Never argue with an idiot. He will lower you to his level and beat you with experience.

"Is there actually a cutoff age for this sort of racing, or is it as unlimited as the aircraft?"

Thanks, looked it up. Seems 60 is the cutoff age but has been lifted to 65 if a second pilot under 60 is present.

That sounds to me like the limit applied to public transport, it's the same in europe, so this shouldn't apply to the recreational/sport flying category because no passengers are involved.

Ok so you just wanted to be a little pedantic......I'm sorry he had a very slight chance.

Years ago I was at a boat race in Picton Ont. The 280 class race had started and 12 boats were entering the first turn. One boat kept going straight and another boat drove over top of the boat. The boat that kept going straight was driven by a 25 year old. The autopsy showed he had suffered a massive heart attack and was dead even before being hit by the other boat doing close to 100mph.

Joe Yancey was in the Rare Bear pits at the time and said he was pretty sure the steam boil-off cooler system exploded.

For those posting excrement, shut the F up!!!!!!

Thats what I figured too. Very curious about unlimited racing though. Would certainly like to find out.

You say that and wonder at my qualifications to claim common sense?

First off my diatribe was not any kind of argument at all for anything, It was a purely emotional venting of my disdain for the aforementioned pukes.

I actually have enough faith in the human race to be of the opinion that everyone at Reno on Friday knew the risks and were willing to take them.

You and your friends obviously think they are stupid.

Now who is qualifying who has common sense or not?

gaaawd, I left this topic run and look where we got..

First of all, to all the "the pilot was too old" guys, all I can say is please shut up. If medical authorities reckon the man is fit to fly, he will fly, and that's it.

I reckon that whichever the cause of the accident (technical fault or pilot's fault or both), the fact still remains that Reno is potentially a risky place to be, more than the average airshow, mainly because the aeroplanes are pushed to the limit, and a technical failure is a common occurrence during these events. Spectators should be warned about this, but you still would have people going, just like you have idiots cramming the sides of a rally track, despite the serious danger and countless accidents.

I would ask, for the respect of the people involved and victims, that we avoid any further witch hunting until we have some more information on what happened.

The whole air racing scene wouldn't exist if nobody wanted to go and see it, lets aske the people who like air racing what should be done, I don't agree with bullfighting but it's not my place to make any regulations on it.

well, considering the money they spend on the Air Races and the relatively small number of spectators, I would think of it as a risky game for spoilt, wealthy people more than a proper "air racing scene".

That is probably more suitable to Red Bull Air Races, where the difference is made by piloting skills, more than machines worth millions of dollars with insane engine units on.