RENO, NEV. – The 52nd Annual National Championship Air Races came to a close, September 28, 2015, with Robert “Hoot” Gibson as the winner of the Unlimited Gold Race with a speed of 488.983 mph in “Strega.”
Stewart Dawson flying “Rare Bear” was second (471.957) and Dennis Sanders in “Dreadnought” was third (420.361).
Steve Hinton, flying “Voodoo,” who had won the Unlimited Gold Race the last six years in a row, did not finish the race.
Gibson, 68, is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and a retired NASA astronaut, as well as a professional pilot who currently races regularly at the annual Reno Air Races (www.airrace.org).