Standing in a hangar at the National Championship Air Races Thursday morning, Scott Saddlemire watched as his son Joshua prepared his red and white airplane "Red Zeppelin" for its race in the Biplane Class competition which was starting just a few minutes later.

"He's a rookie," Scott said of his son. "This is his first year."

He said they came to Roswell from Lake Arrowhead, CA.

Scott explained that each plane must have the same displacement of the engine, fixed propellers, fixed wings, fixed pitch and fixed landing gear.

"Most of the planes here are Pitts," he said, referring to the manufacturer.

Crew member Rachel Nolan said Joshua Saddlemire wanted to race a couple of years ago but it didn't work out.

"Now here we are," Nolan said. "I was very excited when I learned they had pick

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