal preparation. It is very exciting to know that our new home will be in one of these great cities. Soon our Site Selection Committee will visit these locations to further evaluate their ability to be the future host of the National Championship Air Races.” A final decision is expected to be announced early next year as the organization prepares for a final air show in Reno in 2024 before moving to the new location in 2025.
