Air racing

The first event in air racing history was held on May 23rd, 1909 - the Prix de Lagatinerie, held at the Port-Aviation airport south of Paris, France. Four pilots entered the race, two actually started and nobody completed the full race distance. Léon Delagrange, who covered more than half of the ten 1.2-kilometre laps was declared the winnerSome other minor events were held before the August 22-29 1909 Grand Week of the Champagne at Reims, France. This was the first major international air race, drawing many of the most important plane makers and pilots of the era, as well as celebrities and royalty. The premier event — the Gordon Bennett Trophy — was won by Glenn Curtiss, who beat second place finisher Louis Blériot by five seconds. Curtiss was named "Champion Air Racer of the World". This event was held yearly at different locations.

Between 1913 and 1931 the Schneider Trophy seaplane race was run, which was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of World War II. In 1921, the United States instituted the National Air Meets, which became the National Air Races in 1924. In 1929, the Women's Air Derby became a part of the National Air Races circuit. The National Air Races lasted until 1949. The Cleveland Air Races was another important event. That year, pilot Bill Odom suffered a crash during a race, killing himself and two other people in a nearby house. In 1947, an All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR) dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" was established, running until 1977.

In 1964, Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, pilot, and unlimited hydroplane racing champion, organized the first Reno Air Races at a small dirt strip called the Sky Ranch, located between Sparks, Nevada, and Pyramid Lake. The National Championship Air Races were soon moved to the Reno Stead Airport and have been held there every September since 1966.

The five-day event attracts around 200,000 people, and includes racing around courses marked out by pylons for six classes of aircraft: Unlimited, Formula One, Sport Biplane, AT-6, Sport and Jet. It also features civil airshow acts, military flight demonstrations, and a large static aircraft display. Other promoters have run pylon racing events across the USA and Canada, including races in Mojave, California in 1978; at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1984; at Hamilton, California, in 1988; in Phoenix, Arizona in 1994 and 1995; and in Tunica, Mississippi in 2005.