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Thank y'all for your awesome comments and for following along, guys. I do appreciate it. So, this is my final post of aerial shots from Reno. We begin with a view of the airfield from Pylon Two taken with my cell phone. This time I was perched on the brow of a hill with Will.
The race opening and final line up. L to R, Baron's Revenge, Six Cat, Radial Velocity, Gunslinger, Midnight Miss III, and Abracadabra.
Radial Velocity, Six Cat, Midnight Miss III, and Gunslinger battle it out...
Gunslinger.
Undisputed leader from the starting gun, Baron's Revenge.
At second place throughout, Six Cat wasn't giving up the fight...
Gunslinger and Radial Velocity were in a fight for third and fourth...
...With Gunslinger pulling ahead.
Midnight Miss III looking smart in red.
Abracadabra.
Gunslinger...
And finally, for the one two... Baron's Revenge and Six Cat. I thought it fitting ending the air race with close ups of these two aircraft given what happened next. Chris Rushing in Baron's Revenge.
Nick Macy in Six Cat.
That's it. It was over, but we didn't know it at the time. I was with Will from the previous posts and we were chatting as the T-6s lined up on finals, but we didn't witness the collision between Six Cat and Baron's Revenge. Soon Will received a text saying a T-6 was down. A few people came over to where we were standing and we all got out our big lenses to see what we could. A line of emergency service vehicles began racing to the scene, but we couldn't see a helicopter, which is a sign of survivors as it would be ferrying them to a hospital, but none came. Pretty soon the number of emergency service vehicles increased and with my big lens I could see the focus of their attention. Indistinct piles in empty farmland, near a residential area. Information was scarce but pretty soon people began receiving news that two T-6s were down. RARA was not saying anything but we could see that the grandstands were emptying out. They obviously knew more than we did. We waited for what seemed like ages before we were told to return to the bus. Once seated we received the news, indeed, two T-6s had gone down. The drive back was quiet and we took an inordinately long time to reach the media area, where we gathered and waited for an official statement. We were informed as to what happened and I caught up with some of the other media peeps who didn't go with us to the pylons. The No.6 Pylon bus didn't even leave before the race was cancelled, so I was lucky that I didn't go on it. A friend said she saw the two aircraft collide. We all just stood there and said our goodbyes and left. No ceremony, no nothing. Just like that it was all over.
Some images I captured with my cell phone whilst wandering around.
The ramp at the end of the day.
Says it all...
The last photo I took at the air races. The media center looking forlorn and empty, devoid of the feverish activity that had characterised it over the previous week...
At the end a fellow photographer and I made a pact to find somewhere where we could get a beer before we left the site for good. We found a pop-up bar and sat with strangers, casually chatting about nothing in particular. It was the most surreal and anti-climactic ending to a major event I had ever experienced.
Next, A unique look around Reno and the National Automobile Museum, which is in Reno, of all places...
The race opening and final line up. L to R, Baron's Revenge, Six Cat, Radial Velocity, Gunslinger, Midnight Miss III, and Abracadabra.
Radial Velocity, Six Cat, Midnight Miss III, and Gunslinger battle it out...
Gunslinger.
Undisputed leader from the starting gun, Baron's Revenge.
At second place throughout, Six Cat wasn't giving up the fight...
Gunslinger and Radial Velocity were in a fight for third and fourth...
...With Gunslinger pulling ahead.
Midnight Miss III looking smart in red.
Abracadabra.
Gunslinger...
And finally, for the one two... Baron's Revenge and Six Cat. I thought it fitting ending the air race with close ups of these two aircraft given what happened next. Chris Rushing in Baron's Revenge.
Nick Macy in Six Cat.
That's it. It was over, but we didn't know it at the time. I was with Will from the previous posts and we were chatting as the T-6s lined up on finals, but we didn't witness the collision between Six Cat and Baron's Revenge. Soon Will received a text saying a T-6 was down. A few people came over to where we were standing and we all got out our big lenses to see what we could. A line of emergency service vehicles began racing to the scene, but we couldn't see a helicopter, which is a sign of survivors as it would be ferrying them to a hospital, but none came. Pretty soon the number of emergency service vehicles increased and with my big lens I could see the focus of their attention. Indistinct piles in empty farmland, near a residential area. Information was scarce but pretty soon people began receiving news that two T-6s were down. RARA was not saying anything but we could see that the grandstands were emptying out. They obviously knew more than we did. We waited for what seemed like ages before we were told to return to the bus. Once seated we received the news, indeed, two T-6s had gone down. The drive back was quiet and we took an inordinately long time to reach the media area, where we gathered and waited for an official statement. We were informed as to what happened and I caught up with some of the other media peeps who didn't go with us to the pylons. The No.6 Pylon bus didn't even leave before the race was cancelled, so I was lucky that I didn't go on it. A friend said she saw the two aircraft collide. We all just stood there and said our goodbyes and left. No ceremony, no nothing. Just like that it was all over.
Some images I captured with my cell phone whilst wandering around.
The ramp at the end of the day.
Says it all...
The last photo I took at the air races. The media center looking forlorn and empty, devoid of the feverish activity that had characterised it over the previous week...
At the end a fellow photographer and I made a pact to find somewhere where we could get a beer before we left the site for good. We found a pop-up bar and sat with strangers, casually chatting about nothing in particular. It was the most surreal and anti-climactic ending to a major event I had ever experienced.
Next, A unique look around Reno and the National Automobile Museum, which is in Reno, of all places...