Air races
An air race or airplane race is a speed competition with aircraft and in a broader sense an FAI controlled speed record attempt by an individual aircraft. Air races are often held with special racing aircraft . Fast aerobatic machines are mostly used at the Red Bull Air Race World Championship . In addition to the speed criterion, flight competitions have also developed in the direction of reliability tests for the machines used and testing of the pilots' flying skills.
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Well-known are the MacRobertson air race from England to Australia in 1934 or the events that took place in the USA as part of the Reno Air Races as the fastest motor sport in the world with, among other things, rebuilt machines from the Second World War equipped with sophisticated aircraft engines ( Warbirds ) can be flown today.
The well-known aircraft races of the past, in which numerous records were flown, included the Deutschlandflug 1911, the prestigious Schneider Trophy for seaplanes from 1913 to 1931, the “Kleine Entente” aviation competition in 1938, the National Air Races in the USA from 1920 to 1949 or the Bendix Trophy from 1931 to 1962 (again as Honeywell Bendix Trophy since 1998 ).
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is a newly created racing series with aerobatic machines that is currently being held. There are also corresponding competitions for gliders , in which you have to fly around predetermined turning points for a limited period of time.
In Germany, a very special pursuit race has been established since 2006 , which differs significantly from the above. In this air race two equivalent high-performance aircraft occur a labeled by two inflection pylons racing oval in low-altitude flight against each other.
Well-known racing pilots
- Louis Blériot
- Jacqueline Cochran
- Glenn Curtiss
- James Harold Doolittle
- Mario De Bernardi
- Darryl Greenamyer
- Kevin Eldredge
- Skip Holm
- Francesco Agello
- Jimmy Leeward
- Tony LeVier
- Blanche Noyes
- Jon Sharp
- Bill Stead
- Péter Besenyei
- Drake Solomon
Successful racing aircraft
- Curtiss R3C-2 , Schneider Trophy 1925
- Granville Gee Bee R-1 , Thompson Trophy 1932
- Messerschmitt Me 209 , FAI world speed record (1938)
- Bearcat Rare Bear , FAI World Speed Record (1989)
See also
Web links
- Red Bull Air Race (English)
- Aero GP (English)
- Sport Air Racing League (English)