EAAers Win at 54th National Championship Air Races

September 21, 2017 - The National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, concluded Sunday with James Consalvi, EAA 1009777, taking first place in the Unlimited Gold Championship race in a highly modified P-51 nicknamed Strega. Consalvi narrowly beat out reigning champion Steve Hinton Jr., who recently set a speed record in the P-51 Voodoo, with a total time of 7 minutes, 49 seconds to Hinton’s 7 minutes, 50 seconds. Both aircraft’s average speed exceeded 480 mph over the eight-lap course. 

Other Gold race winners include: Formula One winner Lowell Slatter, EAA 92466, in Fraed Naught with a time of 6 minutes, 11 seconds and a speed of 242 mph; Biplane winner Andrew Buehler, EAA 372966, in Phantom with a time of 4 minutes, 57 seconds and a speed of 226 mph;  Sport winner Jeff LaVelle in a Super Glasair III with a time of 7 minutes, 15 seconds and a speed of 388 mph; T-6 winner John Lohmar, EAA Lifetime 220061, in Radial Velocity with a time of 7 minutes, 42 seconds and a speed of 225 mph; Jet winner Rick Vandem, EAA 1069860, with a time of 5 minutes, 42 seconds and a speed of 494 mph in an L-39 Albatros named American Spirit.

Other EAAers who placed in their races include:

• Steve Senegal, EAA 478025, placing second in the Formula One Gold race in an Arnold AR-6 called Endeavor in 6 minutes, 11 seconds at an average of 240 mph.

• David Holmgren, EAA 1088696, who took first in the Formula One Silver race in the Cassutt III-M Aeromagic with a time of 7 minutes and an average speed of 213 mph.

• Swaid Rahn, EAA 317746, took second place after Holmgren in Heat Stroke with a time of 7 minutes, 19 seconds and a speed of 204 mph.

• Jeffrey Lo, EAA 394843, took first place in the Biplane Silver race flying Pitts S-1 S Miss Diane at 180 mph for a time of 6 minutes, 13 seconds.

• Casey Erickson, EAA 815630, placed just behind Lo in The Batplane, also a Pitts S-1 S, with a time of 6 minutes, 21 seconds and a speed of 176 mph.

• Vicky Benzing, EAA Lifetime 529264, flew a Lancair Super Legacy nicknamed Lucky Too in the Sport Gold race taking second place with a time of 7 minutes, 49 seconds at 360 mph.

• Alan Crawford, EAA 606484, took first in the Sport Silver race in a Lancair Legacy named Beast with a time of 8 minutes, 37 seconds and an average speed of 287 mph.

• Ernie Sutter, EAA 759979, placed second in the Sport Silver race also in a Lancair Legacy, Jus Pass’n Thru, with a time of 8 minutes, 38 seconds and an average speed of 286 mph.

• Eric Woelbing, EAA Lifetime 364195, took second place in the T-6 Silver race in Miss TNT with a time of 7 minutes, 50 seconds at 221 mph.

• Pete Stavrides, EAA 1238493, took first place in the Jet Silver race in the L39 Riff Raff in 6 minutes at an average speed of 469 mph.

• Robert Patterson, EAA 32694, who placed first in the Unlimited Silver race in a P-51D in 9 minutes, 45 seconds at 337 mph.

A full list of race results can be found at the National Championship Air Races results page.