Biplane Class Racing

The very first Sport or Racing Biplane Races were held at the inaugural Reno Racing Event in 1964. The idea to use the airplanes in competition came from Reno Race organizer and originator, Bill Stead, who saw, in the proliferation of small Biplanes such as Pitts Specials, Knight Twisters, Stardusters, Smith Miniplanes, EAA Biplanes, and others, a ready made racing class. There were no Qualifications and simply two Heats of Racing plus a Championship Race in this Class at Reno '64. The field was dominated by Knight Twisters and they ended up taking three of the top five places. This domination was short-lived since, after the 1966 race, when the rules of the embryonic Biplane Class began to take form, the standard Twister was outlawed since it did not meet the minimum wing area requirements called for in the Class Specifications. However, in later years, some Twisters did come back onto the racing scene with the increased wing area necessary to meet the Class Rules, the most notable and successful of which is Don Fairbanks' #5, "White Knight". (Text from the '1964-1969 Biplane Report')

Biplane Racing Aircraft

Below is a list of all racing biplanes currently represented on this website. Because racing numbers and names may have changed over the years, I have organized them by registration numbers.