Just jets!

THE ADDITION Of AN L-39 JET CATEGORY TO THE RACES WAS A POPULAR AND COLORFUL SUPPLEMENT

One of my favorite quotes regarding the L-39 two-seat jet trainer came from a recent owner who said, "All you gotta do is fill it with fuel and go flying!" He is basically right. The rugged former Warsaw Pact trainer has turned out to be a popular and reliable let Warbird - there are currently over 200 L-39s in the United States.

Built by Aerovodochody in Czechoslovakia, the L-39 Albatros was an ideal choice for jet racing at Reno. "As you know," said Bill Eck, "at Reno 2000 we tried a demonstration jet race which proved to be very popular with spectators. However, we had a mix of aircraft which led to an interesting, if not exactly competitive, event. We had a few L-39s mixed in with MiG 17s that had the advantage of more powerful engines fitted with afterburners. Everytime Jimmy Leeward would turn on his MiG 17's afterburner, he would scoot to the head of the pack!"

In order to make the event more competitive, the L-39 was chosen as the only aircraft for the race - thus making piloting skills especially important. Also, only highly-qualified pilots would be allowed to race so you saw aviators the caliber of Skip Holm, Mary Dilda, Curt Brown, and Hoot Gibson filling the front seats. "I think you would be hard-pressed to find a more experienced, more professional bunch of pilots," said Eck.

The racing was pretty interesting. As with the Unlimiteds, the L-39s came down the chute led by an L-- 39 pace and followed by an L-39 chase. I had the opportunity to go

up a couple of times with the 139s and one way you can tell that these pilots are real pros is by how quickly they formed up and then stayed in formation as they went behind the hills to the southwest of Reno Stead prior to coming down the chute. The jets raced on the shorter, and perhaps more challenging, Sport course.

I talked with one spectator in the pits who had been watching the jets fairly closely. He come mented, "I thought the jets were going to be a bit dull since they are sorta quite when compared to the Unlimiteds but once they were on the race course it was real exciting. They bunched up on the first pylon and then there was some real racing with leads changing several times."

Fast, colorful, and plentiful, it seems like the jets are here to stay. "Jets appeal to the younger spectators," said Reno CEO Mike Houghton. "They add another important part to the overall spectacle that is Reno." AC

Copyright Challenge Publications Inc. Dec 2002
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