Cleared Into the Box, Smoke On

These pilots, quite possibly, have Red Bull running through their veins instead of blood. 

San Diego was the proud host this weekend of the Red Bull Air Race -- an aeronautical, death-defying, world-wide slalom race against the clock between 13 of the world's best race pilots.  Fellow Airheads click through the above link for more of these absolutely jaw-dropping pro shots taken by the sharp eyes of the Red Bull team.

We had the great fortune of getting the tallest seats in the house (complete with as much free Red Bull as we could -- and did -- drink) from the flight deck of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan courtesy of my spouse who spends most of his waking hours topside, below deck and hanging over the edge when duty calls.  If the family looks a little apprehensive in this shot it's only because we're standing on the elevator used to transport aircraft up to the flight deck -- it ended up transporting us a few moments later which was quite the ride.

This short video below is highly recommended for a quick aeronautical thrill of Kirby Chambliss performing a carrier take-off from the U.S.S. Midway during a much earlier San Diego practice run.

For you die-hard Airheads who want a true crash-course (oops pun not intended) on race dynamics complete with an additional segment on understanding the slalom using (what else?) Red Bull cans -- this longer video's for you.  AVWeb's video Behind The Scenes, The Red Bull Air Races San Diego 2007 has amazing up-close video footage and a little taste of what it's like being in the hot seat.

Comments

[Noriko]

I happened to see this air race on sports news and it was truely amazing!!
It must be really great to see it live!

[barbara estill]

Rey, reading your posts about your
Dad brought tears to my eyes. Your
Dad was bigger then life itself just as my father was. Well we can
count ourselves lucky for the years we had with our fathers and
carry thier spirits with us. Love
Barbara