WRAP-UP 2007 San Diego Red Bull Air Races

[Bill_Higgins]

	Quote: Originally Posted by madmax
	Bill, yes we did! Sorry we missed ya out there dude! I think you were on the north side and I couldn't hear my phone for ****. BTW folks, Bill has probably the money shot of the weekend. Let's see it homey!

LOL.....Even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then !!! :-)

[madmax]

Next pilot up, Paul Bonhomme, winner of the San Diego RBAR. Paul was very cool to speak with. Paul is also the first place leader on the RBAR series, and like the others, is afraid of flying and crashing model airplanes.

[madmax]

Okay, here's Len Rulason of the famous ANNA WOOD clan! Len is an avid modeler, full scale too, and is the chief mechanic for Steve Jones. LEN ROCKS!!!



Steve Jones, Len's boss. Steve is from GB, and is the lowest flyer of the group. Grace and speed, Steve is the dude. Killer scheme on his Edge.

[madmax]

YO PEDRO! Can you post all your of the photos you have of us with the pilots? I'm a few short. THANKS MAN!

[madmax]

Friday evening, we did something uber-cool. Redbull invited the media to an exclusive party on the USS Midway, which is a retired aircraft carrier in San Diego. On the flight deck, there was a big ol' DJ booth setup with Redbull girls a plenty to make sure our every need was taken care of. The USS Midway is a KILLER museum, and I encourage anyone who is in the area to check it out.

After hanging out ont he deck for a few hours, we went downstairs into the hangar. There was a humongous dance floor setup, and some very realistic flight simulators. After raging for a few more hours, me and the boys hit the road. Stricken with hungar, our resident picky eaters took us back to In-n-out burger for the FOURTH time of the weekend!! Matt, Brett, Pedro, and Jason all had a great time. Lots of chixor pics here... Enjoy

[madmax]

Impressing everyone with my patented robot dance..





Flight deck..



Brett, Pedro chompin on some particularly nasty skewers

[!Spike!]

Max,

Thanks for the tour of the press area and the rest of the goodies. By the way, I saw you on KUSI local news tonight.

For anyone within range of a future Air Race. DON'T MISS IT! I was simply stunned and awed watching these planes crank these planes around the course. It was really a thrill to watch and analyze the different styles and lines the pilots were taking. Some of the pilots were very smooth and meticulous, other really hammered the controls and pushed their planes hard.

One of the things I learned that relates to the flying style was the fusion of new ideas on wing design that specializes the planes for the Air Races. The pilot who were running semi-symmetrical airfoils were able to run a much tighter turn around the quatro pylon than those with aerobatic fully symmetrical wings. Though the race was dominated by the Zivco Edge 540, everyone seemed to have some different type of variance. Hopefully we will see some more new models out of this.

Thanks again Max, Matt and Toro for giving up the pass for me. It was great to finally meet you as well JAS.

See you at Tucson next. I have to go build a %&$* pilot and dash panel.

Spike

[pbrantuas]

Here you go Max.

[pbrantuas]

Here's some more.

[madmax]

Thanks Pedro!!!!!!

Back from dinner with Jason. More photos from Friday evening.. All kinds of cool planes on the deck...



Media who was not there to party, working..



On to the Jason and Matt photo collage.. FlyingGiants, making friends wherever we go!



Given the opportunity, I could have probably married off both these guys this evening.












Me, sad, pining for momo.

[madmax]

I have about a hundred of these..





The line for cocktails.... Let's go downstairs.

[madmax]

Kinda reminded me of Pat Hartness's hangar. Not because of the rave in progress, but because of the planes, and art on the walls.

Friday night was KILLER! Coming up, Saturday finals...

[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!!

[TEAMERICA]

Hey Max! It was great seeing you guys out there Saturday. Not just "there" but gathering the word and spreading it to the rest of the FGs. I should have known but next time I will expect you see the FG crew at any aviation event I can dream of.
BTW, The Scale Masters at Hemet is within reach for you as well as the USRA Giant Scale Air Race in Parker. See you there!

Race 96

[Plane Addicted]

Awesome coverage this weekend, you guys did a great job with all the photo's and videos. I hope we see more RBAR coverage here on FG. Maybe other full scale events also?