Fly Boys Fly~
The Reno Air Races are off to a fabulous start with perfect conditions, lovely weather and lots of blues in the sky including the famous Blue Angels now practicing out at Stead for the big performance. You can see them practice today at 1:30 pm too.
What is particularly exciting is the upstart in the Unlimited Class, Steve Hinton Jr. who looks like he may become the youngest champion in the 46 year history of the air races. Only 22 years old on August 22nd; he raced last year for the first time and made race history by being the youngest pilot to fly the Unlimited Class at the sweet age of 21!
Hinton is the favorite this year to win the Gold Unlimited, flying Strega which was originally piloted by owner “Tiger” Destefani who won last year, (again), retired and then passed the baton to Steve Hinton, Jr. Talk about being under a lucky star, to have Tiger Destefani as your mentor and benefactor. Just a huge and exciting opportunity. To make the story even better, Steve Hinton, Sr. is also a two time unlimited champion and on board to coach the kid with Tiger. This is a winning combination for sure and what a great Reno Air Race story.
Yesterday Hinton, Jr. came in first in the qualifying lap at 486.170 miles per hour, next was Sherman Smoot of Czech Mate at 466.910 which he had to be happy about. Now it’s just keeping those million dollar engines from blowing a gasket. Be safe up there boys, we would love to have a new record but more importantly, let’s have a safe landing.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 4:38 pm under
