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from ‘chocks awaY’ to ‘permission to land’, here’s everYthing You need to know aBout the world’s most exciting motorsport Words: Matt youson
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Arch, Hannes Hannes Arch is the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Champion and an Austrian superhero. Skiing, mountain climbing, paragliding… if it’s dangerous, Arch excels at it. For example, he was the first man to BASE-jump from the north face of the Eiger. He was Red Bull Air Race runner-up in 2009 and wants his crown back.
Danube The Air Race equivalent of the Indianapolis 500 or the Monaco Grand Prix takes place in Budapest during Hungary’s National Day celebrations. Around half a million spectators line the banks of the Danube every year to see the planes race under the city’s famous Chain Bridge and do battle in front of the parliament building.
Bonhomme, Paul
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Horsepower Danube
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Emmy
Bonhomme (second left)
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Carbon-fiber Race planes are almost exclusively constructed from composite materials. Of the two types of plane currently racing, the Edge 540 has a carbon-fiber skin over a tubular steel body, while the MXS-R has an all-carbon monocoque. Both planes have carbon-fiber wings.
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G-Force Pilots fly up to 12G – anything higher results in instant disqualification. By comparison, the Olympic luge at Whistler generated loads of 5G. The pilots can handle G-loads higher than those experienced by an astronaut or a fighter pilot thanks to an innovative G-Race suit and many hours of G-tolerance training.
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Arch’s nemesis, reigning World Champion Paul Bonhomme, is a crisp, cool and infinitely elegant pilot. Others may be faster, but the Englishman almost never makes mistakes. He’s been known to fly a 747 for British Airways, though in a style more obviously suited to flying a Spitfire – another of his hobbies.
fly against the clock one last time for the ultimate prize. Unlike in previous rounds, all four pilots are in the air at the same time, and are held incommunicado while airborne – and because they are not aware of the times posted by their rivals, each is compelled to fly absolutely to the limit.
High-definition television coverage and live webcasting of these magnificent men in their flying machines has won the prestigious Sports Emmy for Outstanding Technical Team (Remote) for the past two years, beating heavyweight broadcast rivals such as NBC.
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Final 4 Super 8 then Final 4. With each successive round the slowest four competitors are eliminated, until only four pilots are left. These four
As with all forms of motorsports, air racers are constantly in search of more juice. Their six-cylinder, race-prepared engines are forever being tweaked to drag out just a little more horsepower. Actual figures are secret, but around 350hp is a good number.
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Incorrect flying The most common form of penalty a pilot will receive is for incorrect level- or knife-flying. With a 15-degree arc of leeway, pilots will be hit with a 2-second penalty each time they go through an Air Gate with wings askew. A 2-second penalty is also given for flying too high, whereas flying too low, or deviating away from the specified course, results in instant disqualification.
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Judging Air Race infractions are monitored by the judges in race control who, backed by replay technology, rule on such infringements as over-G, incorrect level flying or exceeding maximum entry speed, meting out penalty seconds or disqualifications. The stewards are under the control of the race director; at many races this is Cmdr. James DiMatteo, former commanding officer at the US Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun. Nobody argues with Jimmy.
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Knife-edge Pilots must fly through blue gates with wings level to the horizontal plane, but when they reach a red gate, they must have wings level to the vertical plane. This is known as ‘knife-edge’ flying.
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Lisbon Eight countries in five continents will be visited during this year’s Red Bull Air Race World Championship, the last of which will be a title showdown over the River Tagus, in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. Before the finale, the championship will visit Abu Dhabi (UAE), Perth (AUS), Rio de Janeiro (BRA), Windsor (CAN), New York City (USA), Budapest (HUN) and Lausitz (GER).
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Matt Hall The rookie sensation of 2009 is a genuine championship contender this year. Hall, a former combat instructor in the Royal Australian Air Force, has the rare distinction of flying combat missions for the USAF in the Gulf while on attachment, and is decorated by both nations.
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New York After gracing San Francisco, San Diego and Monument Valley, the Red Bull Air Race has this year found a new home in the US, racing on the Hudson River between Manhattan and Jersey City.
PhotograPhy: matthias hangst/reD Bull air race via aP images, tom lovelock/reD Bull air race via aP images, BoB martin/reD Bull air race via aP images
the a-Z of Red Bull aiR Race