New York Red Bull Air Race
The Red Bull Air Race returned to the U.S. during the June 19th weekend for the fifth race of the 2010 season. There are only eight races in 2010 and New York was the only U.S. location. The day was a beautiful flying day, a slight wind, clear and typically hot summer day. The crowds responded to the weather and race excitement with an estimated 75,000 watching along the scenic Hudson River setting. Thousands more watched via television. The spectators were not disappointed either – the race came down to the final flight by Hannes Arch.
Flying in the Red Bull races is limited to just 15 pilots who have the prerequisite outstanding achievements in international flying competitions and are also comfortable handling high performance aircraft in low level aerobatic flying in front of crowds in order to obtain the elusive Super Licence to fly at Red Bull races. To compete in the race it is essential that a pilot is skillful, aggressive, fast and fly with precision to make it through the aerial course without incurring penalties. An equally high priority is to fly safely in close proximity to buildings, bridges and people practiced by the pilots.
Two new pilots joined the ranks of Red Bull pilot competitors this year. Adilson Kindlemann, 36, from Brazil is an airline pilot with 11,000 hours and former Czech Air Force fighter pilot, Martin Sonka, 31, both add their names to the growing list of top class pilots who have qualified to race in the world’s fastest motor sport. The American Mike Mangold and South African Glen Dell retired from the Red Bull Air Race at the end of the 2009 season.
The New York race delivered plenty of excitement. There were three different types of aircraft that the twelve pilots used and none of them are what one would call standard issue. All three are exceptionally strong fully aerobatic aircraft that were specifically built for competition in the Red Bull Air Race. The Edge 540 and the MXS-R are both built here in the United States while the Corvus Racer 540 is built in Hungary. The most popular design used is the Edge 540. There are only 45 of these aircraft in the world and seven of them were in the skies over the Hudson on Sunday. A 340 horsepower engine that can achieve in excess of 250 mph and can run normally as well as inverted, a flight position in which the Red Bull Racers find themselves in quite often, powers the Edge. The second most popular aircraft is the MSX-R, which is extremely similar to the Edge. It is powered by the same type of engine and can fly equally as fast. The third aircraft is the Corvus Racer 540, which has a different look than the other two. It is painted in Red Bull blue and has a little stronger engine then most of the other aircraft. The Corvus is flown by Hungarian Peter Besenyei and is the only aircraft of its type in the world.
The Red Bull racing event is divided into two elimination rounds and a final race. In each round a single pilot takes his aircraft through sixty-five foot tall air gates, twisting and turning at over two hundred miles per hour. The first round of the race featured 12 pilots, slimmed down from 15 that could have flown. In qualifying on Saturday, the fastest pilot was Canadian Pete McLead, who clocked in at 229 mph. The race is more than flat out speed requiring twists and turns to maneuver the complex course. Almost all of the pilots pulled over 9.5g or nine and a half times the force of gravity during the early round of the race.
The second round featured the eight fastest pilots eliminating four from the initial group. Both American flyers, Michael Goulian and Kirby Chambliss were still competing in the second round. Goulian was knocked out of contention at the end of the second round and eventually placed seventh. "Today was about survival, so I guess there is a sense of relief now. I knew we had to push it to try to get into the Final 4 so that's what I did. It was probably just a little too hard. We were either going to go for it or hit something and that's the way to do it. It's not a Final 4 airplane and we just have to push it like crazy to get there. It's a gamble and I didn't think I had a penalty but you just don't know. But that's the way it is." Goulian said.
During the final race on Sunday, pilots experienced 12 times normal gravity meaning a typical 170-pound person would seem to weigh over one ton or 2,000 pounds for a brief moment in one of the race turns. The race came down to the final flight by Hannes Arch who had triumphed over Bonhomme at the last three races and probably would have taken Sunday's win if he hadn't hit a pylon eliminating any chance of placing in New York. Paul Bonhomme won the New York race based on both Hannes’ error and by blazing through the 3-mile, 13-gate Hudson River course in just 1:10.01. Rounding out the final Red Bull Air Race results were Nigel Lamb (1:12.06) who finished in second place and American Kirby Chambliss who finished in third with a time of 1:12.09. After the race Chambliss thanked Arch personally for hitting the gate, which ultimately allowed the American to finish on the podium for the second straight time. Arch took the penalty in stride, claiming that the three guys who finished ahead of him each owe him a beer. A deal the top three flyers will gladly accept.
With three races yet to come, there is still no clear winner for the 2010 season. Paul Bonhomme remains in the lead while Hannes Arch is fighting to keep up in close second. The next stop of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race is in Lausitz, Germany, August 7 and 8th.
Michael Goulian during the qualification rounds in the 2010 New York Red Bull Air Race. (Getty Images)
Paul Bonhomme, the winner of the New York Red Bull Air Race. (Getty Images)
By: John Cilio