Air Race

[PingDit]

Red Bull Air Race...Channel 4 now - Brilliant!

[foxmoth]

Saw it live - beats watching it on TV hands down, also beats F1 live.:ok:

[PingDit]

:eek:

Looked absolutely frightening on TV, must have been amazing to have been there. Hope you had an enjoyable day!

[foxmoth]

Organisation this year was far better than last, arrived at gates opening of 8am, loads of space and good view, leaving we were on the tube and at Waterloo in about 30 mins after a 20 min wait at Greewich tube to get on, well managed by the Police (though some idiots a little impatient, with 35,000 to leave what do these people expect!). Signage could have been better and more screens to see what the commentators were talking about between races would have improved things, otherwise well done generally.

[CraigR1989]

Been watching it on tele.... Shame the Brits missed out to the Spanish :sad:

Never mind... Bonhomme is still clear by 1 point :}:ok:

[javelin]

You don't actually believe they are racing and competing do you ? Great spectacle, great stage managing :cool:

[Sir George Cayley]

Watched dispassionately, found myself admiring the skycam driver's positioning for some neat camera shots more than the flying.

Don't get me wrong, fair play to Red Bull and all the contestants: G8 TV.

I would wager there's quite a few Pruners given an Edge 540 could rip off a workmanlike attempt.

Bit skeptical about the G meters. I've hauled round some pretty tight loops in my time in a variety of a/c and never seen 8g at the top:sad:

Wonder what the risk assesment score is for this sort of thing? Got to be acceptable or it wouldn't go ahead.

Now if they entered the Connie vs the DC6:eek:

Sir George Cayley

[smarthawke]

Went there and watched it and was mightily impressed with the whole thing - particularly the flying but also the big screen real time footage and almost instant replays.

I've met quite a few of the pilots and know more of the ground crew and if anyone thinks it is in any way a con or that us mere mortals could get close to flying that course and in particularly that low to the ground is living on cloud cuckoo land.

The telemetry boxes installed in each aircraft apparently cost 250,000 euros each and turning at those speeds will pull that kind of G. The Edge 540s and the MX2 will cruise easily at 190kts IAS and hit 215 straight and level, all with roll rates well in excess of 400 deg/sec.

[foxmoth]

I would wager there's quite a few Pruners given an Edge 540 could rip off a workmanlike attempt.
You don't actually believe they are racing and competing do you ?
Go and see it live - then see if you think the same!
Watching it live I realised as I never had on TV the concentration that flying the course at that speed and height must take.It might be GR8 TV, live is something else again:cool:

[javelin]

Come on Foxy, you're big enough and old enough ( note I didn't say ugly ) to see an entertainment spectacliar :ok:

I remember when the series was first mooted, a good friend in California had been in discussions about participants and they were told that the 'race' was to be keenly fought but done so in a pleasing and entertaining manner.

Hat's off - it works, i am not knocking it, it generates good publicity towards GA at a time when we really need some but let's take the pinch of salt - no - not on the marguerita and realise that the safety aspect of some very challenging venues means that perhaps team orders are required to help balance the series :D

[WALSue]

I've been to a few races now, if nothing else it gets me out the house. :}
To be honest tho, the London race wasn't path on Interlaken and Budapest.

[paulo]

Was the 8g at "the top?" :confused:
I've done 8g in an Extra 300 on the pull up... very very easy to do in something that good. Dunno about an Edge 540 but I assume they're even tighter.

[Flyingcircusace]

Once again Pprune strikes...

If you think these guys are just putting on a show, you are nuts.

9G loops are what the Edge 540 is designed to do, The Zivko wing is a fantastic piece of engineering.
( If you watch the telemetry its the highest G reached, not sustained)

I work with these guys, it is not a show.

[foxmoth]

Come on Foxy, you're big enough and old enough ( note I didn't say ugly ) to see an entertainment spectacular
Yes its an entertainment spectacular, but look at the history of these pilots - do you really think that guys with the competitive spirit that they have shown are just going to whizz round the tracks not trying to beat the rest? I know if it was me I would be going b***ls out to beat the rest, and I am sure that is going on here no matter what the origional brief was! (And I do not think these are by nature the type that would pay too much attention to team orders:rolleyes:
As far as the G goes, the commentators put a lot of emphasis on it, but looking at the race I think it is only at either end of the course that they are doing the high G and these are relatively long simple manouvres which give the pilots brains a chance to catch up from what must be the intense concentration needed to fly the fast, rapidly changing parts of the course.
n.b. If you want to look at my profile I think I do know at least a little what I am talking about!:p

[smarthawke]

If it were stage managed do you not think that Paul Bonhomme would have one? The crowd went pretty quiet when Mike Mangold beat him into second place and the best publicity for Red Bull would have been a home pilot win.

Much the same as at Silverstone the other week - imagine what would have been the crowd's reaction if Lweis Hamilton had won?

Having had a quick look at the video shots I took, you just can't appreciate how fast and hard they fly through the course, particularly on the first run (thanks to the entry speed) unless you are actually there.

[foxmoth]

If it were stage managed do you not think that Paul Bonhomme would have one?

No I don't think Paul would have a stage, but he might have Won the race.:}

[Say again s l o w l y]

I don't think it's a put on in any way. They are flying at 10/10 ths, I don't see any stage management from the pilots.

As for some of us getting and doing as well as them.... I've done a fair bit of aeros and have been flying for a while, but there is no way I could just jump into something like an edge and do what they do. Very few people could.

I'd love to get good enough to though! Practise, practise, practise.

[WHBM]

Well done to you all. We went on the Saturday practice day, and being "local residents" qualified for free tickets which were given to those who lived nearby. We were in the stand on the north side of the river, opposite Greenwich.

Felt the facilities were all well done. Sat up at the back of the stand which gave the best view. Incidentally on entry with tickets for the "standing" area we were told we had been "upgraded" to the seating area, but to be honest I could not see any standing area anyway.

Had seen the preparations going on for the spectator areas in the preceding couple of days and a lot went into it.

The video screens and the commentary were good and you could hear and see what was going on, unlike some comparable events. The only real distraction was the chase cameraship helicopter which drowned things out as it passed.