Red Bull Air Races

A couple of CWAM associates had the pleasure of attending and reporting back on the Red Bull Air Race event held in our area this weekend. Pictures are from Saturday, when training and Challanger class events were held. Between the Challanger and Master Class events, it appeared teams were competing from about 17 different countries from around the world.

During the Cold War, air shows and "civilian" air race competitions were an opportunity for national interests to be displayed in a highly competitive atmosphere, sans weapons.  In contrast to that era, all of these teams appear supported by commercial, not national, interests. But it is still fun for the spectators to root for their home teams.

The Texas Motor Speedway is a unique venue for this event. The Speedway normally hosts NASCAR automotive races and was built "Texas sized" to reflect the public interest and following of those events. The speedway is capable of seating and supporting more than 128,000 visitors. And a hotel provides spectacular views of race events. The extensive parking area is filled with buses, motor homes and campers on multi-day events.

The entire course is visible from the speedway stands. Take offs and landings were also from within the stadium, puting all of the action in direct view of the spectators.

Smoke on! Flying directly towards the main viewing area,entry is made between the checkered pylons. The "pits" directly in front of the spectators, where race cars are normally housed serve as open hangers for the event.

Prior to competition, viewers got a good look at each plane, as it was pushed by hand across the front of the stands to a marshaling area.

Where it could be checked and started.

Then depart and stage for its scheduled run.

Between heats, returning aircraft land in front of the spectators.

After parking their aircraft, pilots exhausted by the Texas heat and G forces may go to press or conference rooms for interviews, or back to the pits for debriefing.

During the event, spectators could watch the planes flying in front of them or watch the action on a giant screen across the field. The screen switched between cameras inside the aircraft, views from cameras mounted on the aircraft and views from cameras in the stadium and a helicopter above. The display also showed times, speeds and rankings of the aircraft/pilots. The bright flash of Texas sun shown on the big screen behind the pilots head is a reminder of another obstacle the pilots faced during the race.

Entry through the checkered pylon gates was followed by an immediate turn to the left towards the first red pylon. Aircraft had to make entry under 200 knots, most entered on a slight decent to add speed after entry.

Clipping a pylon adds a time penalty. The top of the checkered entry pylon can just be seen behind this aircraft's tail as the pylon begins to collapse. Crews on the ground could repair and re-inflate a pylon in a matter of minutes.

Part of the purpose of the training rounds was for pilots to learn the course, many flew the course faster or with smoother manuevering on their second pass.

The course is short and fast. After passing the first red pylon the aircraft passes in front of the stands. The jumbo display in this shot is showing a slightly out of sync view from a camera mounted on the aircraft's tail. The speed of action is intense and you can watch the moving plane or the stationary screen, but not both at the same time. The slight lag in attitude shown on screen, compared to the aircraft in flight, was only noticeable looking at this shot after the fact.

Continuing down course, the aircraft goes vertical to reverse direction. In this shot, the right pylon of this pair was hit on the first Lap and is laying on the ground. Between heats, a crew repaired and re-inflated it in about two minutes. The spectators lining the hotel top floor balcony must have a great view.

Over the top,

and down again.

Fly through another set of pylons,

out between a pair at the North end, do an immediate 10G turn of about 240 degrees, 

and come back in again to complete Lap 1, repeat for Lap 2.

At the end of Lap 2 pull-up and reverse to exit, while they put your picture on the big screen and the crowd cheers. Be sure to smile for the camera. Got it?

A great event, we hope they come back again and we hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Cold War, Timeout

The cold war was not always fought with weapons. In fact, the whole point of the "cold" war was to avoid the use of weapons, specifically, weapons of mass destruction. The message of the opposing super powers was often carried by economic or cultural means, including movies and music.

At this year's George Washington University Commencement (set on the Washington Mall with the capitol building as a backdrop), Dave Brubeck received an Honorary PhD and told a story from his cold war days.

Dr. Brubeck told of being asked to take his Jazz group to eastern Europe in 1958 by then American President, Dwight Eisenhower. While in Poland, he was approached and told "We have something in common". When he asked what, the Pole replied "Our people both love freedom".

Upon awarding him the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy in 2008 (the first individual recipient of this award), the State Department wrote; "as a pianist, composer, cultural emissary and educator, Dave Brubeck's life's work exemplifies the best of America's cultural diplomacy."


Dr. Brubeck first "toured" Europe with General George S. Patton's Third Army, creating and leading the unit's first racially integrated jazz band. Years later, following their return from the 1958 European tour, the Brubeck Quartet released their "Time Out" album, which is still popular today.

Congratulations to our Cold War Air Museum Associate who recently received his Master's degree from the University's Elliott School of International Affairs. The struggle for world peace is no less difficult or any less important today than it was during the "cold war", so we extend our thoughts and prayers to all those throughout the world who are working to make the world a safer and better place, whether through diplomacy, trade, culture, or conflict resolution using live fire.

With thanks and credit to YouTube sources linked.

Generations

Jay is an associate of the Cold War Air Museum and one of two father-son pilot teams in the extended group.

He favors the CJ when he is in town (which lately isn't often). Currently in St. Petersburg, Russia, Jay is an ardent student of history, languages and economics. On his return to Washington, D.C. where he works and studies, he will be receiving a Masters Degree from George Washington University. His undergrad degree was from Michigan (Go Blue!).

With his love for history, Jay gathers contacts and pictures during his travels. This picture from Vietnam shows a montage of aircraft from that conflict on outdoor display. As time moves on and younger generations take over from the older generations, museums such as ours or even unattended outdoor displays like this one are a meeting point for the past and the future.