Air racing

T-6 Gold Start passing the finish pylon at the 2014 Reno Air Races

Air racing is a highly specialised type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previously estimated time.

History

The first 'heavier-than-air' air race was held on 23 May 1909 - the Prix de Lagatinerie, at the Port-Aviation airport south of Paris, France. Four pilots entered the race, two started, but 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 (0.75 mi; 0.65 nmi) laps was declared the winner.^[1]

Some other minor events were held before the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne in 22-29 August 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. 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'.

The first air race in the United States was held at Dominguez Field, just south of Los Angeles, from 10 to 20 January 1910, organised by pilots A. Roy Knabenshue and Charles Willard. Funding was raised from railroad magnate Henry Huntington, and the Los Angeles Merchants and Manufacturers Association. William Randolph Hearst carried coverage of the event in his Los Angeles Examiner, and hired a hot air balloon with a promotional parse touting his newspaper. The event attracted 43 entrants, of which 16 appeared. It was there that aviation pioneer and military pilot Jimmy Doolittle, then thirteen, saw his first airplane.^[2]

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.

In 1913, the first Schneider Trophy seaplane race was held. When the competition was resumed after the war, it was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of World War II.

On 19 October 1919, the Army Transcontinental Air Race began along a 2,700 mi (2,346 nmi; 4,345 km) route from Long Island, New York to San Francisco, California, and back, which would see widespread carnage; including seven fatalities (two en route to the race). Of the 48 aircraft that started, 33 would complete the double crossing of the continent.^[3]

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, nicknamed the 'Powder Puff 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, also dubbed the Powder Puff Derby was established, running until 1977.

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.

Start formation Sport Class 2014 Reno Air Races

In 1964, Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, pilot, and unlimited hydroplane racing champion, organised the first Reno Air Races at a small dirt strip called the Sky Ranch, located between Sparks, Nevada, and Pyramid Lake. The National Championship Air Races were soon moved to the Reno Stead Airport, and have been held there every September since 1966. The five-day event attracts around 200,000 people, and includes racing around courses marked out by pylons for six classes of aircraft: Unlimited, Formula One, Sport Biplane, AT-6, Sport, and Jet. It also features civil airshow acts, military flight demonstrations, and a large static aircraft display. Other promoters have run pylon racing events across the USA and Canada, including races in Las Vegas, NV in 1965, Lancaster, CA in 1965 and 1966, Mojave, California in 1970-71, and 1973–79; at Cape May, NJ in 1971, San Diego, CA in 1971, Miami, FL in 1973 and 1979, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1984; Hamilton Field, California, in 1988; at Dallas, TX in 1990, in Denver, CO in 1990 and 1992, in Kansas City in 1993, in Phoenix, Arizona in 1994 and 1995; and in Tunica, Mississippi in 2005. Numerous other venues across the United States, Canada, and Mexico have also hosted events featuring the smaller Formula One and Biplane classes.

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.^[4][5]

Air racing in England: the Red Bull Air Race heat held at Kemble airfield, Gloucestershire. The aircraft fly singly, and have to pass between pairs of pylons.

Red Bull has created a series called the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, in which competitors fly individually between pairs of pylons, while performing prescribed manoeuvres. Usually held over water near large cities, the sport has attracted large crowds and renewed media interest in air racing.

Aero GP has multiple aircraft racing together pik around pylons, and is based in Europe where it has held an air race each year since 2005.

Powered paragliding or paramotor races have been organised by the Parabatix Sky Racers made up of the world's top paramotor pilots. The first occurring on 4 September 2010 in an airfield in Montauban, Southern France. These are foot-launched ram-air wings powered by small two-stroke engines, and allow for much smaller race venues such as city parks or beaches, where the audience can see the pilots up close as they carry out spectacular manoeuvres swooping close to the ground-pylons during the race.^[6]

Historical championships

Active air races

Classes

Restricting aircraft to a specific type or design creates a competition that focuses on pilot skill. Air racing events such as the Reno air races, incorporate multiple classes or aircraft. These may be defined by the race organiser, or by a sanctioned group. Some air races are limited to a single class.^[7] Classes used at the Reno races are as follows:

Notable racing pilots

Racing airplanes

P-51D Mustang Dago Red

Cultural depictions

• Set in the 1930s, the movie Porco Rosso briefly touches on the early days of air racing.
• The Rocketeer comic books feature air racing prominently as the story is set during the 1930s.
• The 1965 film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines depicts a £10,000 prize air race between London and Paris. The film takes place in 1910 and utilises many authentic reproductions of aeroplanes from that era.
• The 2013 Disney movie Planes follows the story of a cropduster who dreams of becoming an air racing champion in the global 'Wings around the Globe' race.
• William Faulkner's 1935 novel Pylon, about a group of post WWI flyers turned barnstormers and air racers, and their unconventional lives set against the backdrop of a fictionalised New Orleans. The novel was adapted by screenwriter George Zuckerman for the 1957 Douglas Sirk film The Tarnished Angels starring Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, and Jack Carson.

See also

• Model aircraft#Competitions
• Drone racing

Notes

References

• Air Race 1 World Cup
• Ninety Nines
• Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association
• 100 years of air racing
• Red Bull Air Race
• Parabatix Sky Racers
• Aero GP
• Reno Air Races
• Sport Air Racing League