Air Racing

[krrave]

Hey everybody,

I came across the thought of how cool it would be to fly air races. Now as I'm closing in on 100 hours, I've been thinking of every possible opportunity to have me fly more. As someone in my position, can anyone tell me what it's like to get into the air race circuit, what kind of conditions need to be met (hours/airplanes), or even say how fortunate one needs to be to afford this unique brand of flying. By all means it won't be something I do in the near future, but optimistic opinions and guidance is appreciated!

Thanks
K.

[plhought]

Step 1 - Get copius amounts of $$$$$$££££££££££££€€€€€€€€€€€

Step 2 - ?

Step 3 - Air Race




Honestly, no idea.

[foxtrotlimayankee]

They use to say you needed a minimum of 1000 hours aerobatic time. Realistically you would need to be someone who owns a high performance aerobatic plane, win a bunch of aerobatic competitions or have some sort of popular air show routine for a few seasons. Even getting the certification to fly low level in airshows is next to impossible these days. Even if you got through all of those odds, getting the RBAR to scout you for an opportunity to show them what you have in a track in Europe for a possible challenger class spot is like winning the lottery. You have to impress them with safe and precise flying, then if you got a challenger class spot you still need to be in the top ranks of that circuit and wait for a spot to open up in the master class. Assuming you are Canadian is another hurdle. The air race likes to have a mix of nationalities to attract fans from their home country and with Pete McLeod already being in the race and RBAR not having races in Canada anymore due to relatively low demand compared to other markets it's even more unlikely to be selected. I don't want to sound negative in any way and make it sound impossible but that's the just the way it works for the competitive circuit. Think of it like hockey, every Canadian kid who grows up playing hockey wants to be in the NHL but what percentage actually end up making it.

[krrave]

Haha thanks FLY (clever name) - that was very informative and makes sense. I appreciate your comment. Cheers

[Tailwind W10]

Krrave, I'm no expert by any means.
FLY's comment appears to assume there's only one form of air racing, that being Red Bull. This is not true by any stretch. While I certainly appreciate the skill of the pilots and the spectacle of Red Bull, calling it "Racing" could be considered a bit of a stretch. It's best described as time trials. Red Bull participation is by invitation only, and not all invitees make the grade.

The 'real' air racing is done at Reno NV every September with training and qualification camp every July. This is closed-course air racing, 8 planes at a time in heat racing format, usually 6 to 8 lap heats. There's 6 classes, Formula 1, Sport Biplane, Sport (Lancairs, Glassairs etc), T-6 (Harvards), Jet (mostly L39s) and Unlimited (Warbirds).The bronze heats of the F1 and Sport Biplane are relatively inexpensive to get into. I've heard of one fellow with around 200 hours once flying in the F-1 class. This year a fellow from Edmonton built and raced his Cassutt in F1 and managed a second place finish in the bronze final. He's just a young guy, I don't know how many hours he's flown, but it can't be too extensive. It's truly a matter of skill level rather than hours. If you fly well in July, you'll do fine in September. By the way, yes it takes a good deal more money and skill to be competitive with the top F1 and Biplane guys, but you can work up to that.
http://airrace.org/

The other style of racing is the Sport Air Racing League. This is cross country racing done by all sorts of folks in whatever airplane they've got. Anything from warbirds to Ercoupes, they've got a class to race in. There's a whole circuit around the US, and maybe the odd one north of the border as well.
http://sportairrace.org/sarl/

Hope this helps
Gerry

[PilotDAR]

Now as I'm closing in on 100 hours, I've been thinking of every possible opportunity to have me fly more.

Race or other specialized flying is probably a way to fly less, rather than more, unless money is no object, and your piloting skills are super high. I'd just fly GA for a thousand hours or so, and work from there....

[krrave]

Race or other specialized flying is probably a way to fly less, rather than more, unless money is no object, and your piloting skills are super high. I'd just fly GA for a thousand hours or so, and work from there....

Most definitely, I hope to get my career started at a 703 in any community. Probably take a legendary road trip to different bases and meet as many people possible. Actually, you say fly GA... so would buying a plane be better than my original thought, and why?

Thank you Gerry, your insight solidifies my best chance of becoming a part of racing is with my own aircraft. Something to strive for in decades to come!

[goingnowherefast]

Look into these guys. http://sportairrace.org/sarl/

They race everything from 152s to Mustangs, different classes obviously. It's US based, but there are a couple Canadians who venture to races that are close enough to home.

[DanWEC]

Hey, I know a fantastic dude that holds a legitimate Guinness world record for the fastest non stop flight from Billy Bishop to Dorval. In a C152!!! Now THAT should get your adrenaline pumping.

Anything can be raced. The point is just to be faster than the other guy.... but I'm a little competitive....

[Hockaloogie]

Hey guys, I just got my driver's licence three months ago when I turned 16. I can't afford my own car yet, and my dad doesn't toss me the keys too often. I was thinking about ways to get some more time in behind the wheel, and I thought getting into Formula One racing would be a good way to do it. Can anyone give me some advice?

[photofly]

That's easy. Start with go-kart racing, then formula Ford, Formula 3, then F1. The path is well trodden, but you'll need to demonstrate marketability and pick up sponsorship at each level, as well as have the skill and determination to win. 16 is a little old to start - Jenson Button started karting at 8 years old and lewis Hamilton at 6 - so you've some catching up to do.

[co-joe]

Hey everybody,

I came across the thought of how cool it would be to fly air races. Now as I'm closing in on 100 hours, I've been thinking of every possible opportunity to have me fly more. As someone in my position, can anyone tell me what it's like to get into the air race circuit, what kind of conditions need to be met (hours/airplanes), or even say how fortunate one needs to be to afford this unique brand of flying. By all means it won't be something I do in the near future, but optimistic opinions and guidance is appreciated!

Thanks
K.

Unfortunately, the best person to ask about aerobatic flying in the "community" has been banned. Just sayin.

[trey kule]

Unfortunately, the best person to ask about aerobatic flying in the "community" has been banned. Just sayin

your kidding right?

There are lots of people in this community that are excellent aerobatic resources. Threy just do not spend as much time on self promotion.
People who are respected by the aerobatic community.
People who have actually flown in the military and could post their rank for real.

As to the kid asking about it. I see nothing wrong with that.
They may never make it, but they dared to dream. Beats the kids I meet from the flight colleges who do not even particularily like to fly and focus only on streaming their career.

[cgzro]

I think if I were interested in racing I'd be looking to rebuild/acquire a Cassut or a Pitts that I could rebuild/maintain myself and learn to fly and maintain well, then I'd trailer it down to Nevada. This could be done for under 100k and probably at the 400hr PIC mark with a couple hundred hours in type so its not for the non-serious person but its also not out of the question if you really want to do it and are willing to sacrifice other areas of your life.

[krrave]

I think if I were interested in racing I'd be looking to rebuild/acquire a Cassut or a Pitts that I could rebuild/maintain myself and learn to fly and maintain well, then I'd trailer it down to Nevada. This could be done for under 100k and probably at the 400hr PIC mark with a couple hundred hours in type so its not for the non-serious person but its also not out of the question if you really want to do it and are willing to sacrifice other areas of your life.

Most informative answer with real life solutions. thanks man. +1

[Skyhunter]

Hey guys, I just got my driver's licence three months ago when I turned 16. I can't afford my own car yet, and my dad doesn't toss me the keys too often. I was thinking about ways to get some more time in behind the wheel, and I thought getting into Formula One racing would be a good way to do it. Can anyone give me some advice?

Dude, I was 4 when I asked someone how to be a fighter pilot...... whats your issue? Krave, ask away, and dream big.

PS... it worked out pretty good for me.

[CpnCrunch]

You probably want to buy something like this:

http://www.barnstormers.com/classified_ ... er%22.html