Red Bull Air races - Edge dominates. Why?

[why_fly_high]

	Quote: Originally Posted by plane
	Can you imagine an Edge with this airfoil? I wouldn't be surprised to see it next year.

No, but I can imagine an Edge with an airfoil we designed for Red Bull Racing. You aren't going to have to wait till next year.

Dan

[why_fly_high]

	Quote: Originally Posted by flyin woodbutcher
	just wondering , Has an Edge ever been fitted with and flown with a Extra style wing ? FWB

No, it would be a downgrade.

Dan

[why_fly_high]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Shaker
	I'm really surprised Extra would build a wing like that just for the air races. It certainly isn't going to be functional as an unlimited aerobatic mount like that. Red Bull must have some serious money in the races to warrant building a whole new wing for them.

It is just the beginning of what is to come.

Dan

[!Spike!]

One thing for sure, this will be great if some new aerobatic planes start getting produced. It may create a market for some new Giant scale IMAC/3D planes.

[Troy P]

I've done a bit of playing around with wing plan-forms for slope racers and powered pylon racers. As mentioned before, a straight LE or slightly swept forward LE has a noticeable advantage in the turns. We saw this more with the slope racers since there is no motor to pull you through the turns. You went in with a certain amount of speed and see what you come back out with after a bank-and-yank with a glider. The straight LE's would bounce off the turn and retain a lot of the energy. I think this does play into the Edge's advantage. Also, there would be definite gains available with proper airfoil selection. Going away from a symmetrical airfoil is a good start. It's interesting to see how these airframes may warf into beasts of their own.

[devcon9]

Edge 540 - 540 wing planform with laminar section as apposed to fully sym...?

[1bwana1]

After watching two practice sessions of the Red Bull planes today, it is very clear why the Edges are preferred over the Extras. The Edges are clearly better at racing the short high G environment of the Red Bull pylon coursed. The Edges are quick and agile compared to the Edges. The Edges turn better, bleed of less speed and accelerate between the turns much better. In comparison the Extras look slow, underpowered, and frankly a little clumsy. The difference is obvious to even a casual observer, it is dramatic. There was a new style Extra (300 SR) that had a straight leading edge similar to the Edge in design, and it was only marginally better. So I think the weight, power plant, and fuse must also be contributing to the difference. I am not an aerodynamic expert so I will leave the discussion of why to you. I will say that the full scale Extras are fatter, and stubbier than the stretched versions we are used to seeing in our aerobatic models. The Edges look closer. I fly a ZN-Line Extra in IMAC and it is great. I have never flown a model of the Edge that I thought even came close. But in the Red Bull format the Edges clearly rule.

[Ryguy]

Has anyone tried one of the Slick aircraft in the Red bull races? The 540 runs the same engine as the Edge and is very close in weight. Doesn't have the straight leading edge though.

[Snapman]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Mitsu1
	Just wondered ... this new Extra that Besenyei tested ... what does it look like? Is it smaller than a stock Extra 300 ?

Peter Besenyei's new Extra 300SR

[SleepyC]

Oh man.... that picture just inspired many people with crashed edges and extras....

Thats weird looking.

He.. what happens when a Edge 540 and an Extra 300 get drunk.... LOOK At THE PICTURE ABOVE!

[Shaker]

	Quote: Originally Posted by why_fly_high
	It is just the beginning of what is to come. Dan

Is Red Bull really making it that worthwhile to these guys?

[why_fly_high]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Shaker
	Is Red Bull really making it that worthwhile to these guys?

I don't know what Red Bull pays them. They are very competitive guys. Most of them have jobs outside Red Bull racing so they don't seem to mind spending some of the money they get from Red Bull to do work on their plane. Also, as more big sponsors come in, Audi, Breitling, CEAT this year, I think you will see more advances.

Dan