The contest, which typically occurs on grass or dirt areas parallel to paved runways, was to take place alongside Runway 5-23. 

On Friday afternoon the wind picked up. It blew out of the northwest across the STOL Drag course. Qualifying heats were postponed until the next day. 

A number of the competitors then decided to conduct an impromptu “traditional STOL” event, omitting the drag racing component. They would use the grass Runway 31, which was conveniently aligned with the wind. The pilots, organizers, and FAA inspectors who were present held a safety briefing, and the participants were divided into four groups of five or six aircraft to prevent clogging the pattern. The objective of the contest was to see who could come to a full stop in the shortest distance after touching down beyond the target line.

Each group completed two circuits without incident. Two groups had completed a third circuit, and now the third group was landing. The third airplane in that group was a modified Rans S-7, the fourth a Zenith STOL 701—unusual among the participants in having tricycle gear—and the last a Cessna 140. The S-7 landed, came to a stop in less than 100 feet, and taxied away. The 701 was still a fair distance out, and the 140 seemingly rather close behind it and low. 

• READ MORE: A Cautionary Tale About Pilot Freelancing

A STOL Drag representative who was coordinating the pattern operations radioed the 140 pilot: “Lower your nose. You look slow.” The 140 pilot did not acknowledge. Half a minute later, the coordinator again advised the pilot to lower his nose. 

A few seconds later, the 140 yawed to the right, its right wing dropped, and with the awful inevitability of an avalanche or a falling tree, it rolled over into a vertical dive and struck the ground an instant later. A groan went up from the small crowd of onlookers. “Oh, my God, what happened!” one voice exclaimed. What had happened was all too clear—a low-altitude stall-spin that resulted in the pilot’s death.

The 140 pilot, 45, had an estimated 470 hours total time, more than 300 of which were in the 140. He had already qualified for STOL Drag competitions at a previous event.

The wind at the time of the accident was 15 knots gusting to 21. (As with all aviation wind reports, the 15 is the sustained wind and the 21 the maximum observed; no information is provided about lulls or wind speed variations below the sustained value.) The pilot of the 701 said that he had been maintaining about 50 mph (44 knots), as he had on several previous approaches, and that the wind on this approach felt no different than on the others. 

The 701 is equipped with full-span leading-edge slats, which make it practically incapable of unexpectedly stalling. Operating at a likely wing loading of less than 7 pounds per square foot, it could probably fly at around 35 mph. For the 701, an approach speed of 50 mph was conservative. The 140’s wing loading was only slightly higher, but its wing was not optimized for extremely slow flight. The 140’s POH stalling speed at gross weight was highly dependent on power setting, ranging from 45 mph power off to 37 mph, flaps down, with full power.

• READ MORE: Two Fatal Cases of the Simply Inexperienced

An FAA inspector who witnessed the accident reported his observations to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator. He noted that the 140 generally took longer to get airborne than other airplanes in its group, in part because the pilot, after first lifting the tail, rotated prematurely, so that the tailwheel struck the ground and the airplane continued rolling for some distance before finally becoming airborne. The pilot, he said, would climb steeply at first, but then have to lower the nose to gain speed. He appeared low and close behind the 701 on the last approach.

Earlier videos also showed that, on landing, the 140 rolled farther than other contestants, despite braking to the point of almost nosing over.

On previous circuits the pilot had used flaps, but on his last approach he failed to put the flaps down. The omission could account for the coordinator’s observation that the nose seemed high. Full flaps would have resulted in a more nose-low attitude.

The NTSB blamed the accident on the pilot’s obvious “exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack.” It went on to cite as a contributing factor the “competitive environment, which likely influenced the pilot’s approach speed.” Since there were many knowledgeable observers of both the accident and of several previous takeoffs and landings by the 140, and everything was recorded on video from several angles, the NTSB’s diagnosis could probably have been even more specific and mentioned the failure to use flaps and the premature downwind-to-base turn.

If, by a chance misjudgment, the 140 pilot found himself too close behind the 701, he still had options other than slowing to the lowest possible speed. Since there was no one behind him, he could have gone around or made a 360 on final. The aircraft waiting to take off would have had to stand by a little longer, but only a fool would grumble because another pilot was being wisely cautious.

• READ MORE: Three-Mile Limit: Novice Pilots Succumb to the Perils of Total Darkness

Instead, the 140 pilot chose to maintain his spacing by flying as slow as he could.

The decisive factor in the accident was most probably the failure to use flaps. It was almost certainly inadvertent. He probably forgot to put the flaps down, then believed they were down—because he had them down on the previous circuits—and chose his speeds accordingly. Adding flaps would have brought the stalling speed down 3-4 mph and also obliged him to use a little more power. Actually, it would have been quite a bit more because he was low, and the added power would have given him still more cushion.

The 140 was a goose among swans in this flock of dedicated STOL airplanes that possessed a near-magical ability to take off and land in practically no distance at all. Still, it was OK to be an outlier. The point of the contest was to have fun. You didn’t need to go home with a trophy—not that there even was one for this impromptu event.

But integrating an airplane with somewhat limited capabilities among more capable ones required special attention to speed and spacing. It would be easy to make a mistake. Once the mistake was made, and compounded by the failure to use flaps, all the pilot had left to lean on was luck—or willingness to recognize an error and go around while there was still airspeed and altitude to recover.

Note: This article is based on the National Transportation Safety Board’s report of the accident and is intended to bring the issues raised to our readers’ attention. It is not intended to judge or reach any definitive conclusions about the ability or capacity of any person, living or dead, or any aircraft or accessory.

This column first appeared in the July/August Issue 949 of the FLYING print edition.

The post Nothing Short of a Fatal Mismatch appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Slowing down matters as much as accelerating in most auto racing, and the same is true of STOL Drag racing. Unlike traditional Reno-style pylon racing, which involves no slowing down whatsoever, STOL Drag requires starting and stopping twice while flying less than a mile.

I have never been to a STOL Drag race, and so I will probably be pummeled for whatever I say, but here goes anyway.

Two pylons and corresponding start/stop lines are set 2,000 feet apart. A third pylon is placed at the 1,000-foot mark, just for reference. The idea is to take off from the first line, fly to the far line, land, come to a full stop, turn around, and repeat the process without touching the ground between the lines. Two airplanes compete side by side, and the winner is the one that first comes to a full stop at the end of the race. Best times are just over 50 seconds, so, for a pleasurable activity, it’s brief.

In principle anyone can participate, but the really serious competitors use highly modified airplanes that can accelerate like mad and stop very short after touching down. However, competitors are paired off according to aircraft performance, so it wouldn’t be unusual to see a Skylane compete against a Beech Bonanza.

• READ MORE: Valdez Fly-In STOL Competition Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Since it’s a time trial, the race rewards acceleration, speed on the airborne segment, and deceleration after each landing. But the equation is complicated by the need to begin to slow down long before reaching the far pylon. Pilots accomplish this by chopping power, kicking in full rudder, and slipping toward the line. But even this phase isn’t as simple as it sounds. Airplanes decelerate quicker with wheel braking than aerodynamic braking, so while it may seem as if it’s best to touch down at minimum speed to reduce the rollout distance, it may actually be better to get the wheels on the ground as quickly as possible, even a few knots above the stall speed.

Initial acceleration is a function of the airplane’s mass and the engine-propeller combination’s thrust. Big thrust requires lots of power and a big prop. Two of the dominant competitors in the sport, Toby Ashley and Steve Henry, fly a Carbon Cub and Just Aircraft Highlander, respectively.

(Henry’s Nampa, Idaho, company, Wild West Aircraft, sells the Highlander as a light sport kit.) Neither racing airplane has much in common with its ordinary Lycoming- or Rotax-powered brethren. Both use liquid-cooled, geared, turbocharged, intercooled engines with very big props. They say the engines put out around 400 hp. The airplanes are stripped down, competing at weights less than 1,000 pounds. Since they are generating more than 2,000 pounds of static thrust, and therefore achieve an initial acceleration of 2Gs or more, it’s not surprising that both get airborne in a couple of seconds and a few dozen feet.

• READ MORE: The Ryan YO-51 Wowed with STOL Performance

The powerful initial acceleration does not last long, however, because thrust diminishes as speed increases, and drag grows in proportion to the square of speed. At 90 knots, which an airplane accelerating at an average 1G would reach in five seconds and 400 feet, drag has increased to more than 200 pounds and thrust is cut in half. Since the drag can be subtracted from the thrust to get the net force accelerating the mass of the airplane, it follows that the forward acceleration may already be well under 1G.

The actual segment times, based on videos of Henry racing at Reno last year, are, as you would guess, asymmetrical, reflecting the fact that it is easier to speed up than slow down. From brake release to throttle down at midcourse, about 10 seconds elapse. From there to wheels on, another 10, but at that point the airplane is still moving at around its stall speed of 35 knots. The rollout takes four seconds and another four to get turned around. The times going back are similar for a total of 52 seconds.

If the average acceleration up to the middle of the course were two-thirds of a G, the maximum speed attained would be about 125 knots. If the touchdown speed at the far end were 35 knots, the average deceleration in the slip would be a bit under under one-half G—more at the start and less at the end. By the time the wheels touch the ground, the rate of deceleration is pretty low. Wheel braking brings it back up to the half-G level.

• READ MORE: Valdez STOL Competition & Fly-In Air Show Marks 20 Years of Excellence

The Carbon Cub and Highlander regularly finish within a fraction of a second of each other, and successive heats also differ by small amounts. That consistency is a testament to the pilots’ skills, since, as you find when you watch any of Henry’s cockpit videos, quite a lot goes on during the brief race. Everything hinges on the deceleration timing, staying as low as possible, and amount of wheel braking that can be applied without nosing over.

Henry claims to use his airplane as a daily driver—probably at about 20 percent of power. But I suppose that if STOL Drag racing continues to be popular, it may eventually engender purpose-built airplanes. Very likely the slip-to-slow-down approach would be supplemented or replaced by large air brakes that would add several square feet to the airplane’s equivalent flat plate area. Maybe a slight edge in acceleration could be gained by cleaning up the front end, replacing the big intercooler radiator with a small tank of ice water, and getting engine cooling air to the main radiator with a scoop and duct. But aerodynamic refinement may be pointless, since so little time is spent at high speed.

High wings and a tailwheel are taken for granted on STOL airplanes for a lot of practical reasons. But I wonder whether a low wing with some extra span—taking better advantage of ground effect—and tricycle gear with brakes on all three wheels might bring some advantages. Add lots of horsepower and an airfoil with a maximum lift coefficient of two, and then…off to the races!

This column first appeared in the April 2024/Issue 947 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post Looking at the Physics of STOL Drag appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Also performing at the event June 16 through 18 was the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Demo Team and the Navy’s Blue Angels, their first appearance in the Ohio capital in 28 years. 

The three-day event featuring aerobatics, racing, and military aircraft displays drew more than 50,000 spectators to the airport, which had not hosted an air show in 16 years.

It also was the first time STOL Drag was executed on concrete. The amount of braking became evident to the crowd as tires smoked across the aggregate while pilots attempted to stop their aircraft for the fastest times.

STOL Drag Records

Pilot Steve Henry set a new STOL Drag record with a 51.09-second lap over a full 2,000-foot track.

Michael Goulian returned to STOL Drag and became the first to participate both as a racing competitor and a main show aerobatics pilot. Goulian raced back and forth from bush airplane to aerobatic aircraft, which his team had waiting for him. 

With the ever-evolving format of STOL Drag, it appears the motor sport has finally solidified itself as a main attraction among fans new to it. The crowd was completely enthralled by the excitement and quickly learned the pilots’ names and profiles and began rooting their favorite airplanes just like NASCAR auto racing fans. 

STOL Drag racing took place during all three days of the event, with pilots battling each other and the clock to move up through the higher payout placements. 

In the end, it was Steve Henry, piloting “Yee Haw 8,” who took home the first Columbus with pride after his record-setting runs.

Using beta prop mode, Austin Clemens finished second in his Aviat Husky just in front of third-place Hal Stockman in his Rans S7S.

The post Air Shows Return to Columbus with STOL Drag Racing Event appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

I took the microphone—a breather from my duties as crew chief for Steve Henry—with Juan Browne (from the @blancolirio channel on YouTube). The grandstand fans and live streamers received the play by play as the Straight and Level Television documentary film crew followed along to help tell the story of the fastest growing segment of general aviation. 

Racers Take Your Marks

Pilots lined up on the recently graded dirt track going head-to-head down the 2,000-foot course after the famous “3-2-1, See ya!” signal given by STOL Drag organizer Kevin Quinn to launch their aircraft toward the turn-around point. Several pilots quickly learned that at Reno’s altitude of 5,050 feet msl, their aircraft were not performing as well as they would have liked and this—coupled with a density altitude) of 6,500 feet—meant that much more ground distance was used up before they typically lifted their wheels from the ground. 

In some cases, the taxiway that crossed the track had to be used for a launching ramp to get into ground effect as the heavier Cessna 182s and lower-powered light aircraft were eating up much more ground than they were used to. Many pilots were making adjustments to their aircraft to try and compensate. 

The 2021 reigning champion Toby Ashley did not show this year, robbing Steve Henry (his toughest rival last year) of the chance to demonstrate his upgrades against Sarge.

Tim Schelhorn debuted his new aircraft #73 Psycho Billy—a CubCrafters Carbon Cub which was meticulously built for this style of racing—in the gold bracket. However, being so new, bugs popped up preventing him from running it to its full potential. He still performed well enough to secure the No. 2 spot in the gold bracket over #48 Eddie Sanches in Devil Girl—who worked his way through the entire field to secure the No. 3 spot in the gold bracket. 

• READ MORE: Outlaw STOL Competition Heats Up Out West

Psycho Billy will definitely be an airplane to watch at the upcoming STOL Drag World Championships during the High Sierra Fly-in at the Dead Cow Dry Lake in October.

Another new aircraft on the scene was #85 LunaC—or Luna for short—another custom CubCrafters Carbon Cub built and flown by Cathy Page. She was still learning its intimate flight characteristics, which are vastly different from the Piper Clipper she flew last year. 

A Section 3 Spectators favorite was #66 Big Tuna, the Zenith 701 STOL flown by Jon Hakala at Reno, for various reasons. The  #221 of Brian Steck, a beautifully painted and meticulously polished Legend Cub, got a taste of the desert when a fist-sized rock was kicked up by his tires and sent through his horizontal stab, which was quickly (albeit temporarily) repaired.  

A great time was had by all as the STOL Drag racers were the first class to qualify and race in the mornings throughout the week. This was fantastic, allowing for the tailwheel aircraft not to have to fly with a tailwind in either direction for their runs. However, the sun in the morning shone directly in the eyes of the pilots on the first half of the run, making it difficult to judge the line they had to land across, causing more scratches than at any previous event. But, that’s racing! 

In the end, Steve Henry’s turbocharged Yamaha engine on the Wild West/Just Aircraft Highlander—#44, Yee-Haw—was the airplane to beat, with its screaming 10,000-plus rpm echoing throughout the stands and hangars at the far end of the field. The noise drew people to watch this most unusual-sounding aircraft. 

The slogan of “under a minute to win it” proved true, as 59 seconds was the time to beat at this altitude. Steve broke the minute time solidifying him as the 2022 National STOL Drag Gold Champion at Reno. Congratulations to all.

Results:

1. Steve Henry #44, Highlander

2. Tim Schelhorn #73, Carbon Cub

3. Eddie Sanches #48, Highlander

4. Bo Ellis #80, custom Legend Cub

5. Harry Beaupre #27, Kitfox 

6. Hal Stockman #3, Rans

7. Ty Ferkin #22, Kitfox 

8. Brian Steck #221, Legend Cub

9. Kevin Palmer #21, Kitfox

10. Cathy Page #85, Carbon Cub

11. Collin Caneva #43, Carbon Cub

12. Jon Hakala, Zenith

13. Brent Womack, Rans

14. Dave Kerley, Highlander

15. Tony Sanches, Superstol 

16. Joe Dory, Custom Pacer

The post Reno’s STOL Drag Class Offers a Great Community Feeling appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Reno Air Racing Association’s Stihl National Championship Air Races kick off this week, with qualifying rounds beginning today, and official heats beginning Wednesday, September 14, and running through the weekend. The event brings a total of 151 airplanes, 155 pilots, and a complete airshow experience to the skies above and around the Reno/Stead Airport (KRTS).

RARA announced the competitor lineups in late July. BARDAHL Special, a P-51 Mustang that finished second overall at the very first Reno Air Races in 1964 while winning the Unlimited finale, plans its return, among many others.

A Sad Note for the Unlimited Class

One of the most anticipated matchups was to occur in the Unlimited Gold Trophy series between Sea Fury Dreadnought, P-51 Miss America, and Czech Mate, a Yak-11 returning after a five-year hiatus. However, those hopes were cruelly dashed when Czech Mate lost power on takeoff from Minter Field (KMIT) near Bakersfield, California, during a return-to-service test flight on September 2. Pilot Sherman Smoot was killed in the ensuing accident.

The Unlimited class is full of competitors that will carry on in Smoot’s memory.

Biplanes—and STOL Drag

In the Biplane class, Maj. Michael Brewer, a U.S. Air Force Thunderbird—who flew on the demonstration team from 2018–2022 as both Thunderbird No. 3 and Thunderbird No. 4—returns to Reno as a competitor this year. Brewer was at the races previously in 2019 and 2021, and this year is making his debut as a racer in No. 44, Big Cat.

STOL Drag is back for its second year as a full class, with 20 competitors looking to take home the championship in the short takeoff and landing “drag race” that has captured pilots’ imaginations.

Demonstrations and Prizes

Peppering the skies further will be demonstrations by the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor, U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet, a U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight, a U.S. Navy Legacy Flight, aircraft from Jim Peitz Aerosports, and the Gamebird GB-1.

In addition to the racing action, the National Aviation Heritage Invitational will present its competition for aircraft more than 45 years old to vie for trophy recognition in the following categories: antique, classic, contemporary, military, and large aircraft. A five-member judging team will review the entrants during the show—and folks attending will be able to vote for crowd favorites. 

Tickets for the races can be purchased online or by calling 1-800-514-3849 ahead of the event. For more information, visit AirRace.org.

The post Reno’s 2022 Air Races Kick Off This Week appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

• READ MORE: FLYING’s Complete Coverage of EAA AirVenture 2022

The concept to promote “Safety and Training for All Things STOL” is not new within the community. STOL is a competition but also an acronym for the type of flying this cadre of pilots does—short takeoff and landing—whether it’s in the backcountry, on- or off-airport, on pavement, grass, gravel, or a sandbar. Because this type of flying demands precision and practiced technique, it requires initial training and regular proficiency practice.

On the panel: 

• Richard McSpadden, AOPA’s Air Safety Institute
• Steve Henry, world champion in STOL
• Mark Patey, STOL pilot and aviation influencer
• Milne “CC” Pocock, advanced backcountry flight trainer, STOL pilot, TV personality
• Austin Clemens, STOL pilot and aviation influencer
• Doug Jackson, National STOL series event leader
• John Young, ArkanSTOL co-founder and event leader

Moderators Kevin Quinn and Juan Browne will host the event. Quinn is the founder of the High Sierra Fly-In (featured in the Q1 2022 issue of FLYING) and a STOL Drag event leader and instructor. Browne is a Boeing 777 captain, YouTube star, and STOL pilot. They’ll pose questions to the panel in three categories: safety, training, and how to get started in STOL.

The panel takes place in the Theater in the Woods on the Oshkosh show grounds at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

The post STOL Panel Will Focus on Safety and Training appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The afternoon daisy chain around the pattern at Wayne, Nebraska (KLCG) included Steve Henry’s Number 44, Yee Haw, Hal Stockman in Lawnmower 3, and Tom Dafoe flying his vintage Cessna 140, among others. The event came to a halt when Dafoe apparently got slow on final behind another competitor and entered a stall-spin state from wings level on approach at about 300 feet agl.

Tragically, Dafoe died in the accident, with the 140 a total loss. With immediate emergency response and a collective support network engaged to care for his family on the scene, the STOL community turned introspective and stood down the MayDay competition. 

A safety standdown of sorts is in progress to examine the cause of the accident and ways to move forward in a conservative manner with the events on the calendar for this summer and fall.

A Passion for Aviation

Dafoe was a longtime pilot and joyful about aviation. An aircraft broker by profession, he had recently moved from California to Holly Lake Airpark in Tyler, Texas. He had also recently joined the team at jetAVIVA in 2021, after spending 20 years with the Cessna Aircraft Company and Textron Aviation. His colleagues—both current and former—demonstrated an outpouring of support following the accident for Dafoe’s family.

“Tom was truly one-of-a-kind; an incredible family man and friend, and a passionate aviator,” said Emily Deaton, CEO of jetAVIVA. “He was a beloved member of the jetAVIVA team, and we are feeling his loss keenly.

“Our focus is on supporting Tom’s family during this time, and we are encouraging the aviation community to give to the Memorial Fund created in Tom’s honor. jetAVIVA will be matching all donations dollar-for-dollar.”

The post Low and Slow Leads to Tragedy at STOL Drag Event appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In a cartoonlike drag race, the pilots pull their airplanes into a slip to slow down quickly, land beyond the line from which they had started—2,000 feet from the turn-around line—and hit the brakes to come to a complete stop. This is the World Championship Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Drag competition at the High Sierra Fly-In (HSF). Like cowboys racing their horses around barrels, the pilots push their airplanes through the course, intent on getting to the finish line and stopping their aircraft before their opponents can.

• READ MORE: The Draw of STOL Drag

The grinning faces and twinkles in the eyes of the pilots who race are indicative of the level of fun this competition provides. But this is not an exclusive club. While some skills are required, you don’t have to be a seasoned Valdez, Alaska, STOL competitor or own a bushplane to participate. As you’ll see from these pilot profiles, STOL Drag is open to those with a passion for maximizing their skills and fun with their airplanes.

Aaron Greear

Second Place, Bronze Class

The ink is barely dry on the pilot certificate belonging to Aaron Greear, who started flying in December 2020. The mechanical engineer knocked out his private pilot training in just a few weeks. He was inspired by videos of Trent Palmer and the Patey brothers (Mike and Mark) and planned to buy a Kitfox or a Cub for STOL. But his friends convinced him to build time in a Cessna 182, and he bought a 1959 Skylane right after completing his private pilot certificate in January 2021. The following month, Greear was ready to participate in his first conventional STOL event.

Greear planned his first STOL Drag event to be the 2021 MayDay STOL in Wayne, Nebraska. But he didn’t have the required 250 hours of pilot-in-command time and wasn’t able to compete. By the time HSF came around, Greear had accumulated 250.1 hours of PIC. He qualified in the bronze class and crushed his way through the elimination rounds. In the final round he met Jon Hakala, flying a Zenith CH 701. It was a tight race, but he disqualified and Hakala took home the trophy. Greear plans to continue to compete in STOL Drag—and to build a souped-up experimental airplane.

Austin Clemens

First Place, Silver Class

As the youngest STOL Drag pilot at HSF, Austin Clemens grew up at one of the coolest airports in the country—Lloyd Stearman Field (1K1) in Benton, Kansas—owned and operated by his parents, Julie and Dwayne, both exceptional pilots in their own right.

As soon as Clemens could reach the rudder pedals of an airplane—with blocks, mind you—he started flying the family’s Piper Cub around the age of 10. In fact, he would get up early and fly the Cub before school.

Clemens got his private certificate on his 17th birthday, in March 2020. His proven pilot skills earned him the blessing to fly the family’s Stearman, and he would spend long days during his first official year as a pilot taking people for rides in the open cockpit biplane. Clemens now holds single-engine and multiengine commercial certificates, with an instrument rating for each.

His enthusiasm and skills led him to start flying in STOL Drag competitions. The Husky he flies has a standard Lycoming O-360 engine with 180 hp, but it has a two-blade MT propeller that can be put in reverse, allowing him to land and stop in about 120 feet. Competitors say it’s his secret, but there’s more to him.

Cathy Page

Fifth Place, Bronze Class

The STOL competitions might at first appear to be an all-boys club. But, two out of the 30-plus contestants in the 2021 HSF STOL Drag contest were women. One was Cathy Page, who flew a Piper Clipper in the bronze class.

Page started flying in 1987. Her goal then was to spend more time with her dad. But Page—a pipefitter at the time—fell in love with the sport and bought a Cessna 170. A few years later, she decided to go all in: She sold her airplane and used her savings to help her survive the first few years of her new pilot career. Today, she’s an Airbus captain for Spirit Airlines. Page lives in Tucson, Arizona, but commutes to her airline’s base in Las Vegas, Nevada, flying her Van’s Aircraft RV-6, which she also uses for formation flying.

When Page first visited HSF around 2015, she didn’t plan to compete—but it didn’t take a lot of convincing for the former motorcycle- and ski-racer to give it a shot. She has returned every year since. Page is upping the game in 2022, dropping the Clipper for a Carbon Cub, and she plans on flying several STOL Drag and traditional STOL competitions.

Toby Ashley

First Place, Gold Class

A competitor to the core, Toby Ashley topped the podium in the gold class at the 2021 STOL Drag World Championships. Ashley’s success in STOL Drag stems from decades of motorsports racing. He started racing snowmobiles at age 5 and went on to dirt bikes at 10. His competitive spirit led him to state, regional, and national championships.

Ashley started flying in the mid-1990s. He quickly earned his pilot credentials, and from his home in Boise, Idaho, the backcountry beckoned. His passion for backcountry flying led him to build one of the best airplanes for the mission, a CubCrafters Carbon Cub, which he built with three friends in just 81 days in 2016. He brought the airplane to Valdez, Alaska, in 2017, where he came in second in the STOL competition and first in Flour Bombing.

Since then, Ashley has become nearly unbeatable in STOL. He won the National Championship STOL Drag at the STIHL National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport, and the World Championship STOL Drag at HSF in both 2019 and 2021.

Ashley’s Carbon Cub EX, named Sarge, is highly modified and optimized for STOL Drag. The airplane was stripped down to about 800 pounds and its 180 hp engine was replaced with a supercharged nitrous-boosted 400 hp engine [see Part Three: Mods].

Steve Henry

Second Place, Gold Class

You haven’t seen true competition until you’ve seen Toby Ashley and Steve Henry flying around the STOL
Drag course. For the past few events, the two have been neck and neck with only fractions of a second setting them apart in each heat in the top class, the gold.

Henry started flying in 2003 and built his first airplane—a Just Aircraft Highlander—in 2004. He became known for his extraordinary videos, taking off without power by rolling off steep mountain ridges and
soaring to dirt strips in narrow canyons.

The Highlander that Henry races is named Yee Haw 6, and it is a STOL-Drag beast. The taildragger weighs
in at right around 800 pounds and is powered by a 300-hp Edge Performance EPeX Yamaha engine. He
also modified his airplane with drag inducers that provide extra drag during a slip, but not in straight flight.

Henry has either won or placed in the top three in a long list of STOL and STOL Drag races. He won the World Championship STOL Drag at HSF in 2016. In the final gold races in 2021, Henry beat Ashley in the first heat. But Ashley inched ahead in the subsequent two heats, giving him the trophy in the end.

There is no doubt that Ashley and Henry are spending the winter months brainstorming mods that might ensure a win in 2022. The year is sure to feature another set of nail-biters during each race in which they compete.

This article originally appeared in the Q1 2022 edition of FLYING.

The post The Pilots of STOL Drag appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Some of those strips look just like that—spots on the chart. Many of them lie within the mountains, in wilderness areas. But others are carved out of corn fields in the Midwest, or lakeside meadows on the East Coast.

As a boy, Kevin Quinn spent a lot of time in the back seat of his father’s various airplanes. After getting a pilot certificate of his own—and retiring from the pro hockey scene—Quinn shifted his focus to heliskiing, combining his passion for the mountains and the skies.

Then, Quinn got into backcountry flying—finding a natural home at those strips in the deserts and mountains—and the seed of a movement was born. One year, he invited a handful of friends with their airplanes to celebrate his October birthday. “[We were] having fun, doing our thing out in the desert,” he says. The next year, he invited a few more friends. The seed that took root within him ultimately germinated into the High Sierra Fly-In (HSF) in 2010.

In a similar way, STOL flying laid the foundation for what came next to Quinn. “Traditional STOL is something we do every single day, every single landing,” he says, “but of course we’ve taken it [further] we’re part of the Oshkosh STOL Demo Team and we do some of the various…STOL contests. Well, seven or eight years ago, I was literally sitting in the morning on the ‘great think tank,’ where all of the ideas come, and I thought, ‘how can we create something that’s different than traditional STOL, and something a little more fun?'”

It Looks ‘Cray-Cray…’

That’s how High Sierra became the birthplace of STOL Drag. The competition pits two airplanes at a time against each other. They line up, drag race-style, as if poised to race off the line in a viaduct, rumbling and ready to drop each other in a cloud of dust. They take off and fly just a few feet off the ground, following a 2,000-foot straight line to a turnaround point.

The airplanes must come to a total stop at that point—with tailwheels on the ground, if so equipped—and they often kick up so much dirt in doing so that they temporarily go IFR. They then spin around to line up within 10 degrees of a 180 so that they are pointed in the right direction to lift off again and charge toward the finish line.

The final moments look very much like two fast cars or dirt bikes duking it out for the win, if the pair are close contenders [see Part Two: The Pilots]. That’s how it goes down during the STOL Drag event at the STIHL National Championship Air Races at Reno. But at High Sierra, at a northern Nevada lakebed that’s more than four miles wide, the boundaries are invisible, retaining a sense of wildness to the shooting match.

Safety Comes First

As the number of STOL Drag contests has expanded from the one at High Sierra to several spread across the U.S., the culture surrounding the event has blossomed into something decidedly less wild. As it turns out, families participate in the STOL Drag competitions, together—and that’s how Quinn wants it to stay. That’s why there’s much more focus on safety and procedure than you would expect from a collection of self-styled “Fat- Tire Cowboys” messing around in the dirt.

• READ MORE: Mods for STOL Drag

You don’t get that from watching the scores of clips on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—or from the consternation the STOL events stir up, just in general (from backcountry traditionalists), or in the specific, when an incident or accident occurs.

But the two events at Reno and High Sierra that I witnessed in the fall didn’t offer up any obviously outsized risk—at least no more than pilots would normally accept when participating in air races, air shows, or any close-in aerial competition.

“When we started it was just us out there doing our thing,” Quinn says. “But now we’ve got our crash-fire-rescue [teams], and our paramedics, and our EMS, and our flight control tower, and FAA accreditation, and waivers—you name it—the list goes on and on for responsibility.” Pilots must go through a training program before competing—and the FAA has taken on the view that this skill development just makes good pilots even better.

The leaders strive to keep a high degree of safety—because of the kids, dogs, and festive atmosphere that no one takes for granted. That environment would change dramatically with a serious accident.

What’s Next?

The STOL Drag movement has traveled far beyond its origins in the desert. With the blessing of the FAA, roughly a dozen contests have popped onto the calendar—including the Reno Air Races and HSF—for 2022. “There’s a lot coming up in the spring,” says Quinn, and more throughout the season, which is only limited to a certain extent by weather and conditions at the various landing areas.

The competition has a low barrier to entry—almost any single-engine airplane can come to the party, and as long as the pilot passes the training course and skills test, they can fly. And pilots reap benefits from the effort that go beyond the potential for a trophy in the case. “It’s one thing to be proficient, and it’s one thing to go out and get your certification,” Quinn says. “STOL Drag [is] bringing in all of these skills—and I’m a broken record—power and energy management, the directional and altitude control, the spot landing, the psychological aspects…the training is taking you beyond currency and making yourself proficient.”

One restriction to the event’s propagation remains—Quinn is the only person or entity that the FAA has qualified to conduct a STOL Drag contest, so far. Therefore, the number of competitions that can be held each year will reach a natural limit unless that changes.

As the year ahead indicates, though, there will be lots of opportunities for pilots to join the fun.

This article originally appeared in the Q1 2022 edition of FLYING.

The post The Draw of STOL Drag appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2022 STIHL National Championship Air Races in Reno. The event is slated for September 14-18 at Stead Airport (KRTS).

“Reno” as the event is known in aviation circles, is known as “the world’s fastest motorsport”  and is also part airshow. This year, military performances will include F-22s and F-18s, flown by some of the most skilled pilots in the world.

About the Reno Air Races

The Reno Air Races attract aviation enthusiasts from all over the world.

There are seven racing classes: 

• Formula 1
• T-6
• Unlimited
• Jet Racing
• Biplane
• Sport
• STOL Drag 

Some of the racers can reach speeds of more than 500 mph.

Those who have been to the Reno Air Races stress that it is an immersive experience, especially if you have pit passes. There’s nothing like getting up close and personal with the racing machines and the people who support them, and then view the vintage aircraft on static display as part of the National Aviation Heritage Invitational (NAHI). 

The vintage aircraft  are selected for this public viewing because they are museum quality, says Ron Kaplan, deputy director of NAHI.

“Reno is the ideal venue for the Invitational because you can’t get much more historic than Stead Field,” he says. The airport was a training base for the Army Air Corps during World War II. 

“This is the 22nd year we have done the National Aviation Heritage Invitational,” Kaplan adds. “The aircraft must be at least 45 years old and be restored to airworthy condition. These are flying museum pieces, some are one-of-a-kind. The judges spend three days judging the aircraft for authenticity and craftsmanship. In general, the aircraft that looks like it did when it came off the assembly line can earn a trophy.”

• GALLERY: Reno Air Races 2021

The winner gets their name added to the Neil A. Armstrong Aviation Heritage Trophy. The coveted, 6-foot-tall trophy resides at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center in Virginia during the year.

The Reno races inspire many a young person to pursue aviation, and to assist with that, the Global Robot and Drone Deployment (GRADD)-Nevada Business Aviation Association (NVBAA) STEM Education Discovery Zone will be open for children to explore. The area features hands-on activities designed to inspire and empower kids to engage with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, while encouraging them to pursue careers within the aviation and aerospace industry. 

Among the planned activities are:

• Drone flying
• Flight simulators
• A 3D printing zone
• A hydraulic robotic arm
• STEM Arcade.

Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 912-470-5773, or, you can email support@eventsprout.zendesk.

The post Tickets Now Available for the 2022 Reno Air Races appeared first on FLYING Magazine.