Red Bull Air Race World Championship
|
|
| Current season | 2019 |
| sport | Air races |
| League foundation | 2003 |
| Title holder |
 Martin Šonka
|
| Record champions |
 Paul Bonhomme (3)
|
| Website | airrace.redbull.com |
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is a series of air races organized by Red Bull Air Race GmbH . The Red Bull Air Race has been taking place since 2003, and two years later it officially received World Championship status. The pilots navigate their aircraft at a speed of up to 370 km / h just a few meters above the ground through a course consisting of 25-meter-high inflated pylons. The single-engine fan guns used produce around 260 kW (350 hp) and reach speeds of up to 400 km / h. The acceleration forces of 10 g to very briefly 12 g that occur in tight curves require the pilots to be very physically able to carry out their work in addition to a high level of concentration and flying precision.
After a three-year break, the air race series has been taking place again since 2014. On May 29, 2019, Red Bull announced that it would end the racing series after the 2019 season.
history
Air racing, launched by the energy drink manufacturer Red Bull, is a comparatively new discipline in aviation. Since 2003, the best pilots in the world compete in several air races every year. In contrast to the American air races such as the Reno Air Race , high-speed races with highly motorized machines from the time of the Second World War, the Red Bull Air Race requires more skill and precision. The Red Bull company approached Hungarian stunt pilot Péter Besenyei in 2001 with the concept of the Air Race . Péter Besenyei was enthusiastic about the idea and tested the safety of the pylons developed for the Air Race together with the German stunt pilot Klaus Schrodt by flying through the gates in different flight positions. After two years of development, nothing stood in the way of the first race. Since 2005, the Red Bull Air Race has been an official competition series that is held around the globe. Only the most experienced pilots are allowed to take part in the races. Klaus Schrodt was there until 2007, Péter Besenyei and Paul Bonhomme left the motorsport series after the 2015 season finale.
competition
regulate
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is an international racing series in which at least eight pilots take part per race. The goal is to complete an air racing course, which is marked out with air-filled pylons, as quickly as possible and with as few mistakes as possible. The pilots can score points for the world championship in every race. The pilot with the most points after the last race becomes the Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
Pilots
In the 2015 season, 14 pilots competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Master-class pilots must have an unrestricted super license issued by the Red Bull Air Race Committee.
New pilots who would like to compete in the World Championship must first meet the minimum criteria set by the Red Bull Air Race Committee. These include, among other things, extraordinary successes in international flying competitions organized by the FAI. They must also be active aerobatic pilots. Selected pilots who put their skills to the test at the Red Bull Air Race Qualification Camp receive the limited super license of the Red Bull Air Race. Once you have the limited super license, you can qualify to take part in the Challenger Cup of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
Racing format
The Red Bull Air Race consists of the following flight sessions: Training, Qualifying, Round of 14, Round of 8, Final-4. Only one pilot may be on the route in each section.
TRAINING: Takes place on the days before qualifying. For the master class pilots there are two training days, each of which consists of two mandatory training sessions. The time of the final training (training 4) is decisive for the order of the qualifying.
QUALIFYING: Takes place one day before the race. It includes a mandatory qualifying session. The knockout round Round of 14 is determined based on the results of the qualifying. The fastest in qualifying meets the slowest, the second fastest meets the penultimate, etc.
ROUND OF 14: Is the first session on race day. The pilots compete against each other in "man against man" duels. The seven “Round of 14” winners qualify for the “Round of 8” as well as the fastest loser. The pilots who do not make it into the Round of 8 are placed 9 to 14 according to their times.
ROUND OF 8: In the Round of 8, the fastest of the Round of 14 meets the fastest loser, the second against the seventh, the third against the sixth and the fourth against the fifth. The four winners of these duels qualified for the final 4. The remaining times of the Round of 8 determine the final placements from 5 to 8.
FINAL-4: The four fastest pilots from the Round of 8 fight each other in Final-4 again individually in one run and fly for positions 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Start order for the flight sessions
The start order is the order in which the pilots start in each flight session. The starting order in training is determined based on the current overall status of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. The highest ranked pilot starts first, new pilots start at the end. If there is more than one new pilot, their starting position will be determined by a draw.
The order for the race day is determined by the results of the qualifying. The slowest driver in qualifying starts first.
Scoring
World Championship points are awarded after each race and decide who will become the Red Bull Air Race World Champion at the end of the season. The point system is as follows:
Master Class
| run | Qualifying | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| placement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Points | 25th | 22nd | 20th | 18th | 14th | 13 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 4th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
Challenger Class
| placement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 10 | 8th | 6th | 4th | 2 | 0 | ||
Time penalties
The course must be flown through completely by the pilots. The gates must be passed in the prescribed direction. Time penalties are given for incorrectly passing a gate or the chicane, for incorrectly performing a maneuver or for touching a gate. These time penalties are added to the pilot's time at the end of the lap.
A two-second penalty for incorrectly passing an air gate may result. a. forgiven if a pilot
- passes a gate or chicane too high or too low (reference point pilot helmet),
- the aircraft is not "level", d. H. does not fly through a gate with a perfectly horizontal transverse and longitudinal axis (maximum deviation 10 °).
If the aircraft touches a pylon, a three-second penalty is given.
New for the 2018 season: As soon as a Master Class pilot exceeds the 10G limit for more than 0.6 seconds, he receives a two-second penalty. So far, the pilot's round ended with an automatic "DNF" (Did Not Finish). With the new regulation, the pilots can continue to participate in the race, unless they exceed 12G, which results in a DNF.
disqualification
Serious rule violations will result in disqualification. These include in detail:
- any form of dangerous flying
- flying too low
- too low weight (pilot + machine)
The entry speed has been limited to 370 km / h (200 kts) since 2009 and must not exceed the maximum load factor of 12 g - even if only for fractions of a second.
Planes
While four different types of aircraft were roughly equally represented at the beginning of the competition series, including the Sukhoi Su-26 , most pilots now choose the Edge 540 from Zivko Aeronautics. In the current field of 14 pilots, 13 are flying an Edge 540 and one participant is flying an MXS-R from MX Aircraft. The aircraft have an output of 300 to 370 hp (about 220 to 280 kW).
The Zivko Edge 540, as well as the Extra 300 and Cap 232 used up to the 2008 season , were equipped with a Lycoming IO-540 (I: injection (Einspritzer); O: opposed engine or opposing cylinders (Boxer)), an air-cooled 6 -Cylinder boxer engine by the US manufacturer of the same name, the original version of which was designed in 1957 and which has been produced almost unchanged since then. The six-cylinder with a bore of 130.2 mm and a stroke of 111.1 mm has a displacement of 540 in³ , which corresponds to 8,850 cm³. The power is depending on the model 220 to 250 kW (300 to 350 hp) at about 2700 min -1 .
The weight of the single-seat aircraft is only about 700 kg, the two-seat MX2 weighs 840 kg ready to fly. The span is approx. 8 m with a length of 6 to 7 m. The roll rate, i.e. the ability to turn quickly around the longitudinal axis, is 420 ° / s. The machines rise at over 1100 m / min near the ground and are designed for permanent acceleration forces of 10 g positive and 10 g negative.
In July 2007, a new type of aircraft, the Extra 300SR, entered the race that was specially developed for the Red Bull Air Race. The special feature of this aircraft is the asymmetrically shaped wing profile, through which the curves can be flown even closer. The French Nicolas Ivanoff won the final race in Perth with an Extra 300SR in 2007, but switched to an Edge 540 as early as 2009.
The motors and propellers have been standardized for all teams since 2014. Both Lycoming Thunderbolt's AEIO-540-EXP and Hartzell's 7690 three-bladed propeller have undergone rigorous testing and meet specified specifications.
Racing series
- 2005-2010
Start of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2005 as a series.
- 2011-2013 no races
Red Bull canceled the 2011 season in order to advance technological development, raise safety standards and thus be able to offer a more attractive Red Bull Air Race in 2012. In November 2011, Red Bull announced that the re-entry is planned for 2013. In July 2012 there was further information that work is being carried out on a resumption in 2014.
- Since 2014
Continuation of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship as a series.
Champions
Master Class
Challenger Class
| Season | champion | Points guide |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 |
Petr headstone
|
 François Le Vot
|
| 2015 |
Mikaël Brageot
|
Mikaël Brageot
|
| 2016 |
 Florian Bergér
|
Florian Bergér
|
| 2017 |
Florian Bergér
|
Florian Bergér
|
| 2018 |
 Luke Czepiela
|
Florian Bergér
|
Eternal ranking
Master Class
| space | Surname | country | Placements in the world championship | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2. | 3. | |||
| 1 | Paul Bonhomme |
United Kingdom
|
3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Kirby Chambliss |
 United States
|
2 | - | 3 |
| 3 | Mike Mangold |
United States
|
2 | - | 1 |
| 4th | Hannes Arch |
 Austria
|
1 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Peter Besenyei |
 Hungary
|
1 | 3 | 1 |
| 6th | Martin Šonka |
Czech Republic
|
1 | 1 | - |
| 7th | Nigel Lamb |
United Kingdom
|
1 | - | 1 |
| 8th | Matthias Dolderer |
Germany
|
1 | - | - |
| 9 | Yoshihide Muroya |
 Japan
|
1 | - | - |
| 10 | Matt Hall |
 Australia
|
- | 3 | 1 |
| 11 | Klaus Schrodt |
Germany
|
- | 1 | - |
| 12 | Pete McLeod |
 Canada
|
- | - | 1 |
| 13 | Michael Goulian |
United States
|
- | - | 1 |
Challenger Class
| space | Surname | country | Placements in the world championship | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2. | 3. | |||
| 1 | Florian Bergér |
Germany
|
2 | 1 | - |
| 2 | Luke Czepiela |
Poland
|
1 | - | 1 |
| 3 | François Le Vot |
France
|
1 | - | - |
| 4th | Mikaël Brageot |
France
|
1 | - | - |
| 5 | Daniel Ryfa |
 Sweden
|
- | 3 | 1 |
| 6th | Petr headstone |
Czech Republic
|
- | 1 | - |
| 7th | Kevin Coleman |
United States
|
- | - | 2 |
| 8th | Tom Bennett |
United Kingdom
|
- | - | 1 |
criticism
Aircraft collisions with the pylons occur in every race and usually have no consequences. In such an incident in Monument Valley on May 12, 2007, the aircraft was damaged and debris from the pylon got caught in the rudder of the aircraft. Although the pilot was able to land unharmed, this incident led to discussions among pilots and aircraft owners about the safety of the races.
Before the Red Bull Air Race on July 14 and 15, 2007 in Interlaken, Switzerland, there was a public discussion about the environmental impact of the event. Critics described the Air Race as an environmentally harmful and noisy advertising event.
Accidents
On April 15, 2010, a participant crashed for the first time. During training for the Air Race in Perth , the Brazilian pilot Adilson Kindlemann lost control of his aircraft and crashed into the Swan River . He was rescued from the water within a few minutes and survived the crash with minor injuries. Matt Hall experienced a near crash during qualifying in Windsor 2010. Hall passed the 13th gate when he suddenly lost height and touched down briefly on the water. However, he was able to fly on and land safely, but was disqualified for dangerous flying ("Dangerous Fly").
Web links
- Red Bull Air Race (Official Homepage)
- Red Bull Air Race World Championship channel on YouTube
- Markus Völter: Aerobatics and Red Bull Air Racing Interview with Matt Hall (Omega Tau Podcast, episode 183, October 2015)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Off for Red Bull Air Race. In: austrianwings.info. May 29, 2019, accessed May 30, 2019 .
- ↑ a b rules. In: https://airrace.redbull.com/ . Red Bull, March 6, 2019, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Planes. In: https://airrace.redbull.com/ . Red Bull, March 6, 2019, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ^ History. In: https://airrace.redbull.com/ . Red Bull, March 6, 2019, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Nils Kramer: Once again well done - 3rd round of the Red Bull Air Race in Monument Valley. In: https://www.pilotundflugzeug.de/ . Airwork Press GmbH, May 18, 2007, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ bigboludo: Red Bull Air Race Pylon Collision. May 14, 2007, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Red Bull Air Race: Air Race pilot Kindlemann injured in accident. Focus, April 15, 2010, accessed April 15, 2010 .
- ↑ makistsig: Plane crash. April 15, 2010, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ AIRBOYD: Matt Hall Skims Water - Red Bull Air Race Qualifying (2010). June 8, 2010, accessed March 6, 2019 .
| Current pilots - masters |
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| Current pilots - challengers |
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| Former pilots |
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