Roswell Reaches New Heights With National Championship Air Races
From “Lucky Lindy” to “little green men,” Roswell’s history – and future – are inexorably connected to the skies. The region has deep roots in space exploration, and now the city is set to welcome thrilling air races to Chaves County.
‘cradle Of Space Exploration’
Following European settlement around the time of the Civil War, Roswell and Chaves County have played important roles in aerospace development.
The New Mexico Military Institute was founded in 1891, which helped New Mexico establish statehood status. The four-year high school and two-year junior college counts hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and television reporter Sam Donaldson among its distinguished alumni, in addition to many graduates of West Point and other United States service academies.
In the 1930s, record-breaking aviator Charles Lindbergh and financier Harry Guggenheim chose Roswell as a location for scientist Dr. Robert H. Goddard’s rocket experiments. Goddard remained in Roswell for 12 years working on the secret experiment and record-breaking rocket launches. Without those experiments, the U.S. would not have later won its race to the moon and begun humankind’s early space exploration. After Goddard died in 1945, his widow started a series of gifts to the Roswell Museum and Art Center from her husband’s groundbreaking work in rocket technology. In 1969, the Robert H. Goddard Wing was dedicated.
More recent aerospace accomplishments include Felix Baumgartner’s world-record-setting skydive in 2012. Baumgartner rode a balloon up 128,100 feet and was the first human to break the sound barrier outside a vehicle, falling at 834 mph. He landed safely in Roswell. Additionally, on September 27, 2023, entrepreneur Larry Connor led a team of four former U.S. Air Force Pararescue in record-breaking HALO (high altitude, low opening) formation skydive at 38,139 feet. This effort, known as the Alpha 5 Project, helped raise more than a million dollars for families of fallen U.S. special operations forces.
From Rockets To Races
Goddard would be proud to know the home of his groundbreaking aerospace technology will welcome the National Championship Air Races in 2025. The Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) selected Roswell to host its adrenaline-fueled event, featuring seven classes of racing, static displays, military demonstrations and more.
“We’re thrilled to bring our honored tradition of racing to Roswell and are confident that they have both the enthusiasm and resources to expand the future of our races for many generations to come,” Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the RARA said in a news release.
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Along with Roswell, Casper, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado, were among the other finalists considered for the event. When making the final decision, the RARA considered factors such as the ability of venues to host large crowds, handle hundreds of aircraft and support the large racecourse.
“Roswell is globally known for the 1947 ‘Incident’ where (alleged) alien craft crashed near the city,” says Michael Espiritu, president and CEO of Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corp., credited with recruiting the competition to the county. “The Roswell Air Center and the new legacy of the air races will continue to promote aviation and aerospace opportunities for people and companies.”
The races have been taking place for about 60 years, and Espiritu attributes synergy among the Air Center, local city and county elected officials, and the enthusiasm of the community, as reasons why the RARA ultimately selected Roswell as the new location.
“Securing the competition speaks to the incredible resource of the Roswell Air Center and its capabilities to support numerous facets of this industry,” he says. “It boasts one of the longest runways in the U.S. more than 13,000 feet long and over 5,000 acres of land ‘inside the fence.’”
The local economy catches significant updraft from the event. The University of Nevada, Reno, completed an economic impact study for the last race in 2023 that demonstrated more than $158 million generated from the 80,000-plus participants.
“We anticipate it will bring a much stronger economic impact and population growth as well as business support,” Espiritu says.
Get to Know Roswell and Chaves County
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