I can't believe that a 22 year old pilot won the unlimited class. Wow!

Our local boy Mark Barber got 2nd in the Silver Race in the biplane class.....WAY TO GO MARK!!!!

Sweet photies!! I feel like I owe you money for looking at those

Just a few pictures!!!????
Dude, those are stunning! I'm just gettin started in this photo stuff. I feel humbled.
I love the paint job on that Sea Fury with the red and black checkerboard nose, and the new paint on Rare Bear.
My absolute favorite is the one of the Bear taking off, nose reaching for the sky, with the gear coming up. "lemme at em!!" That thing looks like it got shot out of a cannon. Very nice.

EZFlap wrote: Even the biplanes are getting modernized thanks to Mr. Aberle, even as funky looking as they are now.

Sorry to rant... probably just sour grapes on my part

Bill Berle
Formula One # 81 "Boo Ray" 1988-89
Sailplane race # "VB" 1981-87

I rent a hanger from Tom Aberle. To meet Tom you would never know that he is anything more than an A&P/IA trying to scratch out a living working on his friend's planes. He is particularly helpful to the experimental crowd when a lot of other "professional mechanics" just turn their noses up at anything that doesn't say Wichita, Vero Beach or Kerrville on the data plate. The day after he returned from Reno he came over to my hanger to help me finish up the wing and tail rigging on my S7 Courier, then he took me and a couple of other guys who helped unload Phantom (Reno Race Plane) from the trailer out to the local Mexican cafe for lunch. Phantom lives in his shop, and he never seems to tire of showing it to pilots who happen by and notice the wicked looking micro race plane sitting in the corner.

I helped Tom load his truck and trailer prior to this years Reno Race. We loaded a lot of stuff (parts, tools etc) that in no way would be useful for Phantom. Someone pointed out to Tom that he was taking some stuff that he wouldn't need and couldn't use. Tom's reply was something like, 'yeah, but someone else may need it and I'll probably be the only one there who has it for them". Tom epitomizes what the racing community should be all about- innovation, camaraderie, sportsmanship and the love of flying and pushing the envelope just a little further each year. And, he is one of the old-guard guys who has been racing at Reno since the days at the old airport out in the dirt fields with the grandstands borrowed from the local high school football field.

If you are ever in So Cal it is worth stopping in at the Fallbrook Airpark (L18) to meet Tom and to take a look at Phantom.

Mark