SkyFiesta Buena!

Southern New Mexico and Sport Class air racing got the sweet compact airshow and races they’ve worked so hard to produce last weekend. The smartly titled SkyFiesta put all the pieces together—venue, finances, politics, weather, performers, racing, and all the rest—to efficiently present both an entertaining show and good air racing.

Central to SkyFiesta is Bill Beaton, majordomo to both the Sport Class and this year the entire airshow itself. And by walking before running, Beaton has now led the Sport Class to a fast trot with the SkyFiesta.

Of course, spectators at SkyFiesta simply enjoyed a fine one-day event. For starters, the mid-October date ensured perfect southwestern weather: dry and hospitable afternoon highs in the mid-70s with tee shirt to sweater evenings. The Las Cruces International Airport perches on a mesa 10 minutes outside above the city to offer a pleasing view of the Organ Mountains and just enough ramp space to house a crowd of 10,000 souls in a relatively intimate setting. There were nearly that many on hand this time, an impressively large, engaged turnout from the Las Cruces/El Paso region.

Keeping things manageable, SkyFiesta compressed itself into an action-packed Saturday afternoon. Gates opened at 11 a.m. and the Wall of Fire torched off under the afterburning MiGs in time to head home or downtown for dinner. In that time the main attractions were quality aerobatic and jet acts punctuated by 18 Sport Class air racers settling who was fastest in three heats.

Unlike the three previous Sport races in Las Cruces, this time the racers were in a mind to run. Before it had been enough to simply stage a pylon event and convince the FAA and assure the local authorities. There were gentleman agreements to leave the nitrous at home and tame the boost to simply get around the pylons—whatever form those might take—and that was enough. But this year the preliminaries had been met and the local nitrous supply literally bought out, not to mention the distilled water supply heavily tapped—which made it more fun to watch.

There was little doubt Andrew Findlay would use just enough boost to take first in the Gold heat. Of current Sport competitors he alone packs the 1,000-hp punch for 400-mph laps now that sparring partner Jeff LaVelle seems to have retired his conquering Glasair III and rising stars Jim Rust and Tom McNerney have either left racing or been sidelined by exterior forces. But others have been building their programs, notably Joe Coraggio who along with Tim Slater had been leading the naturally aspirated Sport crowd, but Coraggio both upped his engine mechanically and added nitrous oxide to solidly move his Lancair Legacy into the 300-mph realm with the turbo gang at SkyFiesta. Marking the technical diversity of Sport there was also a Vortech supercharged Legacy on hand.

The question now is what’s next. Bill Beaton is taking a hiatus from the SkyFiesta and Sport Class management to tend to some painfully cranky joints. He leaves the event in excellent shape, certainly poised for a good run as the go-to air event in the Las Cruces/El Paso region. Likewise, the Sport Class, until now under the daily leadership of Bob Mills, has the racing program squared away and fit for action. At Las Cruces Mills, who’s been a force in Sport for many years, passed the baton to the younger Sean Van Hatten, also an established Sport regular, professional test pilot, and serious guy. Just how far and wide they all want to run with these now-established organizations will be exciting to watch unfold.

SkyFiesta returns to Las Cruces in October 2026 with Sport Class at the lead.

The Racing

Racing at SkyFiesta was good and well fought, if not hair-on-fire in the 400-mph sort of way. Speaking of speeds, the accepted thought at Las Cruces is the official timing is definitely fluff due to the shape of the west turn (could use another pylon they say) and resulting short distance calculations. We agree as we’ve seen enough of the turbo wunderwaffen Sport Gold racers to know when they’re sandbagging like beachfront property and when they weren’t. So take Andrew Findlay’s Gold-winning 312-mph speed with a couple of salt licks as they’re humping along far better than that.

Of course no one doubted Findlay would be in front as his mount is currently healthy, and as a member of the 400-mph club he could add boost at will should anyone get close. What was amazing was Joe Coraggio hanging onto second for the first half of the race. We’re used to seeing Joe duking it out with Tim Slater in the Silver as both are—or should we say were—naturally aspirated. But Joe has conspired with Dave Anders and Dick Keyt to produce a trick intake manifold of their own design, not to mention around a 130-hp augmentation of nitrous oxide plus a bevy of smaller mods in the last year. At the start this sparkling combination put Joe into a solid second place until a clearly faster and turboed George Catalano patiently reeled Joe in, decisively driving around Joe to take second.

In Silver Kevin Eldridge ran away and hid for an uncontested win. He was flying the ex-Jim Rust/Robby Grove Glasair III, but minus the big turbo mill Rust expended at Reno in 2022. Even in naturally aspirated trim this well-sorted airframe put a third of a lap on the gaggle of Chris McMillian in a squeezed, fixed-gear F1 Rocket, plus Bijan Maleki and Doug Glover in retractable-gear plastic fantastics. That would be a Glasair III and Lancair Legacy respectively. Flying a lower and admirably tight course, McMillian kept his pursuers at bay for a well-earned second in Silver. Colleen Sterling was a lonely fifth in the family Lancair and Dee Child happy to keep Colleen in sight as she sped off into the distance.

In Bronze it was another case of a fixed gear holding off faster retracts. This time it was Bob Mills running low and tight in the venerable Super Six (RV-6 with 6-cylinder 540 power) and Nicholas Biondo giving chase in his 4-banger Lancair 360. The similarly mounted Paul Downing and Biondo had been chasing Mills all day Friday in practice and heat racing, but for the finals Biondo tightened up his line and never looked back to take the win. 

Results

Photos: Tom Wilson