Summer BBQs!
Next RAA-TR General Meeting Oct. 6th, in Hangar 41. Guest Speaker will be new member Matt Collard who works for NavCan ATC, Toronto East sector. He will explain some of his ATC work.
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region is twinning with:
On The Tower Frequency
United Flight XXXX: “Tower, United XXXX, we just got word from the flight attendants that somebody got up to go to the restroom.”
Tower: “Oh, that’s a terrible time for that. United XXXX cancel takeoff clearance, hold in position, and get them back in their seat.”
United XXX: “They’re in a seat, just not the right one.”
Tower: (Laughter) “Okay.”
NOTICE:
RAA-TR has signed up for the Aircraft Spruce Dealer Discount program. Paid-up RAA-TR card-carrying members will now receive discounts on their orders effective immediately. In addition, ordering on-line receives free shipping on orders of $250 CAD or more (subject to the same restrictions as their standard free shipping policy, some exceptions apply). You must use our Dealer ID and our User ID. Aircraft spruce has seen our members racking up greater than 55,000$ in purchases last year with a savings of $6000. Be sure to use the account with a number to get the discount
BFC Open House
Thanks go to Troy Allen, Alain Ouellet, Bing Storey, Ken Yates, Paul Kucera, Per Lindstrom, David Love, Paul Kucera, and Alain Ouellet for retrieving the display panels from the attic, setting them up, manning the booth, taking everything down and putting it all away.
Thanks also to Domenico Bellissimo who brought his propeller carving machine and explained its operation and functions.
Planes on display:
Baby Ace – Frank & Nick Bruzzese
Harmon Rocket – Chis Pulley
Long Eze – Neil Kruiswyk
Piel Diamant – Sergey Zinchenko
RV-7A – Laurie McDonald
RV-8 – Al Dyke
Zenair CH200 – Ken Yates
Zenair CH300 – Alain Ouellet
Roswell Air Races: A New Chapter
We sat down at the races with Tony Logoteta for the first of a short series of interviews to follow with executives, racers, and performers.
“We were completely blindsided,” Logoteta said. “We thought we had five more years, but knew it was coming.”
That meeting kicked off a scramble to find a new home. After considering Casper, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado, RARA settled on Roswell, New Mexico. According to Logoteta, the city “rolled out the red carpet” with a mix of open space and strong local support.
One of the critical hurdles was securing land for pylons—an unusual challenge for any potential host city. Some of the pylons needed to be on private property around the races, but Logoteta said NCAR went to the nearby Brown Brothers Ranch to see if they could work out an agreement.
“The Brown Brothers Ranch has been phenomenal,” Logoteta said. “Without their cooperation and the ability to put some of the aviation pylons on their property, this couldn’t have been a possibility.”
Building the Future in Roswell
For now, the focus has been on getting the races established and running smoothly in their new home. Organizers had to work quickly to bring the races to life on new territory, balancing incredible logistics with ever-high expectations from loyal fans and first-time attendees alike.
Logoteta said the organization hopes to add on additional venues and expand event offerings with more time in the new location. This year, though, was about laying a foundation and proving the races could thrive in a new location.
“Let’s do this year, recognize our assets,” he said.
Among the growth opportunities: expanding recreational vehicle parking and growing fly-in traffic. In Reno, the ramp held more than 300 general aviation aircraft, yet Roswell has the advantage of space—82 acres compared to Reno’s 48. That room allows for a more expansive spectator experience while helping ease issues like parking congestion.
The course layout also differs, with Roswell’s relatively oval track offering spectators a clearer view of the entire race compared to Reno’s more linear setup. Fans can follow the aircraft through nearly the whole circuit, an advantage that could become a signature feature of the Roswell event.
A Global Attraction
Despite its roots in Nevada, the races have always drawn a much wider audience than a similar regional event might. Aviation fans from around the world continue to make the journey.
“This is the only air race event in the world where five percent of attendees are foreign, and 65 percent are non-local,” Logoteta said.
For Roswell, that means an influx of tourism and an opportunity to become part of a truly international aviation tradition. Logotesta said he hopes to see those numbers grow even more in the years ahead.
And while questions remain about how the Roswell Air Races will evolve and be remembered, one thing is clear: U.S. air racing has found a new home.
Q
I flew my Bonanza into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport years ago to visit someone and was not fully prepared for the departure. The midday arrival at KCLE was relatively calm, but I wasn’t prepared for the late afternoon/early evening regional jet rush hour. As I started to taxi, ground control was issuing instructions faster than an auctioneer with a hot date after work.
There are set taxi routes with coded names that all the regional pilots know. But visiting piston pilots don’t have a clue, and neither are they expected to. So, controllers tend to be very patient with us.
I was able to shoehorn in my taxi request and waited for a response amid the tsunami of directions. After stopping for a breath, the ground controller switched to his Mr. Rogers voice: “Bonanza 3473 Bravo, see that big airplane ahead of you with the engines on the wings? Turn left and follow him … but not too close. When you get to the bright flashing lights, stop until I tell you it’s safe to take off.”
P-63 King Cobra Shines at Roswell
The Palm Springs Air
Museum’s “Pretty Polly” showcased the quirks,
history, and heat of flying this rare
P-63 King Cobra.
Malcolm Dean, AVweb, ·Wednesday, September 17, 2025
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Key Takeaways:
Among the rarest warbirds flying today, the Bell P-63 King Cobra “Pretty Polly” drew plenty of attention at the Roswell Air Races. Piloted by Pat Nightingale of the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California, this aircraft is one of only four P-63s still airworthy worldwide.
The P-63 was originally designed by Bell Aircraft as a quick-attack fighter. But when the U.S. military shifted priorities to long-range bomber escort missions in Europe, its limited range left it overshadowed by the P-51 Mustang.
Learning to Fly a Relic
For a pilot, the challenge isn’t just flying a rare airplane—it’s learning to fly one when so few people alive still know how. Nightingale began flying the King Cobra in 2013, starting with ground school and training in a North American T-28 Trojan under the guidance of another pilot with P-63 experience.
“I had to get training in a T-28 for two to three flights,” Nightingale said.
Quirks in the Cockpit
Nightingale describes the P-63 as a rewarding but peculiar machine.
“A P-51 Mustang is like a Cadillac compared to the P-63,” he said.
Unlike the Mustang, which was engineered with vibration-dampening mounts, the King Cobra’s engine is bolted directly to the airframe. That placement—behind the pilot, with a driveshaft running forward through the cockpit to the propeller—creates heavy vibration throughout the airplane.
The quirks don’t stop there. The P-63’s nosewheel isn’t steerable, requiring brake pressure to turn. And its long, canoe-like forward fuselage makes ground handling especially tricky.
“The aircraft structural strength is like a canoe, it’s strong but not particularly rigid. The nose will wander due to the structure,” Nightingale said, noting the difficulty of taxiing.
Heat in the Cockpit
Flying with the engine directly behind the cockpit brings another challenge—heat. Temperatures can soar to 125 degrees, and a shelf behind the seat can turn into a miniature oven.
“I had several items that were plastic in my backpack that started to melt,” Nightingale said.
A Brief History
Bell built about 3,000 P-63s in total. Roughly 2,000 were shipped to Russia under Lend-Lease, with the remaining 1,000 staying in the United States. Today, only a handful remain, with the most recent loss taking place in the Wings over Dallas airshow collision between a P-63 and a B-17 in Texas back in 2022.
The Palm Springs Air Museum’s “Pretty Polly” offers a rare chance to see one, and it was a privilege to watch one in flight at Roswell.