Overview Of Air racing

Game Rules

Red Bull Air Race World Championship Rules:

The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is an international series of races with the participation of at least eight pilots at each race. The objective is to navigate an aerial racetrack featuring air-filled pylons in the fastest possible time incurring as few penalties as possible.

Pilots can win World Championship points at each race and the pilot with the most points after the last race of the season becomes the Red Bull Air Race World Champion.

PILOTS:

For 2015, 14 pilots will take part in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Master Class pilots will have obtained their Unrestricted Superlicence, as issued by the Red Bull Air Race Committee.

New pilots who wish to participate in the World Championship must first fulfil the minimum criteria set by the Red Bull Air Race Committee, which include top achievements in international flying competitions organised by the FAI. They must also be active aerobatic air display pilots. Eligible pilots that prove their skills at the Red Bull Air Race Qualification Camp can achieve the Red Bull Air Race Restricted Superlicence. Once they have the Restricted Superlicence, they then qualify to take part in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in the Challenger Cup.

RACE FORMAT:

The Red Bull Air Race consists of the following flying sessions: Training, Qualifying, Round of 14, Round of 8, Final 4. In all sessions, only one pilot races in the track at a time.

TRAINING: Takes place on the days preceding Qualifying Day.

QUALIFYING: Takes place on Qualifying Day, the day before Race Day. It includes two mandatory qualifying sessions. Best time counts. Results of the qualifying session determine the order of racing on Race Day.

ROUND OF 14: Takes place on Race Day. This flying session is completed in head-to-head heats; the seven winners plus the fastest loser move forward to the Round of 8. The head-to-head pairings are based on the qualifying session results.

ROUND OF 8: Seven winners from the Round of 14, plus the fastest loser, race in head-to-head heats again. The four winning pilots advance to the Final 4. For the losing pilots, their time in the Round of 8 will determine 5th to 8th place race positions.

FINAL 4: Four fastest from the Round of 8 compete in the Final 4 for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place race positions. The slowest winning pilot from the Round of 8 will fly first in the Final Four. They race individually and victory is based on the quickest time recorded for the session.

RACE WINNER:

The winner is the pilot who is ranked number one in the final flying session.

RED BULL AIR RACE WORLD CHAMPION

The Red Bull Air Race World Champion is the pilot who achieves the highest aggregate score in the given Red Bull Air Race World Championship season. The winner is crowned Red Bull Air Race World Champion at the last stop in the World Championship.

THE CHALLENGER CUP:

The Challenger Cup is a second competition category in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. The Challenger Cup pilots compete in simplified or adapted tracks in an Extra E-330LX as provided by the Red Bull Air Race. Unless otherwise specified, racing rules that apply to the Red Bull Air Race World Championship Master Class also apply to the Challenger Cup category.

RACE FORMAT

The Challenger Cup pilots will have two training sessions two days before Race Day (one of which is compulsory), and one training session on Qualifying Day. The Challenger Cup races will take place on Qualifying Day, after the training session. Pilots complete two laps, with only the best time counting for the final ranking.

The Challenger Cup pilots must compete in at least three races throughout the season, but are able to participate in more races if preferred. In the case of pilots taking part in more than three races, only the best three scores will count for the final Challenger Cup ranking.

PILOTS

The Challenger Cup gives Challenger Class pilots the opportunity to work towards acquiring the Unrestricted Superlicence that is needed to be able to fly in the Master Class of the Red Bull Air Race. Challenger Cup pilots have to obtain a Restricted Superlicence in a Qualification Camp before taking part in the Challenger Cup.

CHALLENGER CUP PILOTS

The Challenger Cup pilot who achieves the highest aggregate score in the given Red Bull Air Race World Championship season is awarded the Challenger Cup World Champion title at the last stop in the World Championship.

PLANE SAFETY INFORMATION:

SEAT BELTS

All race planes are fitted with a 7-point system, consisting of a 5-point seat belt system and a ratchet system. Both the seat belt and ratchets operate on a quick release system for unstrapping in the case of emergency bailout.

SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT

All pilots wear special helmets (most of them with a visor), G-Race suits, flying gloves and parachutes. The canopy can be jettisoned for a bailout if needed. Over water, pilots will also wear a water survival vest, which can be activated to inflated if needed after a bailout over water.

All aircraft are equipped with spare air and an oxygen mask. The pilot can use the bottle in case of a ditching situation in the water.

TRAINING

All pilots have undergone water survival training, which includes underwater rollover training.

SAFETY ON STANDBY

A helicopter, speed boats with rescue divers, and a flight surgeon are all on standby during every flying session of a Red Bull Air Race.

PYLON SAFETY

For the 2014 season, the pylons retain their iconic cone shape, but with marked safety improvements. They now stand 25m high, 5m taller than those used in the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship.

The one-sided, asymmetrical pylon cones have a straight inner edge with an inclined outer edge, creating a perfect rectangular flight window between the Air Gates. The change in pylon height has elevated the flight window by 2m overall from the ground – improving the overall flying safety of the racetrack.

Equipments Need For Air racing

• Axion Watches
  
• Smoke oil
  
• VFR flight-planning and navigation software
  
• Pilot Sunglasses
  
• Cameras
  
• Gentex flight helmet
  
• Airplanes-spin, tumble, slide, roll, loop

History Of Air racing

Timeline:

1909:The invention of air racing came in August, 1909, at Reims. France, just a few tens of miles to the northeast of Paris.  It was the Great Week of the Champagne, where vineyards for that classic beverage stretch to the horizons.  Until then, few people had seen an airplane on the ground, let alone in the air, and so hundreds of thousands descended on what had been a large vacant field for as long as anyone could remember.

1910: The next year saw air racing come to the USA for 10 days—January 10 to 20, at Dominguez Field, outside Los Angeles.   Despite efforts by the Wright Brothers to interfere via legal actions claiming patent infringements, the event went off well, attracting hundreds of thousands to the first public airplane flights west of the Rocky Mountains.  Pre-race ads trumpeted a total purse of $80,000.

1911:In the years before the First World War popular interest in aviation led to a large number of air races in Europe, including the 1911 Circuit of Europe race, the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Air Race and the Aerial Derby.

1912-1913: Jacques Schneider, a French financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1912, the competition offered a prize of approximately £1,000. The race was held twelve times between 1913 and 1931.

1919:On October 19, 1919, the Army Transcontinental Air Race began along a 2700 mile route from Long Island, New York to San Francisco, California and back which would see widespread carnage including 7 fatalities (2 en route to the race). Of the 48 aircraft that started, 33 would complete the double crossing of the continent.

1921:In 1921, the United States instituted the National Air Meets, which became the National Air Races in 1924. In 1929, the Women's Air Derby became a part of the National Air Races circuit. The National Air Races lasted until 1949. The Cleveland Air Races was another important event. In 1947, an All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" was established, running until 1977.

1934:In 1934, the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia took place with the winning de Havilland Comet flown by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black.

1964:In 1964, Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, pilot, and unlimited hydroplane racing champion, organized the first Reno Air Races at a small dirt strip called the Sky Ranch, located between Sparks, Nevada, and Pyramid Lake. 

1966:The National Championship Air Races were soon moved to the Reno Stead Airport and have been held there every September since 1966.

1970:In 1970, American Formula One racing was exported to Europe (Great Britain, and then to France), where almost as many races have been held as in the U.S.A. Also in 1970, the California 1000 Air Race started at the Mojave Airport with a 66 lap unlimited air race that featured a Douglas DC-7 with one aircraft completing the circuit.

Women’s air racing:

Women’s air racing all started in 1929 with the First Women’s Air Derby. Twenty pilots raced from Santa Monica, CA to Cleveland, OH, site of the National Air Races. Racing continued through the ‘30’s and was renewed again after WWII when the All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR), better known as the Powder Puff Derby, came into being. The AWTAR held its 30th, final and commemorative flight in 1977. When the AWTAR was discontinued, the Air Race Classic, Ltd., (ARC) stepped in to continue the tradition of transcontinental speed competition for women pilots and staged its premier race. The Air Race Classic was reincorporated in 2002 into the Air Race Classic, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

Historical Championships Timeline:

• 1909-Gordon Bennett Trophy
  
• 1910-Daily Mail aviation prizes
  
• 1912-Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe
  
• 1913-Schneider Trophy
  
• 1920-Pulitzer & National Air Races
  
• 1922-King's Cup Race
  
• 1927-Dole Derby
  
• 1929-Challenge International de Tourisme
  
• 1929-Thompson Trophy
  
• 1929-Women's Air Derby
  
• 1931-Bendix Trophy
  
• 1934-MacRobertson Air Race
  
• 1977-Formula V Air Racing
  

Origin Of Air racing

Air racing has been part of the scene almost as long as airplanes have been flying.  It has survived despite frequent and serious shortcomings and limitations because of its simple, obvious appeal.  It is the simplest form of aerial competition (the pilot of the airplane in front is winning!), and is the fastest form of motor racing, in which the best racers whip around at double the speed of the fastest race cars. 

First heavier-than-air:

The first heavier-than-air air race was held on May 23, 1909 - the Prix de Lagatinerie, at the Port-Aviation airport south of Paris, France. Four pilots entered the race, two started and nobody completed the full race distance though this was not unexpected as the rules specified that whoever travelled furthest would be the winner if no-one completed the race. Léon Delagrange who covered slightly more than half of the ten 1.2-kilometre laps was declared the winner.

First International Flying Event:

Some other minor events were held before the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne in August 22–29, 1909 at Reims, France. This was the first major international flying event, drawing the most important aircraft makers and pilots of the era, as well as celebrities and royalty.

First Gordon Bennett Trophy:

The premier event — the first Gordon Bennett Trophy competition — was won by Glenn Curtiss, who beat second place finisher Louis Blériot by five seconds. Curtiss was named "Champion Air Racer of the World".

First Air race in the United States:

The first air race in the United States was in Los Angeles California in 1910. Pilots Roy Knabenshue and Charles Willard, the very first men Curtiss taught to fly, picked Southern California for their winter aerial demonstrations base and persuaded railroad magnate Henry Huntington to pledge $50,000 for the event.

Governing Bodies

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI:

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI – The World Air Sports Federation, is the world governing body for air sports, aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland.This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (such as model aircraft and UAVs). It was founded on 14 October 1905.

History of FAI:

The FAI was founded at a conference held in Paris 12–14 October 1905, which was organised following a resolution passed by the Olympic Congress held in Brussels on 10 June 1905 calling for the creation of an Association "to regulate the sport of flying, ... the various aviation meetings and advance the science and sport of Aeronautics."The conference was attended by representatives from 8 countries: Belgium (Aero Club Royal de Belgique, founded 1901), France (Aéro-Club de France, 1898), Germany (Deutscher Aero Club e.V.), Great Britain (Royal Aero Club, 1901), Italy (Aero Club d'Italia, 1904), Spain (Real Aero Club de España, 1905), Switzerland (Aero-Club der Schweiz, 1900) and the United States (Aero Club of America, 1905).

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