WRAP-UP 2007 San Diego Red Bull Air Races

[why_fly_high]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Mithrandir
	If I was one of these crazy pilots and wanted to squeeze more speed outa my plane.. I would prolly contact Jon Sharp of NEMESIS fame... http://www.nemesisnxt.com/kit/index.php I have seen his plane in person... and could not find one detail of drag reduction left out... he REALLY knows what he is doing.... (Hey Kirby.. wanna NOT loose 10 knots in the hard turn... call Jon!!!) Awesome vids guys!!

What was interesting is that Paul won flying with some of the slowest speeds. Watching his speeds at the interim times he was sometimes 40 kts slower then some of the guys tearing through the course. There was definitely 2 trains of thought. One was fast and wide the other was tight and slower. Tight and slower won this one. The next race may be wide open and the fastest plane may win. It will be interesting to see if this ever develops like NASCAR where they have different planes for different tracks.

Dan

[Mithrandir]

	Quote: Originally Posted by why_fly_high
	What was interesting is that Paul won flying with some of the slowest speeds. Watching his speeds at the interim times he was sometimes 40 kts slower then some of the guys tearing through the course. There was definitely 2 trains of thought. One was fast and wide the other was tight and slower. Tight and slower won this one. The next race may be wide open and the fastest plane may win. It will be interesting to see if this ever develops like NASCAR where they have different planes for different tracks. Dan

It would be interesting to see a map of the path flown vs speeds...
But even with a tight course, a drag reduction has merit... and unfortunately there is the constraint that pilots can only take so many "G's".... I am sure the course could be analytically optimized.

All I can say though... is once.. (one time only) I did 4.5 positive g's... it is uncomfortable.. I don't need to do that again!!!
And these guys are at 10 G's!!! WOW!!

[pbrantuas]

They were showing overlays where you can actually see both planes flying the course together and you could see the difference in the path of each airplane.

From talking to the pilots it seems that the different cources, the G limit and the FAA play a big part on the modifications to these planes.

[shiller]

This is really exciting to watch but I'm missing something here... with all the advertising RedBull is doing as well as the cost of even running this event... WHERE ARE THE CHEERS OF PEOPLE??? I have watched a few clips of this here and I hear the announcers. I hear the music. I don't hear people cheering or at least a decent amount of people there. Anyone who went... how many people would you say went to this? Or are they just so scattered over the grounds?

[pbrantuas]

The local news said there were an estimated 50,000 spectators on Saturday.

[TEAMERICA]

So far the videos that you have seen are from Friday(Qualifying). There were fewer spectators then. Plus, I believe those videos were taken from the Press area where things were pretty quiet at that end of the island.
Saturday had plenty of cheers when there was measurable competition and achievement. Still not like NASCAR. This is a different crowd. Watching these guys fly at the speed and altitude that they perform, it almost takes your breath away. Besides, you know they can't hear your cheers anyway so why bother (there was plenty of waving). We did enjoy their small demonstration of excitement when they pulled up and either rolled or tail wagged (technically there is no aerobatics allowed) after they cleared the finish line. We also were able to see their faces inside the cockpit from the airborn camera as the tower told them their times and placings following their run. Some were happy - some were not. But there was alot of sportsmanship shown when their competitor radioed back his congratulations.
As the sport continues, fan loyalty will bring more cheering and participation. Frankly, I only knew two names going in (Mangold and Chambliss) and now I know more.
One thing I did notice about this race is that there were no vertical maneuvers. This course was totally on one level which was about 20 feet above the water. What happened to the Half Cubans and Over The Humps?

[why_fly_high]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Mithrandir
	It would be interesting to see a map of the path flown vs speeds... But even with a tight course, a drag reduction has merit... and unfortunately there is the constraint that pilots can only take so many "G's".... I am sure the course could be analytically optimized. All I can say though... is once.. (one time only) I did 4.5 positive g's... it is uncomfortable.. I don't need to do that again!!! And these guys are at 10 G's!!! WOW!!

I think as it matures you will see that more and more. Look at the other types of racing where they are analyzing everything to squeeze the last bit of performance out of it. I agree about drag. I don't think they have reached the optimal drag levels yet. This is one of the things that makes this racing a challenge because there are very big differences in the availablee lines. If you look at an oval track there are different lines but usually only vary by a car width.

I have pulled 7.5 g's before. I only remember about 6.7 though. I thought my head was going to explode at 3 negative! The guys pushing 6-8 are absoluting nuts.

Dan

[JonT]

Great coverage guys, I'm so jealous you got 'backstage'.

I have been to the Budapest event for the last 2 years and can't wait to go again next year, it is without doubt the most exciting aviation event I have attended. The extra excitement of this venue is the start and finish under the chain bridge, 9m from the water to the underside! Then racing over the Danube in front of the Parliament Building.

The race takes place over a festival weekend and is free to spectators, I think they estimated around 1.5 million people in attendance!!


Kirby exits under the bridge

[Troy P]

	Quote: Originally Posted by shiller
	This is really exciting to watch but I'm missing something here... with all the advertising RedBull is doing as well as the cost of even running this event... WHERE ARE THE CHEERS OF PEOPLE??? I have watched a few clips of this here and I hear the announcers. I hear the music. I don't hear people cheering or at least a decent amount of people there. Anyone who went... how many people would you say went to this? Or are they just so scattered over the grounds?

I don't think you could hear the crowd over the 120 decibal music and announcers (we were cheering). The speakers near us were uncomfortably loud... so much so you could barely even hear the planes. I recall seeing a sign on the speakers that said 1 million watts. My ears were feeling like I had been at an all day heavy metal concert.

[madmax]

Okay folks! Got some more video from the final 3 flights of the day on Saturday. Checkit!

Kirby Chambliss and Paul Bonhomme from Saturday - Final rounds in San Diego during the 2007 Redbull Air Race. Full event coverage at www.flyinggiants.com

YouTube - San Diego Redbull Air Race Saturday -...

Nigel Lamb & Steve Jones Saturday - Final rounds in San Diego during the 2007 Redbull Air Race.

YouTube - San Diego Redbull Air Race Saturday -...

[madmax]

The awesome Redbull aerobatic helicopter capable of inverted flight. This chopper has a rigid head which enables this type of flight. Most helis would suffer from boom strikes without it. If anyone has more information on this, please chime in. Listen to them blades faaaart!

YouTube - Redbull Stunt Helicopter - Inverted...

[madmax]

Navy Seals water rescue demonstration. Cool!

YouTube - 2007 San Diego Air Races - Navy Seals