Roswell Deputy City Manager Bobbi Thompson said she expects 75,000-80,000 people to be in Roswell for the 2026 National Championship Air Races.
Thompson, a longtime Board member of the group that produces the National Championship Air Races in Roswell, said several factors are contributing to her expectations of high attendance at the Sept. 16-20 races.
Speaking to the Roswell Rotary Club, she said one reason is “we have the two classes that were not here last year, the Sport Class and the Unlimited Class.
“The Sport Class is aircraft that are manufactured today. Unlimited, for the most part, are World War II fighter aircraft. Your P-51s, Sea Furys, and even a couple of Yaks, the Russian fighters.
“And then, to make things even better this year, besides seven classes of air racing, we’re introducing a course to get certified by the FAA, and that is what we're calling our Mach course. So that’s 600-mile-per-hour racing,” Thompson said, adding that is 700 feet a second.
Also expected to boost attendance is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds precision flying team.
Thompson said the first Thunderbird F-16 aircraft “will arrive on Wednesday, the 16th, and then the other seven jets will arrive on Thursday, and a C-130 will come in with the 70 crew members that accompany them to maintain and take care of the aircraft and the teams.”
Roswell and the air races are expected to receive national publicity when the “Good Morning America” television show arrives in Roswell later in June.
“They’re doing a series of programs to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our great country by doing a program produced in every state. For New Mexico, Roswell,” Thompson said.
She currently serves as the Reno Air Racing Association’s vice president of strategic planning.
The National Championship Air Races are produced every September by the Reno Air Racing Association. The event was founded in Northern Nevada, where it became an institution and the pinnacle of air racing before moving to Roswell.
Thompson’s aviation career spans more than 40 years. She is a 4,500-hour pilot, rated in single- and multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and has more than 35 years of experience producing air shows.
