High flying at Reno 2017

By General Aviation News Staff · September 17, 2017 ·

Ace photographer Lisa F. Bentson captured these photos on the second day of the 2017 National Championship Air Races in Reno:

Jets full throttle onto the course at Reno in 2017.

Turning around the pylon in Sport Heat 1B are (from left) Peter Zaccagnino in Race 28, Chiwami Takagi-Read in Race 0, and Benjamin Fouts in Race 808. Although they look fast, and all flew 256 mph, they were the three slowest planes in their heat. Alan Crawford in Race 32 was fully 30 miles an hour faster.

Unlimited Race 42, a P-40E flown by Bernie Vasquez, rounds pylon two.

Unlimited racers Warren Pietsch in Race 42 and Bernie Vasque in Race 84 vie for position over Reno.

Michael Schiffer roars over a pylon in Unlimited Race 85, the Goodyear FG1D Corsair “Whistling Death.” When he’s not racing, Schiffer works as a crop duster.

Race 84, a Spitfire MXIX piloted by Warren Pietsch, roars around the course with Race 42, a P-40E flown by Bernie Vasque in hot pursuit.

Vicky Benzing in Race 15 rounds the pylon inside of Scott Farnsworth of race 38 in Jet Heat 1A. Benzing’s L-39 took fourth place in the heat with a speed of 448.156 mph.

Jet 1B racers dive onto the start line.

Photographers snap images of the Texas Flying Legends as they launch for an honor flight saluting World War II vets, a generation who are passing away at a rate of 500 a day.

The sky fills with the whine of radials as T-6 Heat 1A heats up.

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