AircraftOwner Online

Mike Goulian invited my son and me to come up to the Red Bull Air Races in New York June 19^th and 20^th. Mike and I have been friends since I was the team doctor and he was a member of the US Aerobactic Team at the World Competition in Hungary in 1994. Goulian is seventh in the Red Bull standings so far this year. Since these opportunities do not come around every day, we flew to NYC for the event.

Red Bull does not do routine advertising but instead, concentrates on extreme sports. What they have done with their air races is to turn aerobatic competition into a spectator sport appreciated by the pilot and non pilot alike. They have done this by combining speed through a course which requires aerobatic maneuvers to compete.

Watching amateur aerobatic competition gets boring after the first couple of flights. Red Bull has an entirely different feel and experience. Of course, the technology involved is spectacular with real time cameras in all the cockpits, on the tails, and from ground and helicopter cameras over the entire course. Red Bull also has jumbo TV screens all over so the spectators can watch the race with the naked eye or from the various camera locations on the screens with “entertaining” play by play. Of course the replays of the flights are ubiquitous.

Competition is based on time through a course delineated by inflatable pylons. These pylons are usually set up on lakes and rivers but some course have been set on hard ground. Blue pylons have to be passed wings level between the solid color marks and the red pylons are passed wings vertical. The aircraft will pull as many as nine positive Gs during the race and times can be separated by hundredths of seconds. There are time penalties for going too high, too low, wings not level or knife edge when passing a pylon, and of course, the ultimate six second penalty for hitting a pylon. There is even a one second penalty for “insufficient smoke” which shows how important the spectator portion of the competition is.

The rules are strict and aircraft engines and weight are set to be exact as possible. In fact, there are close to 200 pages of rules and regulations that define locations, personnel, weather, and just about every other criterion imaginable to make sure the races are fair and in particular, safe. Rescue divers are fully geared up during the race and were on the pilot in less than 60 seconds during a dunking in Perth, Australia.

My photos on Aircraft Owner show various aspects of the race in New York (actually on the Hudson River, just off New Jersey’s Liberty Park next to Ellis Island) ranging from aircraft passing the pylons to the short skirted Red Bull hosts. In addition to the race, there is a fair amount of party atmosphere at night which adds to the event.

Red Bull’s commitment to the race is enormous. They transport 360 tons of equipment to each race which include two control towers (one for the departure airport and one at the race site), hangars for all the aircraft (plus the aircraft), bleachers, VIP tents, the pylons, and much more. Everyone I spoke with associated with the race from the pilots to contract Getty photographers said that Red Bull treats them in a first class manner whether it was hotel selection or routine amenities. Reliable sources said that every race costs between $6 and $8 million to produce although the exact amounts are not public.

Needless to say, there was lots of Red Bull at the race. In fact, the choice was Red Bull, Red Bull Cola, or water. In the New York heat and humidity, I was hoping for a Red Bull beer!