Looks like the air races are the latest victim of "we built too many houses around an airport". "A letter sent to supporters and fans said the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority made the decision to sunset the event citing the region's significant growth." https://mynews4.com/news/local/end-...-air-races-leaving-reno-after-nearly-60-years
Yeah, the photo atop the linked article really highlights just how much suburban sprawl has encroached on the airport!
Cost, likely. Same thing happening around my home airport. Was in the middle of nowhere when it was built, now it's surrounded by cul-de-sacs and noise abatements, and of course the occasional petition to close the airpark.
Nothing to do with skyrocketing insurance costs I'm sure. If it's truly sprawl, then I'll look forward to the Tonopah/Elko/Winnemucca Air Races soon. It's not like airplanes are inconvenienced much by switching host airports.
Seems like there are still plenty of airports in the country literally in the middle of nowhere that would love to host an air racing event.
Back in the early 2000's, there was some acreage at KHUM nestled in the area S of RW 12-30 and W of RW 18-36. It also was directly under the RW traffic pattern for the (long established) heliports on the North Ramp. RW max altitudes over this acreage is 500'. Many of the AC based on the North Ramp are multi engine. Some more than 12,500 MTOW. You guessed it. A developer bought the land and began building a residential community. The Airport Commision and operators demanded and got a requirement that the developer have the buyers sign a document that (a.) Acknowledges that RW traffic will be overhead. And (b.) They waive the right to sue regarding noise. You also guessed it. The first suits came in after a dozen or so homes were built. This land should have been zoned commercial and only used for material storage.
I used to belong to a gun club, established in a rural area in the 1920's. In the 80's, a large housing development adjacent started to go up. The club hired a lawyer and succeeded in having all of the buyers sign a similar agreement, acknowledging that they knew we were there, and that they wouldn't sue due to noise. That lasted only a couple of years; I'm not sure of the sequence, but a few neighbors decided they wanted us gone anyway, and at about the same time a law firm started soliciting clients in the neighborhood telling homeowners they could probably boost their property value by 10% or more by working with them to close us down. It was an expensive, multi-year battle for the club. The club is still there, kinda. The indoor range was unaffected, some of the outdoor facilities were closed for good, others can only operate for a very limited number of hours some months, while having to close entirely part of the year.
......we are currently exploring several other possible locations to host the event in the future. Sad to see them leave Reno, but some local municipality out there in the USA is going to win big. After all, still plenty of former military installations out there in the US with big tarmacs, big runways, and low surrounding population density. 2024 National Championship Air Races at: - Salina KS? - Glasgow MT? - Moses Lake WA?
This is sad - but hopefully they won't have much trouble taking the "Reno Air Show" name with them to a new location. As much as I'd be a fan of Salina, I've been there. It's a long way from anywhere and would be hard to get people there. Something similar though - like Topeka. 45 minutes from KC airport, has an old, unused Air Force base. It's across the street from Heartland Park racetrack and drag strip, so not going to have noise complaints. Oh yeah - with land that flat, no obstructions around until the CO border LOL. Or heck - why not Oshkosh?
They should do it from KGAI so that each lap they have to call Potomac TRACON for clearance into the SFRA. I'd listen to that!
It’s become clear that the lawyers in this country can make any prior legal agreement useless. It’s really a bad place to be when no prior contract has any weight if some lawyer can undo it.
Wonder if Mojave (MHV) might be a viable option. Would require a bit of coordination with Edwards, but there is a lot of open space north of the field, and nothing off the ends of the main runway.
I like Sebring, FL. Nothing next to the airport other than a big racetrack. And that area has racecar noise almost every day.
IAC National Championships are at Salina. It's a good location, only 100 miles from the geographic center of the continental US. Whining about encroachment does nothing. Cities grow and people gotta live somewhere. Air Racing is always going to be an extreme outlier in terms of space required, like a military bombing range.
Place has x, people flock to it because of x, people complain about the things that result in x, no more x. People move to different place that has x. Rinse and repeat.
my thought EXACTLY! I had hoped someday to make it to a race there...not that I have any huge interest...but racing is fun...and I like flying things...and that place is (er was) synonymous with air racing
That's actually not a bad idea. The area south and east of ROW is pretty much uninhabited wasteland. A lot of commercial UAV testing goes on there, for that reason.
That was my first thought as well, but there is still time. The races in Reno will be discontinued AFTER this September's race
Given the time of year, at the end of Air Show season, I would imagine Mojave, or Thermal. Change the time of year to mid-summer, I would suggest Glasgow, MT. That huge Air Force Base has a great runway, and sits almost abandoned but for a Boeing test facility, with no one else around for miles and miles.
The problem with sticking it at the absolute ***-end of nowhere is that attendees need a place to stay, somewhere to eat, etc.
Weasel words like "...amongst other considerations..." always get my attention. The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority actually said, "RTAA’s concerns around challenging economic conditions, rapid area development, public safety and the impact on the Reno-Stead Airport and its surrounding areas are some of the contributing factors towards the final year of the National Championship Air Races." Clearly some weasel-wording in there too but the 'other considerations' are not as trivial as RARA made it sound. Make of it what you will, but I'm betting liability and/or insurance had as much to do with it as encroachment. Nauga, and a little history
It could move to Wendover, UT on the Nevada border. I’ve been going to the Air Races since 1978 and soloed at Stead airport. Very sad to see this go.
The Cleveland air races ended because someone put a P-51 (Beguine ?) into a house, leading to multiple fatalities. In Gary Levitz' crash at Reno 20 plus years ago, the wreckage hit two houses, but nobody was killed other than the pilot. So, yeah. Dangerous business to conduct around residential areas, and Reno has clearly built up to the point where holding the races there is problematic at best.
