Reno Air Races 2009
Curt Brown flew six missions into space during his days in NASA’s shuttle program but said the Reno National Championship Air Races are more fun. “I have more fun here because it’s just me and the airplane,” said Brown, who flies the L-29 jet Viper in the Jet Class. “At NASA, we (astronauts) are just the tip of the spear. We just ride up in the vehicle. There’s a lot of engineers and a lot of really smart, dedicated folks that make all that happen. I couldn’t do that by myself, no way. But here, it’s just me and the airplane. Obviously, I have a great ground crew to get me ready to go, but once I take off, I don’t have mission control trying to help me.
“Out here in Reno, and it’s kind of an inside joke with pilots, we get to do things that are totally illegal anywhere else in the world at any other time. Out here, we can really go fast, close to the ground and have fun with other airplanes.” Probably no one has been having more fun this week than Brown. Monday and again Wednesday, he has flown faster than anyone in the 46-year history of the races. On Monday, he hit 527 mph in his L-29 jet Viper to break his record of 524 mph set last year on the way to winning the Jet Class title.
Then on Wednesday afternoon, when the weather was warming and flying conditions better for speed, he recorded a speed of 538.052 mph. “I have to tell you, going around the race course at 538 mph is a riot,” said Brown, 53, of Hudson, Wis. “I raced Unlimited (Class planes) in the past. I used to fly Strega, and I used to race Voodoo in the past, but going around the course at 470, 480 or so (in an Unlimited) and then going at 538, it’s a huge change. It’s definitely a riot.” Jet racing was added as a demonstration event in 2000, with the intent of officially launching the class in 2001, when the races were grounded in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. So, the Jet Class debuted in 2002.
