Big Boys?Toys on Steroids

The event took place at the Reno Air show, which highlighted races, aerobatics and military might in an awesome spectacle of both cutting-edge modern fighter jets as well as vintage aircraft at the three-dimensional race course around the Reno airport. The aerial racetrack varies from just over 3 miles for the smaller and slower aircraft to 8 or so miles (per lap) for the faster jets and unlimited classes.

World War II aircraft brought back to life with tender loving care were pushed to their limits in a race that may appear from a distance like a quiet and elegant ballet in the sky. Stand next to a course-defining pylon, however, and watch these thumpers standing on their edge only 50 feet off the ground cutting around the course while the roar of their engine reverberates through to your very bones, and that ethereal ballet quickly becomes an adrenalin rush of horsepower and speed. It’s exciting even for those stranded on the ground.

From the vintage and modern propeller planes to the jet trainers, each category of aircraft had a unique appeal both in the air and on the ground. In addition to the category races there were a variety of aerobatic flying acts with single or multiple planes as well as a formatted Red Bull timed aerobatic contest that pushed man and plane to their limits. Over 200,000 visitors flocked to the 2004 Reno Air Races to watch the excitement both in the air and on the ground and its unlikely that any were disappointed.

Reno’s Air Show is an eminently appropriate venue for a watch company that has courted pilots for decades with a huge variety of timepieces geared to the aircraft enthusiast and pilot alike. Breitling took this opportunity to show off its latest chronograph (at the time) for all to see. With a hospitality booth that featured an aerobatic aircraft with the Breitling logo emblazoned standing next to a more land-based speed demon—a 2003 Bentley 24-hour of LeMans race car—most patrons at the show made it a point to come by and check out the latest Breitling timepieces as well as the myriad aircraft surrounding the grounds. Fact is it was often difficult to get near the watches with so many people crowding Breitling’s hospitality area.

With so much action going on, being an observer can create a feeling of envy. However, this was quickly overcome when the Zero Gravity plane arrived and members of the press were invited to participate in an artificial creation of Zero-G on board a customized 727 (the same one used to film Apollo 13) that simulates free-fall. Anyone who has ever been on a commercial flight through turbulence and felt the bottom “drop out?for a moment has had a taste of how the Zero-G flights work. Here, that drop is extended from a moment to nearly 30 seconds using a parabolic flight path that climbs at an aggressive angle. When it goes “over the top?of the in-air parabolic track, it elicits the free-fall effect.