While biplanes have been racing for many decades, the class essentially dissolved in 2023 and has been re-invented for 2025. This all-new organization is called the Biplane Air Racing Class, or BARC for short.
The first outing for the new class just concluded with their participation in the Pylon Racing School in Roswell, New Mexico. They’ll return to Roswell for racing in September.
Most of BARC’s rules and procedures follow long-established traditions, with two major changes: the allowance of angle-valve engines and, more significantly, the inclusion of two-seat biplanes equipped with 560 or fewer cubic inch 6-cylinder engines and constant-speed propellers.
This is unprecedented. Previously, racing biplanes were exclusively single-seaters with no more than 180 cubic inches, parallel-valve engines, and fixed-pitch propellers.
Increasing participation is the driving concept behind the inclusion of popular two-seaters like the Pitts S2, Skybolt, and Starduster. These airplanes often carry 540 Lycomings or 550 Continentals and constant-speed props—suggesting an overwhelming horsepower advantage. But they also drag around tumbleweed aerodynamics in a much larger package. That cancels out much of the added power, and in practice, they tend to top out around 180 mph.
Because of this built-in drag disadvantage, the two-seaters won’t be given their own division or special classification within the Biplane ranks. They’ll compete as just another contestant.
The new rules are already in effect, so we might see one or two of these big-block biplanes at Roswell in September.
Current BARC officers are Scott Thomson (President), Kevin Harper (Vice President), Andrew McVicker (Treasurer), and Jeff Rose (Secretary).
After the National Championship Air Races in September Jeff Lo will succeed Scott Thomson as BARC president. Thomson, best known to KITPLANES readers as the owner-pilot of Second Hand, a Pitts Special racer featured in our January 2019 issue, did the heavy lifting of re-inventing the dissolved Biplane Class into BARC and is seeing the class through its first big event at the Roswell race. However, he needs to step away from air racing for personal reasons, hence the hand-off to Lo.
For those deep in the air racing weeds: BARC is an accredited class with the FAA but is not an Air Racing Organization (ARO) like the Reno Air Racing Association, Sport Class, or STOL Drags. That means BARC can race under events like the National Championship Air Races in Roswell this September but cannot host standalone events.
For more information, visit www.biplaneracing.com.
Great summary of the recent PRS for biplanes, but one small correction: Scott Thomson is still president and will oversee the races in September while I shadow him to learn from him, get connected to all of the people he has been working with and generally get up to speed. I will officially take over for a two year term as class president following the races. – Jeff Lo