Reno Racer ‘Czech Mate’ crashed

On 2 September 2022, one of America’s famous Reno Air Racer, N5943 ‘Czech Mate’ crashed at Minter Field Airport in Shafter, Kern County (CA).

The crash took the life of the machine’s owner, Sherman ‘Sherm’ Smoot. He was a well-known member of the vintage aircraft community and board member of the Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles (CA). Smoot was a Vietnam veteran where he flew Phantoms. After the Vietnam war he became a commercial pilot but later turned into air racing.

The crashed racer was a highly modified LET C-11 (Czech license built Yakovlev Yak-11) which had gained fame as ‘Czech Mate’ with race #86. Originally supplied as a trainer to the Egyptian Air Force as ‘407’, it was salvaged by Frenchmen Capel and Salis in 1985. It was later sold to the USA where it became a racer. In 2001, N5943, was re-engined, taking an R2800 radial which greatly improved the plane’s performance.

Photo: EveryTuesday on Flickr