RE: Red Bull Air Race Hits London
Monday 30th July 2007
Upside down and 150mph. Can we have a go?the Red Bull Air Race at Canary Warf, last weekend.With SEAT cars now confirmed as the official race sponsor, the pistonheads crew thought it right that we attend in our long-term Leon Cupra.
Are you sure we can't have a go? Please...a pilot crashes into a pylon – apart from getting hit with a ten second penalty. A three-second time penalty can also be incurred for flying too high.
Red Bull Air Race Hits London
We went to see what all the fuss was about
More than 35,000 spectators lined the banks of the River Thames to watch round six of
Upside down and 150mph. Can we have a go?
The Red Bull air race series is now in its fourth year, but this is the first time London has hosted the event. Spectators were treated to a new discipline of flying called ‘air racing’, which resembles a slalom course in the sky. Eleven Red Bull competitors had to pilot their planes around several pylons known as ‘Air Gates’ in the fastest time possible. Nothing happens if
Are you sure we can't have a go? Please...
Saturday’s qualifying times were slower than predicted. According to pilot Alejandro Maclean, the turbulent gales were exacerbated by Canary Warf’s office tower blocks channelling the wind. Calmer skies and better conditions on Sunday allowed much quicker times, where the planes reached speeds of nearly 400 km/h (250 mph) and pilots pulled up to 10G. American Mike Mangold (USA/Team Cobra) soared to victory with a time of 1:25.82 minutes, and Britain’s Paul Bonhomme finished second. Bonhomme still leads the championship.
It was an enjoyable, if blurry two days for the pistonheads team; the highlights of which can be seen in our gallery. We’re sure everyone who attended is rooting for organizers to bring the Air Race back to London in 2008.
Discussion
Well it had to better than last years fiasco at Longleat! OK there was no flying because of the weather, no one can blame them for that. BUT the organisation was chaos! The traffic getting in went back miles, people had tails of M4 to Longleat 5 hours, for probably 20 miles. Getting out of the carpark was worse! One carpark, thousands of cars, farm gate in one corner, go for it lads, the stewards all dissapeared, no routes marked out, just a cross country free for all. How there wasn't a mass brawl I'll never know. Never ever would I go again, which is a shame because it looks great.
I went to the first RBAR at Longleat. Great day out, spoilt a bit by the fact the planes were flying so low we couldn't really see much.
The best, and most impressive part of the day by far was when they introduced the pilots. Basically they flew across the front of the crowd with their names being read out and were allowed to do a bit of un restricted aerobatics. Seeing a little prop plane flying BACKWARDS as the pilot just stood it on it's nose then flipped it over is an image that will stay with me forever, as will some of the other crazy stunts they can pull.
A good day out as it was free at the time. I hope the people who have paid saw more than I did though!
The best, and most impressive part of the day by far was when they introduced the pilots. Basically they flew across the front of the crowd with their names being read out and were allowed to do a bit of un restricted aerobatics. Seeing a little prop plane flying BACKWARDS as the pilot just stood it on it's nose then flipped it over is an image that will stay with me forever, as will some of the other crazy stunts they can pull.
A good day out as it was free at the time. I hope the people who have paid saw more than I did though!
Zebs said:
Well it had to better than last years fiasco at Longleat! OK there was no flying because of the weather, no one can blame them for that. BUT the organisation was chaos! The traffic getting in went back miles, people had tails of M4 to Longleat 5 hours, for probably 20 miles. Getting out of the carpark was worse! One carpark, thousands of cars, farm gate in one corner, go for it lads, the stewards all dissapeared, no routes marked out, just a cross country free for all. How there wasn't a mass brawl I'll never know. Never ever would I go again, which is a shame because it looks great.
Mate you missed out. I know your pain. I sat in that carpark for 4 1/2 hours!!! It was a total joke last year, but fine this year. I think the difference was only 35k attended this year, less than half what they had last year.Downsides is that its already getting an expensive day out, 50 quid for grandstand, and 30 quid to stand is harsh. Must have only been 2k people standing in total, and none on our side of the thames that i could see (peruvian wharf??)
This year police were out and doing something, traffic was basically non existent as 99.9% used public transport (i used my car). They had people thanking you fro attending on the way out, free flags to wave to get you in the spirit blah blah. The view was amazing from the grandstand i was in.
That's an unusual canoe above?!
As a Pistonhead (Ultima) AND a qualifed pilot I can quite confidently say that in terms of shear adrenaline and fear, a car comes nowhere near a plane. I fly humble light aircaft that pull 2-3G, which is quite daunting. These aerobatics guys fly 3 times that..which puts F1 drivers and fighter pilots in the kiddie park..Unbelievable
As a Pistonhead (Ultima) AND a qualifed pilot I can quite confidently say that in terms of shear adrenaline and fear, a car comes nowhere near a plane. I fly humble light aircaft that pull 2-3G, which is quite daunting. These aerobatics guys fly 3 times that..which puts F1 drivers and fighter pilots in the kiddie park..Unbelievable
Edited by GTR One on Tuesday 31st July 00:45
I flew over to have a look from the air from just outside the zone on the Saturday. The point they picked on the Thames to stage the race was interesting.
On the ground it represented a section of the river where access and views would be limited pretty much to those who paid to get in. Wether they could keep it there for future races would be a question, as the areas the stands were set up in looked ripe for a future river front development scheme.
Went to the race on the Sunday, and whilst I was pleased to see it at least once `in the flesh' not sure I would bother to do it again.
The fine print on our tickets said dont bring in any food or drink, so we did not. but we saw the organisers at the entry gates making people who had brought food and drink dump it into bins by the gates. Given that the site licenses for the food and drink outlets were probably very expensive they may have insisted on this rule. but the result was obscenely priced junk food, like £4 for a packet of chips.
The crowd atmosphere was good though, and the helicopter/parachutist displays at least kept the thing ticking over between races.
The annoying thing was that apparently at other venues the event is free (they may not actually be able to stop people from seeing it), but here it was £50 for a stand seat. a little bit steep when compared to other better airshows in this country.
On the ground it represented a section of the river where access and views would be limited pretty much to those who paid to get in. Wether they could keep it there for future races would be a question, as the areas the stands were set up in looked ripe for a future river front development scheme.
Went to the race on the Sunday, and whilst I was pleased to see it at least once `in the flesh' not sure I would bother to do it again.
The fine print on our tickets said dont bring in any food or drink, so we did not. but we saw the organisers at the entry gates making people who had brought food and drink dump it into bins by the gates. Given that the site licenses for the food and drink outlets were probably very expensive they may have insisted on this rule. but the result was obscenely priced junk food, like £4 for a packet of chips.
The crowd atmosphere was good though, and the helicopter/parachutist displays at least kept the thing ticking over between races.
The annoying thing was that apparently at other venues the event is free (they may not actually be able to stop people from seeing it), but here it was £50 for a stand seat. a little bit steep when compared to other better airshows in this country.
Would have to agree with the pricing of tickets gripe.... I went to the first Longleat and it was free providing you registered on the website by a certain date. Queues were a nightmare getting out but you didn't mind for a free event.
Managed to get some free tickets for the qualifying day on Saturday in London cause knew a friend who lived nearby and applied for them. Thought the event was brilliant and location-wise couldn't get much better with the dome (O2) and Canary Wharf in the background. Access was easy too with no queing. £50 way too steep for grandstand though. Very glad I managed free tickets cause I wouldn't have paid more than £10-15.
Army Air Corps Lynx display was awesome, as always.... but then probably am a little bias!
Managed to get some free tickets for the qualifying day on Saturday in London cause knew a friend who lived nearby and applied for them. Thought the event was brilliant and location-wise couldn't get much better with the dome (O2) and Canary Wharf in the background. Access was easy too with no queing. £50 way too steep for grandstand though. Very glad I managed free tickets cause I wouldn't have paid more than £10-15.
Army Air Corps Lynx display was awesome, as always.... but then probably am a little bias!
Went to the event on saturday.
Used public transport to get to the event.....all went smoothly.
>Had tickets for the grandstand on the southside of the river next to the Dome.
>The air racing was pretty spectacular (those guys are mad!)
>Not much in the way of signs/directions at the event
>The cost of the food at the event was simply outrageous. Two "Organic Cheeseburgers"(an expensive burger on a dry bun with a slice of processed cheese) and ONE tray of chips on a polystyrene tray ......cost £13.50!!! Yup Thirteen pounds and fifty pence!!! We were mugged!
Grandstands were well positioned. View was 95% unrestricted. Grandstands were UNcovered - so thank goodness it didnt rain! Leg room was generous.
Ticket prices.....£40 each for the grandstands on the saturday....should have been £25 max (perhaps then £30 max on the sunday).
General entry was I believe £20 for the saturday....should have been £15 or a bit less i think.
Great air racing spoilt by the greediness of the organisers/event management/suppliers.
Cheers!
M
Used public transport to get to the event.....all went smoothly.
>Had tickets for the grandstand on the southside of the river next to the Dome.
>The air racing was pretty spectacular (those guys are mad!)
>Not much in the way of signs/directions at the event
>The cost of the food at the event was simply outrageous. Two "Organic Cheeseburgers"(an expensive burger on a dry bun with a slice of processed cheese) and ONE tray of chips on a polystyrene tray ......cost £13.50!!! Yup Thirteen pounds and fifty pence!!! We were mugged!
Grandstands were well positioned. View was 95% unrestricted. Grandstands were UNcovered - so thank goodness it didnt rain! Leg room was generous.
Ticket prices.....£40 each for the grandstands on the saturday....should have been £25 max (perhaps then £30 max on the sunday).
General entry was I believe £20 for the saturday....should have been £15 or a bit less i think.
Great air racing spoilt by the greediness of the organisers/event management/suppliers.
Cheers!
M
We went on the Sunday, by car. After last year's Longleat experience we left early and couldn't beleive how few people there was. We knew where we were going but for those that didnt the road signs were poor. We took food/drink and they let us in with it - guess we were lucky. It was a good day out but not worth £50 a head especially as it is free in other countries. I wonder who was responsible for the price? I suspect it wasn't RB, more likely Ken & Co
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