1989 Unlimited Gold Championship -- Reno Air Races

The 1989 Unlimited Championship race at the Reno Air Races. It was well known that the Rare Bear carried nitrous oxide, as they always made a spectacle of purging the bottles after the races. But this race was the only time at Reno that Lyle actually used "the squeeze"--two consecutive laps as Tiger in Strega tries to pass on the backside of the course.

[@kaneroberts8951]

I was One, my grandfather was piloting Dego Red and his other plane was Cottonmouth! thanks for posting this!

[@JDMc2.0]

New subscriber and thanks for breaking out these videos!
I was a regular at Reno from '74 to '86. Steve Hinton in the Red Baron or Lyle Sheldon's Rare Bear were my favorites. Again thanks.

[@bobdyer422]

This was the year Bob Hoover drove into the jet truck's recovery vehicle his comment "Who parked that stupid truck there!" that's why he's in the camo 51 instead of "Ol Yella". That year was probably the best, with all the past winners and planes with a chance at a win. Lyle set the closed course speed record after his win {that still stands} if I remember correctly. That day was cold! And I was in shorts! That was THE race! Only time better was at the 'Ranch! HA! Great vid! Loved it!

[@SeanHollingsworth]

Skip Holm, 2003 in Dago Red. 507.105 mph. Rare Bear was right behind him. From the bleachers, it was terrifying to watch! The atmospheric conditions were just perfect that day.

[@flyingcatsofthesalishsea.]

I was there too that year (89) it was cold. We flew in from BC & were grounded for a couple of days due to poor weather for our return in a grumman panther.

[@RanchoCoyote]

We were out on the flightline when that happened. Pretty sure I have some photos somewhere of the carnage.

[@nitchmakes7550]

What a great line up. Rare Bear, Strega, Dreadnaught, Tsunami, Super Corsair, Jeannie, Dago Red, Parastroyka, Sumthin’ Else.

[@profo4544]

Rare bear has a cool livery nowadays the purple and orange, tsunami is probably my favorite out of these. Rare bear would of probably been a really good ww2 fighter, kinda crazy what it started out as and what it evolved into thesedays. Using nitrous seems sketchy, unless everyone else is, you can tell he used it in the beginning.

[@harryberry474]

@@profo4544 Nothin' sketchy about it (within the rules) but yeah, that lineup of air races when most competitors were highly modified truly "Unlimited" unlike the last few years of Reno Air Races when most unlimiteds were basically stock running not much more than parade laps barely 400mph most under 400 sad end to the worlds fastest motorsport.

[@drburns3749]

thanks Brad, brings back mems with my dad and I sitting in the stands cheering on!.....

[@drburns3749]

LOL....I converted all my old shaking not so steady tapes to dvd....thanks again!

[@danwait5132]

This is great brad. Thanks!

[@billeaton2651]

An old Reno illusion, a racer passing another racer but not really. Strega gets inside Rare Bear's line and looks like he passes but it's an optical illusion. It even fooled Sandy Sanders. I do miss those days at Reno when they really went at it on Sunday afternoon. This is over 33 years ago yet it seems like only a few years. Glad I was there to see it, almost every year, from 1976 on.

[@matthewmcnab322]

Really only missing furias and staletto

[@hackerf15e]

Just love that moment at 14:05 where the lead swaps...

[@Sneakerhead522]

It didnt