With beautiful weather but varying poor air quality and visibility from a nearby forest fire in California—which is typical this time of year—the STOL Drag National Championship at the Stihl National Championship Air Races at Reno brought competitors in from across the U.S. last week. The STOL Drag competition was once again a welcome addition to the schedule of race classes sponsored by the Reno Air Racing Association, as its versatility allowed it to move to the forefront of the show at a moment’s notice to entertain the crowd when the visibility was reduced below allowable race limits for pylon racing. STOL Drag’s visibility requirements were also reduced by the RVR (runway visual range) from 3 miles to 1 mile, which is well within the safety parameters for STOL Drag—allowing pilots to take the field in front of the grandstands and do what they do best: captivate the crowd.
I took the microphone—a breather from my duties as crew chief for Steve Henry—with Juan Browne (from the @blancolirio channel on YouTube). The grandstand fans and live streamers received the play by play as the Straight and Level Television documentary film crew followed along to help tell the story of the fastest growing segment of general aviation.
