51 more qualify heading into final day before races start

Fifty-one more fliers qualified on Tuesday before showers moved in, including Bob Hannah of Caldwell, Idaho, who put his P-51 on the on the provisional pole in the Unlimited class with a blistering 452.5 mph.

Competition opens on Thursday and runs through Sunday, with forecasters calling for possibly gusty winds at times as a cold front pushes into the area.

In addition to the Unlimiteds, competitors will be racing in the T-6, Formula One, T-28, Sport and Biplane classes around the nine-mile course at the Stead Airport north of Reno. The T-28 and Sport categories are new this year.

One of the pilots provided a threat today for pupils at a Stead Elementary School.

Former chief astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson of Murfeesboro, Tenn., who qualified at 383.8 mph in the Unlimited class, will talk about his five missions aboard the space shuttles, including the first link-up with the Russian space station Mir.

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