Leave it to a former astronaut (“Hoot” Gibson flew F‐4s and F‐14s as a Naval aviator and went on to pilot the
Space Shuttle for NASA) to take the gold with such an out‐of‐this world win: “I've been dreaming about this
for 25 years or so, and I've been a fan of the air races since I was a little kid. I can't believe I won the Unlimited
championship. What a thrill.” When asked about his plans for the future he said the only certain thing was
that he’d be back next year.
By all measures, the races appear to have recovered from the repercussions of 2011’s fatal crash. Attendance
is up and the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) is projecting a profit of over $100,000 (where the original
budget called for a $630,000 loss). Overall, the event is projected to have generated more than $70 million for
the region’s economy. “To say we’re very pleased with the preliminary results of the 2015 National Champion‐
ship Air Races is an understatement,” said John Agather, chairman of the RARA board of directors. “We’re al‐
ready planning for a great event next year and are excited to have the Blue Angels returning in 2016.” See you
in Stead, September 14‐18, 2016!
The Aviation Magazine would like to thank all of the staff, volunteers and sponsors who make this event possi‐
ble and thank Kelly Glenn for arranging media access.
Unlimited Breitling Gold Results:
Place Race #
Aircraft
Pilot
Speed (mph)
1
Robert “Hoot” Gibson
488.983
7 P‐51D Mustang Strega
2
Stewart Dawson
471.957
77 F8F‐2 Bearcat Rare Bear
3
420.361
8 Sea Fury TMK 20 Dreadnought Dennis Sanders
4
Curt Brown
415.539
71 Sea Fury FB11 Sawbones
5
Korey Wells
371.842
924 Sea Fury TMK 20
6
Mark Watt
365.298
114 Sea Fury MK II Argonaut
DNF
Steven Hinton
5 P‐51D Mustang Voodoo
Jet Class: #24 Pete Zaccagnini, DH115 Vampire, Vampire, 502.370 mph (top left page 9)
T‐6 Class: #43 Dennis Buehn, AT‐6, Midnight Miss III, 238.073 mph (top right page 9)
Sport Class: #352 John Parker, Thunder Mustang, Blue Thunder II, 377.403 mph (btm page 9)
Biplane Class: #62 Tom Aberle, Modified Mong Sport, Phantom, 245.109 mph (mid right page 9)
Ten‐time champ Aberle set a new speed record of 284.454 mph in a qualifying race, beating
his previous record by more than 10 mph.
Formula One Class: #11 Steve Senegal, AR‐6, Endeavor, 239.432 mph (mid left page 9)
Results from all of the heats and races can be found online at http://reports.airrace.org.