2006 AirVenture Cup draws 60 racers
By Randy Dufault
This year’s ninth
annual running of the AirVenture Cup air race attracted the second
largest group of racers ever.
"Considering gas
prices, this was a surprise," said Bob Whitehouse, a member of the
race organizing committee.
When asked if the
committee did anything special to attract racers this year, Whitehouse
responded, "There’s a lot of word of mouth now, a lot interest
from the different groups of racers. They’re all talking to each other
on blogs and websites."
Whitehouse added,
"It’s one of the few events I believe that actually showcases the
work an EAAer building a homebuilt has done and its use, rather than
just using it for the $100, now $150, hamburger run."
The 2006 race started in
Dayton, Ohio, Sunday morning and ended with a flying finish over a small
airport south of Oshkosh. The racers recovered at the Fond du Lac
airport and departed together for a mass arrival here at AirVenture,
landing at about 5:00 p.m. Sunday evening.
Sixty racers participated
this year. The largest group ever was 73 airplanes in 2003, a special
two-day race to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight. That race
departed from First Flight Airport in North Carolina and ended at
AirVenture.
One factor contributing
to the large turnout certainly was the seven racers, one chase plane,
and one tag-along plane that came from Spruce Creek Fly-In, a
residential airpark just south of Daytona Beach, Florida.
Keith Phillips, Race #10,
a longtime AirVenture Cup racer and Spruce Creek resident, is credited
with encouraging the group to participate.
"We intimidated a
few into racing," Phillips said with a grin. "This is fun. It’s
a great way to come to Oshkosh. You meet some really neat and unique
people…We’d like to see it grow. We think it’s a great thing for
sport flying."
"You don’t need a
particularly fast or special airplane to be competitive," Phillips
added. Racers compete in a number of classes that place similar designs
and power configurations against each other.
Without exception the
racers were pleased with this year’s race, especially the good
weather.
James Redmon, Race #13,
said, "Last year it was brutal. It was rough and hot. This year it
was just perfect, except, of course, for the head winds."
Redmon flew the race with
his wife, Sandy. They live in Frisco, Texas, and were participating in
their second AirVenture Cup with their Berkut 360.
Harry Hinckley, Race #30,
raced for the first time this year in the SX-300 he owns in Iowa City,
Iowa, with two other pilots. When asked how he managed to draw the pilot
duties, he said one of the owners needed to get here early and someone
had to haul the camping gear. "I guess I just had to fly the
airplane," he said smiling. He did go on to add that he likely will
need to share the pilot duties in future races.
The race planes are
parked here at AirVenture just east of the tower.
Detailed results of the race are
available at www.AirVenture.org.
