The red bull air race championship event
was officially launched in 2005, which is approximately nine years ago. It has
gained much hype over the years and is now a globally renowned sport. Between
2005 and 2010, the red bull organization had already conducted 45 thrilling
races in iconic places all over the world, locations such as London, Abu Dhabi,
Budapest, New York, Perth, Barcelona, San Diego and Rio de Janeiro (Thomas, 2009) .
The planes that are used in the red bull
air championship are designed and built to perfection so that they may be as
agile as possible. This is because the competition is a combination of
exhilarating speed, extreme maneuverability and low altitudes. The aerial race
tracks that are used are specially designed. They are end products of extensive
evaluation and research. The current sophisticated pump-up pylons that are used
as air gates are the results of evolved pylons which were first developed in
2002. They are safer and are constructed to be robust. In case of any pylon
burst or hit, they can be easily repaired and pumped within minutes. The race
teams in the previous years had the mandate to modify their planes in whichever
way they wished but in 2014, the propellers and engines were modified and
standardized for all teams. This was done to ensure that no team had an added
advantage over the others (Thomas, 2009) .
Some of the planes which are used in the
event include: the Edge 540 Zivko Aeronautics from the United States (Planes, 2014) . It is an aggressive
one-seater air craft which is already famous amongst the pilots participating
in the championship. The specification of the Edge 540 V2 are;
LENGTH:
6.3m WINGSPAN:
7.44m
ROLL RATE: 420°/sec
CLIMB RATE: 3,700ft/min
TOP SPEED: 425.97kph (230kts)
MAX G: +/-10G
WING DESIGN: Symmetric, carbon fiber
MXS-R
This plane is famous due to the kind of technology it
possesses. It has a flawless design and is praised for being aerodynamically
efficient. Some of the specifications it possesses are as follows:
LENGTH:
6.51m WINGSPAN:
7.32m
ROLL RATE: 420°/sec CLIMB
RATE: 3,500ft/min
TOP SPEED: 425.97kph (230kts)
MAX G: +/-12G
WING DESIGN: Symmetric, carbon fiber
Corvus Racer 540
This
plane is relatively new but has already attracted massive attention. It was
designed in 2007. Most of the parts in this plane are made out of carbon fiber.
LENGTH:
6.57m WINGSPAN: 7.4m ROLL
RATE: 440°/sec,
CLIMB RATE:
4,300ft/min TOP SPEED: 444kph (240kts),
MAX G: +12G/-10G WING DESIGN:
Symmetric, carbon fiber
2005
This was the year the red bull world air race championship
was launched. The race consisted of 10 pilots who were battling it out in seven
different races. The races took place in, San Francisco (USA) Abu Dhabi (UAE),
Rock of Cashel (Ireland), Longleat (Great Britain), Rotterdam (Netherland),
Budapest (Hungary) and Zeltweg (Austria). This was from 8th April to
8th October. Mike Mangold, an American, was the winner in 2005. He
won by 36 points while Hungary’s Peter Besenyei who emerged the first runners
up had 32 points (Thomas, 2009) .
2006
In 2006, there were eight races and eleven pilots
battling it out for the championship title. The races took place in: Barcelona (Spain), Istanbul
(Turkey), Abu Dhabi (UAE), San Francisco (USA), Budapest (Hungary), Perth
(Australia), Berlin (Germany) and Longleat (Great Britain). This was from March 18th to
November 19th. This time, the title was won by Chambliss who
accumulated a total of 38 points.
2007
In 2007 thirteen pilots
participated in the championship. However, unlike in the previous years, the
calendar was extended to include ten races. The races took place in London (Great Britain), San Diego
(USA), Istanbul (Turkey), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Perth (Australia), Monument Valley
(USA), Porto/Gaia (Portugal), Interlaken (Switzerland), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Budapest (Hungary) from April 6th to November 3rd.
Mangold reclaimed his title in 2007 as the red bull air race champion
after a close battle with Britain’s Paul Bonhomme. They had the same points and
the winner was decided by a tie breaker.
2008
Twelve pilots were involved in the
race in 2008. The races took place from April 10th to November 2nd
.The race locations were Perth
(Australia), Detroit (USA), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Budapest (Hungary), San Diego
(USA), Porto (Portugal), Rotterdam (Netherland) and London (Great Britain).
Hannes Arch from Austria became the first European to win the championship.
2009
In 2009 Bonhomme won. The races took place from April 17th to October 4th. Four rookies were added into the competition including the first Australian, first (something is missing here) and first Canadian, Matt Hall, Yoshi Muroya and Pete Mcleod respectively. Matthias Dolder a German was also new in the competition.
In 2009 Bonhomme won. The races took place from April 17th to October 4th. Four rookies were added into the competition including the first Australian, first (something is missing here) and first Canadian, Matt Hall, Yoshi Muroya and Pete Mcleod respectively. Matthias Dolder a German was also new in the competition.
2010
In 2010, Bonhomme became the
second pilot to claim two titles in the process equalling Mangold’s record. The
races took place from March 26th to August 8th. The
locations for the races were: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Perth (Australia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil),
Ontario (Canada), New York (USA) and Lausitz (Germany). Arch’s eleventh place finish in the first stage in Abu Dhabi
proved costly as it made him the first runners up despite winning four of the
six races.
2014
In
2014, after a three-year break, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship
returned bigger and better. There were a
number of safety and technical improvements, including the changes of the
material and height of the lightweight pylons and the standardization of
propellers and engines for all of the participating pilots (Stanton,
2013) .
There is no doubt that the sport has been taken a notch higher and is now
better than ever. This year the challenger cup was introduced in the
competition. The challenger cup was a new avenue for the young pilots to
sharpen their aviation skills. The 2014 race took place as from February 28th
to November 2nd. The locations were, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Putrajaya
(Malaysia), Gdynia (Poland), Ascot(Great Britain), Dallas (USA), Las Vegas
(USA) and China. Nigel Lamb, a British pilot won the red bull air race
challenge 2014 for the first time by 62 points. Hannes Arch came in second with
53 points and Paul Bonhomme third with 51 points (Stanton,
2013) .
2015
Russia
and Japan have been added to the venues of the 2015 red bull air race world
championship. The 2015 season will commence on February 13th – 14th
in Abu Dhabi (UAE), the second stage is going to be held on 16th –
17th May in Chiba (Japan) then Sochi (Russia) on the 30th
-31st May, the fourth stage will be in Budapest (Hungary), then on
the 15th and 16th in Ascot (Great Britain), sixth stage
will be in Spielberg (Austria),
then Texas (USA) and end in Las Vegas (USA) on the 18th of October
2015.
References
Planes. (2014, November
18). Retrieved from RedBull: www.redbullairrace.com/en_INT/article/planes
Stanton, C. (2013). Red Bull air race returns 2014.
Thomas,
S. (2009, May 1st ). History. Retrieved fro m Redbull: www.redbull.com
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