Red bull motor city air show
The third race of the Red Bull Air Race season was flown June 1st in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit, along with being the Motor City, also has a history with aviation, being the birthplace of Charles Lindbergh and a primary location for the production of B-24 bombers during WWII. The race was the second, and last, U.S. Red Bull venue in 2008. Pressure was on for all 12 of the Red Bull Air Race pilots as they prepared for one of the toughest courses of the season.
More than 90,000 tickets were sold for the two-day event and reports suggest another 100,000 spectators scrambled for spots along the Detroit River to watch the action. The lines were long inside the Red Bull Air Race airport, especially where many of the 1,800 fans waited to meet Michael Goulian of Massachusetts, defending champion Mike Mangold of California, and the third American in the 12-man field, Kirby Chambliss of Arizona. “This is great,” said Goulian, 39, who is eighth in the field with six points after two races. Many spectators were eager to get a closer glimpse not only of the pilots but their planes that go up to 230 miles per hour facing forces of up to 10Gs through the obstacle course set up just a few feet above the water.
Wind gusts of up to 59 miles per hour forced cancellation of qualifying Saturday. “The wind was just stupid,” said Goulian, who had two pylon hits and was eighth place in the day’s only timed session in the course. “It wasn’t even worth flying. There were penalty hits and the conditions were not anything like it’s going to be on race day. I hope.” Many of the expert pilots fought the winds and the tougher than normal course. A record number of ten pylon hits took place during the event. The most spectacular hit was Britain’s, Steve Jones slamming into one air gate pylon straight on, bursting it to bits.
The course was also made more challenging by pilots being forced to turn around halfway through and fly the second lap through the air gates in reverse order — rather than the usual two-lap course. The greater difficulty led to the record number of pylon hits. France’s Nicolas Ivanoff, who hit two pylons and had a staggering 18 penalties in his three training runs, didn’t even bother to use up his allotted time. He abandoned his windswept session well before the end and told the tower “No thanks” when offered another run. He only finished one of his three runs. “The weather conditions were really difficult,” said Ivanoff. “If the weather’s like this in Qualifying it’s going to be difficult.” The pilots were in agreement that Saturday’s session could not take place and expressed their disappointment for the spectators. Paul Bonhomme, the championship leader, said, “I feel particularly for the folks down at the track who want to watch this. It must be a huge disappointment to come all this way and not see any flying. Let me put it in perspective though. The wind conditions are such that it would be pretty hazardous. There’s an old adage in flying that ‘you’d rather be on the ground wishing you were in the air rather than in the air wishing you were on the ground.’ I think it’s the best course for safety.”
Race day was beautiful. Calmer winds and temperatures around 80 degrees made it a beautiful day to watch the air races. The Detroit course took the pilots across the U.S.-Canadian border twice for a total of about 13 seconds of approximately 75 seconds racing time. This aspect made it the first time the Red Bull Air Race had taken place between two countries at the same time.
Due to the weather related limited air time before the race, some of the pilots were cautious ahead of racing. “We all get pumped before the race and then when we can’t go out it is frustrating,” said Spaniard Alejandro Maclean, who has been battling with his new MXS plane and has hardly had a clean run in Detroit. “The problem is now that we have just one go and that is it. With a new plane, it’s not good for me but that is what it is. We will see.”
Mike Mangold, last year’s championship winner, was concerned that he had not had enough time to fully test adjustments to the fuel system of his Edge 540, while many in the field have struggled to record a clean run on the Detroit course. Nigel Lamb, currently ranked 7th in the championship, said the cancelled second training session on Friday and Qualifying on Saturday would be a leveler for the field of twelve and would likely spell a scrappy session for many fliers with plenty of penalty points. “You have to go with the flow and as long it is the same for all of the pilots then no one has an advantage or a disadvantage either way really,” said Lamb, trying to sound confident despite struggling to get a better handle on his new MXS plane that he first used in the San Diego race. “The best man and machine will win in the end. We have all missed out on three runs when you would usually learn a lot about the track. But what I have not learned, they have not learned either.”
Goulian was pleased to be racing for the first time in the general vicinity of his home in Massachusetts. He said, “We did some mods after San Diego. We made some really small wheel pants, took about 6 pounds off the plane. We’ve got smaller wheels and brakes and things like that. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty. It’s getting harder and harder to lose weight. There’s not much left.” Every ounce makes a difference; first and second place was decided by just .15 seconds in the Detroit race. Goulian came out of the gate at over 227 mph. He was a little high at air gate 14 and took a three point penalty. He finished the race in eighth place, flying the course in 1:20.4. He is seventh in overall Red Bull Air Race standings. In front of a huge crowd of U.S. and Canadian spectators, Kirby Chambliss (USA) beat Paul Bonhomme (GBR), the winner of the first two 2008 Red Bull Air Races. Chambliss flew the 3.8 mile course in 1:12.08. Besides the race excitement, the crowds were wowed by the pilots’ tricks and loop-de-loops after their run. Now, after two back-to-back races in the United States, the competition moves to Europe. The next race is in Stockholm, Sweden on July 5 & 6.
The fourth season of racing is proving to be tops in excitement already. There are plenty of races remaining to watch the field of 12 pilots vie for podium positions. If you missed this event, you’ll have another chance to see the race. Each race is set to be broadcast Sundays on Fox Sports Network starting in July. The Detroit race is scheduled to air on July 27 and on October 5.
By John Cilio a freelance writer living in Connecticut. You can contact him at: questions@vintageflyer.com