2026 - 62nd Annual Hayward Air Rally - Course Information

The 62nd Annual Hayward Air Rally was held May 30, 2026.  This year's event was a single day, single leg course ending at Sacramento McClellan Airport.

Congratulations to our 2026 winner and first time rally participants in their RV-12iS:

Race 83  Nathan and Millicent Holderbein

Special Awards:

• Masters Class - Race 77, Shawn Britton and Brian Uretsky
• Red Baron (Adversity Award) - Race 13
• Tail End Charlie - Race 13
• Best Rookie (requires both crewmembers to be rookies) - Race 83

Also of note:

• Best Fuel Score - Race 83 (0.01 gallon error)
• Best Time Score - Race 77 (0 seconds)

Rally statistics (16 competing aircraft):

• Course length - 235.0nm to timing line Hazel, 254.5nm to MCC
  
  
• Fastest on the course (to timing line Hazel) - Race 33, RV-10, 1:45:09, average speed 134.1 kts
• Slowest on the course (to timing line Hazel) - Race 5, Aerotrek A220, 3:04:23, average speed 76.5 kts
• Total flight time (to timing line Hazel) - 34:42:53
• Total distance flown (full course to timing line Hazel) - 3760 nm
• Average speed (to timing line Hazel) - 108.3 kts
  
  
• Least fuel used - Race 83, Vans RV-12iS, 11.3 gallons, 22.5 nm/gal
• Most fuel used - Race 42, Cessna T182, 35.1 gallons, 7.25 nm/gal
• Total AvGas pumped - 372.2 gallons
• Total distance flown (full course to MCC) - 4072 nm
• Average fuel efficiency - 10.9 nm/gal

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PDFs of the official results and rally materials are available below:

• Official Results
• Raw Data Results
• Checkpoint Answers
• Rally Course Handbook
• Sample Rally Scoresheet

Browse the 2026 Photo Gallery

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This year's rally course included:

• 1 Start Point (HWD)
• 3 Mandatory Checkpoints
• 1 Optional Bonus Checkpoint
• 1 Mandatory Timing Point
• 1 End Point (MCC)

The checkpoints, and therefore the course, change every year.  The required checkpoints which define the course are announced the day before the race (see the race schedule) at the briefing and are documented in the race book provided to each team.  The exact course flown is chosen by the pilot of each aircraft.  Remember, this is not a speed race, it is a proficiency event; accuracy counts.

So that prospective racers can get better idea of the materials provided during the briefing, a PDF copy of the 2026 Race Book is available for download here.

Checkpoints are to be overflown by Rally aircraft. Each checkpoint can be adequately identified from the air and a multiple choice question must be answered to prove that you properly identified each checkpoint. The answers to the 2026 checkpoint questions are here.

The mandatory airborne timing point at Checkpoint Hazel is overflown and Rally officials on the ground record the time overhead the timing line.  In 2023 we used custom built ADS-B data loggers (we call it the RallyAware, based on the PiAware project) to more precise calculate timing line crossings based on aircraft-generated position reports.

The 2026 course is described here to provide an example only, the 2027 course will be different, and will not be announced until shortly before the race during the briefing.

The 2026 course included the following checkpoints and stops. Not all GPS coordinates were provided in the planning materials - some were based on charted features:

• Hayward (HWD) - Rally Start
• West Island (N 38º 01.4' W 121º 46.9')
• Berryessa Peak (N 38º 39.9' W 122º 11.4')
• Richvale (01CL)
• Challenge (N 39º 28.5' W 121º 12.1')
• Nevada Union High School (N 39º 14.4' W 121º 03.2')
• Mystery (Coyote Fire) (N 38º 31.8' W 120º 37.4')
• Checkpoint Hazel Timing at Cameron Park (O61)
  
• Sacramento McClellan (MCC) -  Land, Fuel

The planned 2026 course:



Actual routes flown by the racers: