Some will call it a midlife crisis, others will say it's madness, but Wanganui man Graeme Frew says his recent race at the Reno Championship Air Races was "almost like a daydream". Frew became the first Kiwi to race in the unlimited pilot section and worked his way into the gold premium race, which he called an "honour". He purchased the Russian fighter plane as a "restoration project" in 2004, something he admits looking back on may seem like a midlife crisis. They suffered an early setback with the race engine, but managed to turn what is usually a three-day engine change into 18 hours, replacing the race registered engine with the standard one. The race isn't far from the Bonneville Salt Flats in neighbouring Utah, where Munro's motorcycle became the world's fastest Indian.

Source: Stuff September 19, 2017 05:15 UTC