Whiteside will be at the controls of Voodoo, a P-51D Mustang, and have the pole position in the final race. Although he crossed the finish line second to Steven Hinton and Strega in Saturday’s Gold Heat, Whiteside moved to the pole after Hinton was assessed a penalty for cutting a pylon on the race course.Â
The 12-second penalty was just enough to put Whiteside into the top starting spot. Hinton will start second, followed by Dan Martin in Ridge Runner III and John Penney in Rare Bear.
All classes of racers at the 46th National Championship Air Races will crown their champions today with races starting at 8 a.m. Also scheduled are performances by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team, and Fat Albert, the Blue Angels C-130 transport plane, which will launch with a “jet-assisted takeoff.”
The Unlimited Gold race will start about 4:25 p.m.
For Whiteside, 38, of Windsor, Calif., it will be the first time he’s started from the top spot in five years of racing in Reno.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “This is the biggest event of my life. It’s everything I ever worked for.”
Whiteside started fourth in Saturday’s Gold Heat, but was able to pass both Ridge Runner III and Dreadnought on the course, putting him second behind Hinton, the 22-year-old from Chino, Calif., who is trying to become the youngest Unlimited champion ever.
Strega has been the fastest Unlimited plane all week and Hinton quickly built a large lead on Saturday. He had three laps over 500 mph. But on the second of six laps, he dipped inside the sixth pylon on the race course and received the 12-second penalty that gave him a total time of 6 minutes, 15.874 seconds.
Whiteside, who had a clean run, finished in 6:11.333. He said he knows there are fast planes behind him, but starting from the pole is an advantage.
“It’s very important,” he said. “You can fly your own race, fly your own line and they’ve got to go around you. And the only way they can get around you without going through you is they’ve got to have more power. More power means that you’ve got a better chance of blowing up.
“I’m just going to go out and run the best race that I can.Â
The top qualifiers in several of the other classes weren’t nearly as surprising.
In the Jet Class, former astronaut Curt Brown continued his domination on Saturday and will start from the pole in today’s race, which is scheduled to start at 12:25 p.m.
Brown, of Hudson, Wis., flew his L-29 jet Viper around the pylons at an average speed of 520.209 mph on Saturday, about 6 mph faster than second-place Mike Mangold of Victorville, Calif., in Euro Burner.
Reno’s Rick Vandam will start fifth in the Jet Gold race in his plane American Spirit.
In the Super Sport Class, defending champion Jon Sharp of Mojave, Calif., will start first after dominating the races all week in his plane, Nemesis NXT. Sharp also broke his own speed record for the event.
He is more than 20 mph faster than second-place Kevin Eldredge of San Luis Obispo, Calif., who will start second.
Ernie Sutter of The Woodlands, Texas will lead the field in the Sport Class.
Champions will also be crowned in T-6, Formula 1 and Biplane classes today.
In Saturday’s Formula 1 Heat Race, pilot Adrian “Coop” Cooper of Vancouver, British Columbia walked away from a hard landing after losing power to the engine in his plane.
Cooper was transported to Renown Regional Medical Center for evaluation.
“He was a little shaken up and had some lower back pain, so we transported him,” said Alan Tom, special events coordinator for REMSA.
He said Cooper is being held overnight for observation and is listed in “stable” condition.
“He is doing fine,” Tom said.
The incident did not cause any delays to the air racing schedule on Saturday.
| Race: | Biplane Gold | Date: | 2009-09-20 | ) Course: |
6 laps, 19.06 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Aberle, Tom | Aircraft: | Phantom – Race 62 | Type: | Mong Sport |
| Time: | 04:49.474 | Speed: | 236.995 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Way, Norman | Aircraft: | Magic – Race 27 | Type: | Pitts S-1S |
| Time: | 05:13.651 | Speed: | 218.726 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Vest, Dennis | Aircraft: | Drag Racer – Race 25 | Type: | Pitts S-1C |
| Time: | 05:21.587 | Speed: | 213.329 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Andre, George | Aircraft: | Zipper – Race 3 | Type: | Pitts |
| Time: | 04:55.712 | Speed: | 193.329 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Murphy, Kirk | Aircraft: | Lady Luck – Race 7X | Type: | Pitts S-1S |
| Time: | 05:02.770 | Speed: | 188.823 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Higa, Tony | Aircraft: | Tango Tango – Race 31 | Type: | Pitts S-1S |
| Time: | 05:17.270 | Speed: | 180.193 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | Roelofs, David | Aircraft: | Purse Snatcher – Race 11X | Type: | Pitts S-1S |
| Time: | 05:21.762 | Speed: | 177.677 | Place: | 7 |
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| Pilot: | Lo, Jeffrey | Aircraft: | Miss Diane – Race 6 | Type: | Pitts S-1S |
| Time: | 05:34.348 | Speed: | 170.989 | Place: | 8 |
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| Pilot: | Sommer, Leah | Aircraft: | Son of Galloping Goat – Race 10 | Type: | Pitts S-1S |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
| Race: | Sport Gold | Date: | 2009-09-20 | ) Course: |
6 laps, 42.85 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Sterling, David | Aircraft: | Race 8 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 07:17.371 | Speed: | 352.662 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | McReynolds, Tom | Aircraft: | Poky – Race 69 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 07:29.248 | Speed: | 343.339 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Behel, Lee | Aircraft: | Breathless – Race 5 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 07:39.858 | Speed: | 335.417 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | LaVelle, Jeff | Aircraft: | Race 39 | Type: | Glasair III |
| Time: | 07:43.940 | Speed: | 332.466 | Place: | 4 |
| Penalties: | Cut pylon 7, lap 4 | ||||
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| Pilot: | Sutter, Ernie | Aircraft: | Jus Pass’n Thru – Race 66 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 08:41.376 | Speed: | 295.841 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Crawford, Anthony | Aircraft: | Chick’s Delight – Race 9 | Type: | Questair Venture |
| Time: | 07:39.540 | Speed: | 280.818 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | Mead, Gary | Aircraft: | Luckymojo – Race 47 | Type: | Glasair III |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
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| Pilot: | Walker, Vince | Aircraft: | Modo Mio – Race 2 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
| Penalties: | Disqualified by Contest Committee for Low Flying | ||||
Â
| Race: | Sport Silver | Date: | 2009-09-20 | Course: |
6 laps, 42.85 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Sutter, Ernie | Aircraft: | Jus Pass’n Thru – Race 66 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 08:44.092 | Speed: | 294.307 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Crawford, Anthony | Aircraft: | Chick’s Delight – Race 9 | Type: | Questair Venture |
| Time: | 09:03.635 | Speed: | 283.727 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Vitale, Jim | Aircraft: | Sugarplum – Race 30 | Type: | Swearingen SX300 |
| Time: | 09:08.225 | Speed: | 281.352 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Morss, Dave | Aircraft: | Martin’s Legacy – Race 99 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 09:24.771 | Speed: | 273.109 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Hibler, Phillip (Earl) | Aircraft: | Baby Doll – Race 40 | Type: | Glasair II S TD |
| Time: | 09:36.905 | Speed: | 267.365 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | McNutt, Greg | Aircraft: | Race 76 | Type: | Lancair 320 |
| Time: | 09:10.304 | Speed: | 234.501 | Place: | 7 |
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| Pilot: | Nelson, Scott | Aircraft: | Thunderbolt – Race 342 | Type: | Sbach 342 |
| Time: | 09:49.537 | Speed: | 218.896 | Place: | 8 |
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| Race: | Super Sport Gold | Date: | 2009-09-20 | ) Course: |
5 laps, 41.69 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Sharp, Jon | Aircraft: | Nemesis – Race 3x | Type: | Nemesis NXT |
| Time: | 06:08.713 | Speed: | 407.061 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Eldredge, Kevin | Aircraft: | Relentless – Race 42 | Type: | Nemesis NXT |
| Time: | 06:26.987 | Speed: | 387.839 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Dacey, Mike | Aircraft: | Bad Intentions – Race 71 | Type: | Questair Venture |
| Time: | 06:32.007 | Speed: | 382.872 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Giboney, George | Aircraft: | Rapid Travel – Race 75 | Type: | Thunder Mustang |
| Time: | 06:32.476 | Speed: | 382.415 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Parker, John | Aircraft: | Blue Thunder II – Race 352 | Type: | Thunder Mustang |
| Time: | 07:03.325 | Speed: | 354.547 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Sterling, David | Aircraft: | Race 8 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 7:08.874 | Speed: | 349.960 | Place: | 6 |
| Notes: | Added to Super Sport Gold Race to fill out field. | ||||
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| Pilot: | McReynolds, Tom | Aircraft: | Poky – Race 69 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | 7:15.522 | Speed: | 344.618 | Place: | 7 |
| Notes: | Added to Super Sport Gold Race to fill out field. | ||||
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| Pilot: | LaVelle, Jeff | Aircraft: | Race 39 | Type: | Glasair III |
| Time: | 7:15.731 | Speed: | 344.453 | Place: | 8 |
| Notes: | Added to Super Sport Gold Race to fill out field. | ||||
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| Pilot: | Greenamyer, Darryl | Aircraft: | Race 33 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
| Notes: | DNS. | ||||
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| Pilot: | Farnsworth, Lynn | Aircraft: | Miss Karen II – Race 44 | Type: | Lancair Legacy |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
| Notes: | DNS. | ||||
 Race: |
T-6 Silver Medal | Date: | 2009-09-20 | ) Course: |
5 laps, 25.35 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Gottschall, Ken | Aircraft: | Grace 8 – Race 8 | Type: | SNJ-6 |
| Time: | 08:01.344 | Speed: | 227.482 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Sanders, Joey (Gordo) | Aircraft: | Big Red – Race 5 | Type: | AT-6C |
| Time: | 08:01.514 | Speed: | 227.401 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Rushing, Chris | Aircraft: | Honest Entry – Race 42 | Type: | Â |
| Time: | 08:17.414 | Speed: | 220.132 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Good, Jim | Aircraft: | Wyoming Wildcatter – Race 77 | Type: | SNJ-5 |
| Time: | 08:19.169 | Speed: | 219.358 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Krawczyk, John | Aircraft: | Abracadabra – Race 50 | Type: | Â |
| Time: | 08:22.897 | Speed: | 217.732 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Dockter, Scott | Aircraft: | Margarita – Race 56 | Type: | T-6 |
| Time: | 08:24.464 | Speed: | 217.056 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | Macy, Nick | Aircraft: | Midnight Express – Race 94 | Type: | Â |
| Time: | 08:25.467 | Speed: | 216.625 | Place: | 7 |
| Race: |
Jet Gold | Date: | 2009-09-20 | ) Course: |
6 laps, 50.13 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Brown, Curt | Aircraft: | Viper – Race 77 | Type: | L-29 Delfin |
| Time: | 05:51.431 | Speed: | 513.521 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Mangold, Mike | Aircraft: | Euro Burner – Race 12 | Type: | L-29 Delfin |
| Time: | 05:53.653 | Speed: | 510.295 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Gano, Joe | Aircraft: | Pip Squeak – Race 2 | Type: | L-39 Albatros |
| Time: | 05:55.236 | Speed: | 508.021 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Fogg, Phil | Aircraft: | Race 8 – Race 8 | Type: | L-39 Albatros |
| Time: | 06:16.094 | Speed: | 479.846 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Vandam, Rick | Aircraft: | American Spirit – Race 5 | Type: | L-39 Albatros |
| Time: | 06:25.619 | Speed: | 467.994 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Magee, Cliff | Aircraft: | Violated – Race 25 | Type: | L-39 Albatros |
| Time: | 06:46.757 | Speed: | 443.673 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | Wildman, Pierre | Aircraft: | Vampire – Race 67 | Type: | de Havilland Vampire |
| Time: | 06:47.351 | Speed: | 443.026 | Place: | 7 |
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| Pilot: | Pezold, Robert | Aircraft: | Quicksilver – Race 36 | Type: | L-39 Albatros |
| Time: | 11:00.627 | Speed: | 227.199 | Place: | 8 |
| Race: |
Unlimited Bronze | Date: | 2009-09-20 | ) Course: |
6 laps, 50.12 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Matthews, Doug | Aircraft: | Bad Attitude – Race 117 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 08:15.290 | Speed: | 364.329 | Place: | 1 |
| Notes: | Opting to forfeit Bronze win to run in the Silver Medal Race | ||||
| Penalties: | Cut pylon 1, lap 2 | ||||
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| Pilot: | Cabanas, Fred | Aircraft: | American Beauty – Race 52 | Type: | F-51 Mustang |
| Time: | 08:16.782 | Speed: | 363.235 | Place: | 2 |
| Notes: | Winner Bronze Race | ||||
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| Pilot: | Paul, John-Curtiss | Aircraft: | Sneak Attack – Race 18 | Type: | P-40E |
| Time: | 09:15.732 | Speed: | 324.704 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Leeward, Jimmy | Aircraft: | Race 24 | Type: | F4U-4 Corsair |
| Time: | 09:17.982 | Speed: | 323.395 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Camp, Thomas | Aircraft: | Air Biscuit – Race 2 | Type: | FM-2 Wildcat |
| Time: | 09:18.051 | Speed: | 268.952 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Seghetti, Brant | Aircraft: | Sparky – Race 44 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
| Race: |
Unlimited Silver | Date: | 2009-09-20 | Course: |
7 laps, 58.56 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Hisey, Brent | Aircraft: | Miss America – Race 11 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | 08:15.554 | Speed: | 425.400 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Dieckman, Ray | Aircraft: | Sawbones – Race 71 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 08:40.891 | Speed: | 404.707 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Sanders, Dennis | Aircraft: | Argonaut – Race 114 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 08:50.565 | Speed: | 397.328 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Matthews, Doug | Aircraft: | Bad Attitude – Race 117 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 09:18.206 | Speed: | 377.653 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Eberhardt, Bill | Aircraft: | Merlin’s Magic – Race 22 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | 08:37.701 | Speed: | 348.557 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Patterson, Robert | Aircraft: | Lady Jo – Race 81 | Type: | TF-51D Mustang |
| Time: | 08:51.917 | Speed: | 339.242 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | Morss, Dave | Aircraft: | Polar Bear – Race 25 | Type: | P-51A Mustang |
| Time: | 08:56.700 | Speed: | 336.219 | Place: | 7 |
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| Pilot: | Gordon, Rob | Aircraft: | Speedball Alice – Race 31 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | 09:09.649 | Speed: | 328.298 | Place: | 8 |
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| Pilot: | Paul, John-Curtiss | Aircraft: | Parrothead – Race 17 | Type: | P-40N |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
| Penalties: | Disqualified by Contest Committee for Low Flying | ||||
| Race: |
Unlimited Breitling Gold | Date: | 2009-09-20 | Course: |
8 laps, 66.99 mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: | Hinton, Steven | Aircraft: | Strega – Race 7 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | 08:10.357 | Speed: | 491.822 | Place: | 1 |
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| Pilot: | Penney, John | Aircraft: | Rare Bear – Race 77 | Type: | F8F-2 Bearcat |
| Time: | 08:23.390 | Speed: | 479.088 | Place: | 2 |
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| Pilot: | Smoot, Sherman | Aircraft: | Czech Mate – Race 86 | Type: | Yak 11 |
| Time: | 08:39.410 | Speed: | 464.312 | Place: | 3 |
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| Pilot: | Martin, Dan | Aircraft: | Ridge Runner III – Race 20 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | 08:46.652 | Speed: | 457.927 | Place: | 4 |
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| Pilot: | Jackson, Matt | Aircraft: | Dreadnought – Race 8 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 08:58.205 | Speed: | 448.098 | Place: | 5 |
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| Pilot: | Gibson, Robert (Hoot) | Aircraft: | Riff Raff – Race 99 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 09:13.936 | Speed: | 435.372 | Place: | 6 |
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| Pilot: | Ezell, Nelson | Aircraft: | Fury – Race 13 | Type: | Hawker Sea Fury |
| Time: | 08:18.659 | Speed: | 422.751 | Place: | 7 |
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| Pilot: | Pardue, Howard | Aircraft: | Bearcat – Race 14 | Type: | F8F-1 Bearcat |
| Time: | 09:19.254 | Speed: | 376.946 | Place: | 8 |
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| Pilot: | Whiteside, Will | Aircraft: | Voodoo – Race 5 | Type: | P-51D Mustang |
| Time: | Â | Speed: | 0.000 | Place: | 99 |
Â
Source: Reno Air Racing Foundation
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