Red Bull Air Race

[Hugo]

Do you guys know about this? http://www.redbullairrace.com

It's going to happen next weekend on my town, and I can hear the planes practicing as I type this. Yesterday they were training just off the beach (a 2 minute bike ride) and I saw them flip around and land. When they point away from you, you can hear the exhaust note go bbbrrrrooooaaaaap, gives you the goose bumps it does. And then they go just over your head, landing on the parking lot just across the street, between the lamp poles! :shock:

About 600.000 people are expect to watch on both sides of the river. Because of the sun, the pilots will not fly under the bridge , something that they usually do.

Hugo

 

[RatFink]

Unreal...

I saw a special on T.V. when they raced in London...could not believe it's allowed :shock:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/i-marco/se ... 061519382/

Hope there is never an 'incident' that ends this racing...it must be AWESOME to see in person, you are very lucky!

 

[tomb]

those guys are bad-(you-know-whats)!!!
i would love to see it in person...

 

[ricksterr1221]

I would love 2 fly 1. and see it in person.

 

[Hugo]

(sorry for the extra-large pics, couldn't paste them any other way)

Ohboyohboyohboy it was great. It was "the largest single-day sporting event" in Portugal, with 600.000 people watching. At 9am I went to the track to check out the planes, you could almost touch them:

My favourite was the yellow one with the red flames but the engine had overheated the day before and it wasn't going to fly :-(. At 1300 there was a skydiver drop and then the planes started zooming around at a blistering pace. At the end of the race, they got even faster.

There was also a Navy helicopter dropping marines and doing some tight turns, a display by the Breitling aerobatic squad with Albatros jets, and a couple of YAC58s. The race will be repeated here in 08 and 09 but I'll just watch the training day, and see the race on TV. The TV coverage was awesome with inboard cameras and pilot-to-pilot overlaping comparisons, live pilot interviews, etc. And I won't get sunburned or have to stand for 6 hours!

Hugo

 

[Hugo]

Remember I said they went right over your head when landing?
Now will you believe me?

Hugo

 

[fattroy]

VERY COOL! Looks like a blast!

 

[tomb]

Hugo, whats the "circle thing" in th ebackgorund of that last shot you posted?

 

[Hugo]

That's a recent monument in honour of the fishermen. It's a huge net hanging in the air.

It was designed by Janet Echelman, the same lady that is designing a 9-11 memorial. See http://www.echelman.com/site/portugal_project.html for more details.

Hugo