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Our own Skylor Piper won the Reno 2021 Air Races
Sport Class Medallion Division competition in his RV 8!



The Medallion Division is the slowest of the 4 Sport Class (must be home built experimental) categories with qualifying speeds between 200 and approximately 250 mph (Skylor qualified at 244 mph). His race speed average was 234 mph. For the uninitiated, the Medallion Championship race was 8 laps, the first around an 8 mile irregular oval and then a transition to 7 laps of a 5 mile oval. By comparison the “Sport Gold Division” winner averaged 400 mph in a twin turbocharged LyCon prepared IO 540 powered Glassair 3! Skylor's IO 360 engine is stock with a 200 hp rating, but boosted with nitrous oxide injection to about 230 hp. His main competition was an IO 540 powered RV 8 and a IO 540 powered Glassair 3, both normally aspirated at 300 hp.

All of us send Skylor our congratulations and thank him to allowing us to bask in his reflected glory.

A YouTube-hosted video of the race is at this address. Skip ahead past any ads and an additional minute (to 1:05) to see the race “start chute” with the pace plane and 7 racers. Skylor's red and white RV 8 is starting in the number 2 position (2nd from left) and the initial audio is the paceplane pilot’s transmissions to the competitors to assure a line abreast formation for the start release. Go Skylor!




The race results for the Medallion class are here. The contest was won by about 2/10th of a second, or about 80 feet in after a 41 mile race.

15 intrepid DAF'ers made it out to Paso Robles for our first weekend fly-in of the year. 5 airplanes and 1 car made the outing to enjoy the wine, weather, friends and just getting out.The weather was perfect, it was great to see everyone had a great time. Many wineries were visited, along with some enjoying the Sensario lights installation.Paso Robles had just moved to the yellow tier, so we did our best and were able to manage evening happy hours. I think we all miss group social events, but restrictions seem to be relaxing. This was a good start and it should become easier for group social events.

Big thanks to everyone that came out for the weekend!

The lifting of gathering restrictions allowed us to plan and hold a club dinner on Wednesday, May 19th, for the first time since February 2020! Twenty-three DAFers traveled from as far away as Alta Sierra, CA and gathered for a dinner on an outdoor patio at the Think Café in San Pedro. We had the space all to ourselves and enjoyed catching up with each other. It may be a few months before we can get back to our regular dinner with speaker meetings so if you have suggestions for a restaurant or other space for a dinner gathering, let the board know. If you are willing to help plan the event, even better!

On April 17, 2021 Del Amo Flyers made their way to Apple Valley Airport, KAPV.  There were 29 DAFers in 13 airplanes that flew to Apple Valley Airport for a wonderful lunch fly in. It was nice to depart from the South Bay and spread our wings. The Little Aviator Cafe was ready for us. The Café’s food was good, and service was nice and friendly, especially for our large group.  We enjoyed great conversations, with someone else besides our household members. After lunch Susan Bell, based at KAPV, graciously show us her new aerobatic airplane, Bluebird, an Extra 300SC. It is a beauty. Susan answered questions about the aerobatic planes. Some DAFers are aerobatic capable, and others like me just watch in awe.


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Eighteen mighty DAFer’s flew to L00 Rosamond, for a noon time lunch March 13, 2021 at the new (relatively speaking!) Guido’s @ The Hangar for a great lunch. We had 10 airplanes of fearless flyers who arrived through the expected typical desert winds and cheap air (ie turbulence). I think we were all so happy to escape LA and meet up after many long months! The winds proved mighty but many of us arrived alive and enjoyed our renewed gatherings!

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Our first Blue Skies Outing to Santa Ynez was cancelled Saturday morning due to to marginal weather. A few decided to fly about nearer to home. Some DAFers came up with an alternative. They drove their cars to the TOA ramp and, at a substantial social distance, enjoyed their self-cater picnic lunches separately. But all enjoyed watching the aeronautical traffic come and go on a beautiful Spring day at TOA.

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