PIREP: 2008 Red Bull Air Races Detroit

For those who want to jump straight to the pictures:

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/2008_-_...in_detroit.htm

We intended to fly to YIP (Ypsilanti, MI) last Friday, to meet this group's
own Jim & Tami Burns (& Family) for a fun weekend at the races.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature brought a line of Level 5s to bear on our route
of flight, and we reluctantly made the decision to drive to Detroit -- a
1,000 mile round-trip.

The no-go decision was the right one, though -- I ended up driving in
torrential rains like few I've seen before, and flying would've been
suicidal. Luckily, Jim (coming from WI) was able to fly his Aztec over the
big lake, and pulled a neat northerly end-around the line of storms.

We stayed at the GM Renaissance Center's Marriott. Normally I avoid big-box
chain hotels like the plague, but this facility was "show center" for the
entire weekend, so I gritted my teeth and paid over $200/night for a room
less than half the size of one of our 2-bedroom suites. As expected, it was
a huge rip-off, with no continental breakfast, a one-cup (!) coffee maker,
and NO wireless internet.

But it *was* centrally located. We were able to simply walk out the front
door and watch the races, which was marvelous. Had we opted to stay at a
better (cheaper) hotel, any savings would have been offset by additional
parking and gas expenses.

In the evening we found the hotel bar to be chock-full of "Red Bull
Beautiful People" -- mostly young, blonde floozies apparently recruited for
the event. They mostly hung all over the pilots and Red Bull big-wheels,
but Jim and I enjoyed our time in the bar, and were even treated to a round
of drinks purchased by one of the floozies who flashed us from the bar!
(Our wives complained, but didn't send the drinks back... :-)

Saturday dawned promising, but the winds following the storms were
impressive, gusting to 59 mph. Unfortunately, the announcers (Red Bull sets
up speakers and giant-screen TVs everywhere in the viewing area) kept up a
steady, optimistic banter that pretty well promised that racing *would*
occur...eventually. So, we sat, and sat, and waited. Every now and then a
couple of T-6s would fly by, and the B-25 was fun, and the Heritage Flight
with an F/A-18 and Corsair was cool -- but, for the most part, there was not
much to do but watch the boats go past...

When one of the pylons broke loose from it's moorings and started rolling
down-river, we knew the writing was on the wall. It was a lot of fun,
watching them try to corral the damned thing with boats, but at 3 PM they
called it due to wind.

So, we did what every red-blooded American would do -- we sent the kids back
to the room with pizza and pop, and went bar hopping! Detroit comes
equipped with a wonderful "People Mover" system that aids and abets this
sort of behavior, and -- for just 50 cents -- you can ride all over downtown
Detroit in style.

Now, I know what you're thinking. I was expecting Detroit to be an open
sewer, with gang-bangers and trash everywhere, but we were pleasantly
surprised to find a clean, modern, nice riverfront area, and some fun bars
to visit. We never felt the least bit threatened, and, in fact, we walked
back to our hotel from the bars, enjoying the night air. They've spent HUGE
amounts of money cleaning up the area, and it shows.

We eventually settled into the Hard Rock Cafe, where (for reasons that may
become clear at the HOPS Party in Oshkosh) we endeavored to explore and
discover the perfect Long Island Iced Tea recipe. It was hell, but someone
had to do it -- and we eventually discovered the LIITs can be made both with
and without tequila.

This seemed incredibly important at the time, for some reason... I don't
know why.

Sunday dawned sunny and nice, in the 70s. The organizers had to pack two
days of racing into a single day, and it was chock-full of good stuff.
Once the racing got started, they were very good at keeping things moving,
with very small gaps between each racer. (Prior to racing, however, they
lagged badly. They need to study Oshkosh, and learn how to keep the crowds
entertained...)

The races themselves are fabulous, with real danger and excitement at every
pylon. For those who may not know, they don't race head-to-head, but rather
against the clock through a complex course made up of 60-foot inflatable
pylons mounted on anchored barges in the Detroit River. Some pylons must
be split in knife-edge flight, while others must be done wings-level.

The consistency of these competition pilots is simply incredible. Kirby
Chambliss ended up winning by a scant fraction of a second (like, .015 of a
second), over a course that takes between 1:12 and 1:20 to complete. To say
it's exciting is an understatement, and even the "NASCAR crowd" (meaning
non-aviation folk) was able to appreciate the skill that went into flying
the course.

Surprisingly, the Red Bull organizers muffed some pretty basic stuff. For
example, there was just one (1) vendor selling shirts and T-shirts for a
crowd of thousands, and the lines were interminable. They could've sold
many more, if they had the foresight to place more vendors in the area.

Ditto with race souvenirs -- there simply weren't any. With all the
down-time waiting, Red Bull left tens of thousands of dollars on the table
by not catering to the crowd.

The biggest rip-off of the weekend surely had to be the upscale $200 seats
that were placed inside a cordoned-off area right up against the hotel.
Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people continually walked the sidewalk
in front of these poor saps, meaning that they were unable to see anything
most of the time. I would have been furious, and demanded to be "upgraded"
to the $30 riverfront seats like ours...

Still, these were minor glitches in an overall wonderful weekend. If you
EVER get the chance to see this international "World Series" of air racing,
jump at it. I had seen their first "exhibition race" at Reno, back in '04,
so I knew what it was about -- and I'm here to tell you that they were worth
every hour of that horrible, 1000-mile drive to see them.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
newsNp1k.139052$TT4.90385@attbi_s22:

For those who want to jump straight to the pictures:

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/2008_-_...in_detroit.htm

We intended to fly to YIP (Ypsilanti, MI) last Friday, to meet this
group's own Jim & Tami Burns (& Family) for a fun weekend at the
races. Unfortunately, Mother Nature brought a line of Level 5s to bear
on our route of flight, and we reluctantly made the decision to drive
to Detroit -- a 1,000 mile round-trip.

The no-go decision was the right one, though -- I ended up driving in
torrential rains like few I've seen before, and flying would've been
suicidal. Luckily, Jim (coming from WI) was able to fly his Aztec
over the big lake, and pulled a neat northerly end-around the line of
storms.

We stayed at the GM Renaissance Center's Marriott. Normally I avoid
big-box chain hotels like the plague, but this facility was "show
center" for the entire weekend, so I gritted my teeth and paid over
$200/night for a room less than half the size of one of our 2-bedroom
suites. As expected, it was a huge rip-off, with no continental
breakfast, a one-cup (!) coffee maker, and NO wireless internet.

But it *was* centrally located. We were able to simply walk out the
front door and watch the races, which was marvelous. Had we opted to
stay at a better (cheaper) hotel, any savings would have been offset
by additional parking and gas expenses.

In the evening we found the hotel bar to be chock-full of "Red Bull
Beautiful People" -- mostly young, blonde floozies apparently
recruited for the event. They mostly hung all over the pilots and Red
Bull big-wheels, but Jim and I enjoyed our time in the bar, and were
even treated to a round of drinks purchased by one of the floozies who
flashed us from the bar! (Our wives complained, but didn't send the
drinks back... :-)

Saturday dawned promising, but the winds following the storms were
impressive, gusting to 59 mph. Unfortunately, the announcers (Red
Bull sets up speakers and giant-screen TVs everywhere in the viewing
area) kept up a steady, optimistic banter that pretty well promised
that racing *would* occur...eventually. So, we sat, and sat, and
waited. Every now and then a couple of T-6s would fly by, and the
B-25 was fun, and the Heritage Flight with an F/A-18 and Corsair was
cool -- but, for the most part, there was not much to do but watch the
boats go past...

When one of the pylons broke loose from it's moorings and started
rolling down-river, we knew the writing was on the wall. It was a lot
of fun, watching them try to corral the damned thing with boats, but
at 3 PM they called it due to wind.

So, we did what every red-blooded American would do -- we sent the
kids back to the room with pizza and pop, and went bar hopping!
Detroit comes equipped with a wonderful "People Mover" system that
aids and abets this sort of behavior, and -- for just 50 cents -- you
can ride all over downtown Detroit in style.

Now, I know what you're thinking. I was expecting Detroit to be an
open sewer, with gang-bangers and trash everywhere, but we were
pleasantly surprised to find a clean, modern, nice riverfront area,
and some fun bars to visit. We never felt the least bit threatened,
and, in fact, we walked back to our hotel from the bars, enjoying the
night air. They've spent HUGE amounts of money cleaning up the area,
and it shows.

We eventually settled into the Hard Rock Cafe, where (for reasons that
may become clear at the HOPS Party in Oshkosh) we endeavored to
explore and discover the perfect Long Island Iced Tea recipe. It was
hell, but someone had to do it -- and we eventually discovered the
LIITs can be made both with and without tequila.

This seemed incredibly important at the time, for some reason... I
don't know why.

Sunday dawned sunny and nice, in the 70s. The organizers had to pack
two days of racing into a single day, and it was chock-full of good
stuff. Once the racing got started, they were very good at keeping
things moving, with very small gaps between each racer. (Prior to
racing, however, they lagged badly. They need to study Oshkosh, and
learn how to keep the crowds entertained...)

The races themselves are fabulous, with real danger and excitement at
every pylon. For those who may not know, they don't race
head-to-head, but rather against the clock through a complex course
made up of 60-foot inflatable pylons mounted on anchored barges in the
Detroit River. Some pylons must be split in knife-edge flight,
while others must be done wings-level.

The consistency of these competition pilots is simply incredible.
Kirby Chambliss ended up winning by a scant fraction of a second
(like, .015 of a second), over a course that takes between 1:12 and
1:20 to complete. To say it's exciting is an understatement, and even
the "NASCAR crowd" (meaning non-aviation folk) was able to appreciate
the skill that went into flying the course.

Surprisingly, the Red Bull organizers muffed some pretty basic stuff.
For example, there was just one (1) vendor selling shirts and T-shirts
for a crowd of thousands, and the lines were interminable. They
could've sold many more, if they had the foresight to place more
vendors in the area.

Ditto with race souvenirs -- there simply weren't any. With all the
down-time waiting, Red Bull left tens of thousands of dollars on the
table by not catering to the crowd.

The biggest rip-off of the weekend surely had to be the upscale $200
seats that were placed inside a cordoned-off area right up against the
hotel. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people continually walked
the sidewalk in front of these poor saps, meaning that they were
unable to see anything most of the time. I would have been furious,
and demanded to be "upgraded" to the $30 riverfront seats like ours...

Still, these were minor glitches in an overall wonderful weekend. If
you EVER get the chance to see this international "World Series" of
air racing, jump at it. I had seen their first "exhibition race" at
Reno, back in '04, so I knew what it was about -- and I'm here to tell
you that they were worth every hour of that horrible, 1000-mile drive
to see them.

Barf


Bertie

On Jun 4, 1:57 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote innewsNp1k.139052$TT4.90385@attbi_s22:



For those who want to jump straight to the pictures:

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/2008_-_...in_detroit.htm

We intended to fly to YIP (Ypsilanti, MI) last Friday, to meet this
group's own Jim & Tami Burns (& Family) for a fun weekend at the
races. Unfortunately, Mother Nature brought a line of Level 5s to bear
on our route of flight, and we reluctantly made the decision to drive
to Detroit -- a 1,000 mile round-trip.

The no-go decision was the right one, though -- I ended up driving in
torrential rains like few I've seen before, and flying would've been
suicidal. Luckily, Jim (coming from WI) was able to fly his Aztec
over the big lake, and pulled a neat northerly end-around the line of
storms.

We stayed at the GM Renaissance Center's Marriott. Normally I avoid
big-box chain hotels like the plague, but this facility was "show
center" for the entire weekend, so I gritted my teeth and paid over
$200/night for a room less than half the size of one of our 2-bedroom
suites. As expected, it was a huge rip-off, with no continental
breakfast, a one-cup (!) coffee maker, and NO wireless internet.

But it *was* centrally located. We were able to simply walk out the
front door and watch the races, which was marvelous. Had we opted to
stay at a better (cheaper) hotel, any savings would have been offset
by additional parking and gas expenses.

In the evening we found the hotel bar to be chock-full of "Red Bull
Beautiful People" -- mostly young, blonde floozies apparently
recruited for the event. They mostly hung all over the pilots and Red
Bull big-wheels, but Jim and I enjoyed our time in the bar, and were
even treated to a round of drinks purchased by one of the floozies who
flashed us from the bar! (Our wives complained, but didn't send the
drinks back... :-)

Saturday dawned promising, but the winds following the storms were
impressive, gusting to 59 mph. Unfortunately, the announcers (Red
Bull sets up speakers and giant-screen TVs everywhere in the viewing
area) kept up a steady, optimistic banter that pretty well promised
that racing *would* occur...eventually. So, we sat, and sat, and
waited. Every now and then a couple of T-6s would fly by, and the
B-25 was fun, and the Heritage Flight with an F/A-18 and Corsair was
cool -- but, for the most part, there was not much to do but watch the
boats go past...

When one of the pylons broke loose from it's moorings and started
rolling down-river, we knew the writing was on the wall. It was a lot
of fun, watching them try to corral the damned thing with boats, but
at 3 PM they called it due to wind.

So, we did what every red-blooded American would do -- we sent the
kids back to the room with pizza and pop, and went bar hopping!
Detroit comes equipped with a wonderful "People Mover" system that
aids and abets this sort of behavior, and -- for just 50 cents -- you
can ride all over downtown Detroit in style.

Now, I know what you're thinking. I was expecting Detroit to be an
open sewer, with gang-bangers and trash everywhere, but we were
pleasantly surprised to find a clean, modern, nice riverfront area,
and some fun bars to visit. We never felt the least bit threatened,
and, in fact, we walked back to our hotel from the bars, enjoying the
night air. They've spent HUGE amounts of money cleaning up the area,
and it shows.

We eventually settled into the Hard Rock Cafe, where (for reasons that
may become clear at the HOPS Party in Oshkosh) we endeavored to
explore and discover the perfect Long Island Iced Tea recipe. It was
hell, but someone had to do it -- and we eventually discovered the
LIITs can be made both with and without tequila.

This seemed incredibly important at the time, for some reason... I
don't know why.

Sunday dawned sunny and nice, in the 70s. The organizers had to pack
two days of racing into a single day, and it was chock-full of good
stuff. Once the racing got started, they were very good at keeping
things moving, with very small gaps between each racer. (Prior to
racing, however, they lagged badly. They need to study Oshkosh, and
learn how to keep the crowds entertained...)

The races themselves are fabulous, with real danger and excitement at
every pylon. For those who may not know, they don't race
head-to-head, but rather against the clock through a complex course
made up of 60-foot inflatable pylons mounted on anchored barges in the
Detroit River. Some pylons must be split in knife-edge flight,
while others must be done wings-level.

The consistency of these competition pilots is simply incredible.
Kirby Chambliss ended up winning by a scant fraction of a second
(like, .015 of a second), over a course that takes between 1:12 and
1:20 to complete. To say it's exciting is an understatement, and even
the "NASCAR crowd" (meaning non-aviation folk) was able to appreciate
the skill that went into flying the course.

Surprisingly, the Red Bull organizers muffed some pretty basic stuff.
For example, there was just one (1) vendor selling shirts and T-shirts
for a crowd of thousands, and the lines were interminable. They
could've sold many more, if they had the foresight to place more
vendors in the area.

Ditto with race souvenirs -- there simply weren't any. With all the
down-time waiting, Red Bull left tens of thousands of dollars on the
table by not catering to the crowd.

The biggest rip-off of the weekend surely had to be the upscale $200
seats that were placed inside a cordoned-off area right up against the
hotel. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people continually walked
the sidewalk in front of these poor saps, meaning that they were
unable to see anything most of the time. I would have been furious,
and demanded to be "upgraded" to the $30 riverfront seats like ours...

Still, these were minor glitches in an overall wonderful weekend. If
you EVER get the chance to see this international "World Series" of
air racing, jump at it. I had seen their first "exhibition race" at
Reno, back in '04, so I knew what it was about -- and I'm here to tell
you that they were worth every hour of that horrible, 1000-mile drive
to see them.

Barf

Bertie

Bertie, do be quiet.

On 2008-06-04, cavedweller wrote:
Bertie, do be quiet.

I expect Bertie to quote all of a 120+-line message to add one line of
useless comment. You don't have to make matters worse by requoting the
entire thing *again*; if you *must* feed Bertie's ego by replying to him, at
least do what he refuses to do and please trim your quotes.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 10 June)

On Jun 4, 8:37*am, Jay Maynard wrote:
On 2008-06-04, cavedweller wrote:

Bertie, do be quiet.

I expect Bertie to quote all of a 120+-line message to add one line of
useless comment. You don't have to make matters worse by requoting the
entire thing *again*; if you *must* feed Bertie's ego by replying to him, at
least do what he refuses to do and please trim your quotes.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC * * * * * * * * *http://www.conmicro.comhttp://jmaynard.livejournal.com* * *http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) * * * * * * * * * * * *(Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 10 June)

You're quite right, of course, and I usually do trim appropriately (or
at least try to) but I was so engrossed in whether it was even
advisable to offer a comment and I was on my way out the door
and....well....thanks for the reminder, and the civility.

On 4/6/08 3:02 PM, in article DNp1k.139052$TT4.90385@attbi_s22, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Still, these were minor glitches in an overall wonderful weekend. If you
EVER get the chance to see this international "World Series" of air racing,
jump at it. I had seen their first "exhibition race" at Reno, back in '04,
so I knew what it was about -- and I'm here to tell you that they were worth
every hour of that horrible, 1000-mile drive to see them.

Jay, even though this group is getting out of control I always enjoy your
posts.
I went to the first Red Bull in Perth Australia 2006. Absolutely enjoyed
every minute of it. (As well as the city of Perth - great food).
Same thing happened with the Red Bull souvenirs, they had all but sold out
by the second day.
For us it was a 4000km round trip from Adelaide with a Jet Jockey, and I
would certainly jump at the chance to go again, especially now that the
momentum is building and the series is becoming more spectacular.

Keep up the great posts.

Steve
VH-TVF
Archer II

Great wrap up Jay.

I was disappointed by the announcers portraying the Red Bull pilots as
god-like and never mentioning that "real" people can and do learn to fly
every day. They had a huge crowd and a wonderful opportunity to introduce
general aviation to the masses, especially on Saturday when there was plenty
of time to kill. During the slow periods between acts or runs, something
like One Six Right or the EAA promo movie played in segments on the big
screens would have been welcome.

From a purely commercial standpoint, they missed a gigantic opportunity to
sell memorabilia to not only the thousands of ticketed spectators by not
having souvenir stands within sight of every ticket holder, but they really
missed the boat by not having souvenir stands available to the tens of
thousands of un-ticketed spectators. People literally lined the sidewalks,
the streets, and the parking garages with money to spend but nobody to take
it.

All in all, it was a great weekend. The logistics and undertaking that the
Red Bull team goes through to arrange these events is remarkable.

For those headed to OSH this year, check the schedule and be sure to catch
the Red Bull aerobatic helicopter act.... it's amazing, and one of a kind.

Jim

I was disappointed by the announcers portraying the Red Bull pilots as
god-like and never mentioning that "real" people can and do learn to fly

Excellent point that I forgot to make. Unfortunately, Red Bull has -- in
the interest of drumming up interest -- portrayed the pilots as super-human.
Of course, the kind of flying they're doing IS incredibly difficult, but it
sure would be nice if they could use their bully pulpit to help us maintain
the pilot population.

For those headed to OSH this year, check the schedule and be sure to catch
the Red Bull aerobatic helicopter act.... it's amazing, and one of a kind.

Another thing I forgot to mention -- d'oh! This was a high point of the
show, for sure. To see a helicopter rolling inverted and doing loops is
absolutely amazing, and I predict it will be a very popular addition to the
OSH airshow.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Maynard wrote in
:

On 2008-06-04, cavedweller wrote:
Bertie, do be quiet.

I expect Bertie to quote all of a 120+-line message to add one line of
useless comment.
At last, understanding.


You don't have to make matters worse by requoting the
entire thing *again*; if you *must* feed Bertie's ego by replying to
him, at least do what he refuses to do and please trim your quotes.


How do you know I refuse to trim? You're supposed to have me killfiled.


Bertie

cavedweller wrote in
:

On Jun 4, 1:57 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote
innewsNp1k.139052$TT4.90385@attbi_s22:



For those who want to jump straight to the pictures:

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/2008_-_...in_detroit.htm

We intended to fly to YIP (Ypsilanti, MI) last Friday, to meet this
group's own Jim & Tami Burns (& Family) for a fun weekend at the
races. Unfortunately, Mother Nature brought a line of Level 5s to
bear on our route of flight, and we reluctantly made the decision
to drive to Detroit -- a 1,000 mile round-trip.

The no-go decision was the right one, though -- I ended up driving
in torrential rains like few I've seen before, and flying would've
been suicidal. Luckily, Jim (coming from WI) was able to fly his
Aztec over the big lake, and pulled a neat northerly end-around the
line of storms.

We stayed at the GM Renaissance Center's Marriott. Normally I
avoid big-box chain hotels like the plague, but this facility was
"show center" for the entire weekend, so I gritted my teeth and
paid over $200/night for a room less than half the size of one of
our 2-bedroom suites. As expected, it was a huge rip-off, with no
continental breakfast, a one-cup (!) coffee maker, and NO wireless
internet.

But it *was* centrally located. We were able to simply walk out
the front door and watch the races, which was marvelous. Had we
opted to stay at a better (cheaper) hotel, any savings would have
been offset by additional parking and gas expenses.

In the evening we found the hotel bar to be chock-full of "Red Bull
Beautiful People" -- mostly young, blonde floozies apparently
recruited for the event. They mostly hung all over the pilots and
Red Bull big-wheels, but Jim and I enjoyed our time in the bar, and
were even treated to a round of drinks purchased by one of the
floozies who flashed us from the bar! (Our wives complained, but
didn't send the drinks back... :-)

Saturday dawned promising, but the winds following the storms were
impressive, gusting to 59 mph. Unfortunately, the announcers (Red
Bull sets up speakers and giant-screen TVs everywhere in the
viewing area) kept up a steady, optimistic banter that pretty well
promised that racing *would* occur...eventually. So, we sat, and
sat, and waited. Every now and then a couple of T-6s would fly by,
and the B-25 was fun, and the Heritage Flight with an F/A-18 and
Corsair was cool -- but, for the most part, there was not much to
do but watch the boats go past...

When one of the pylons broke loose from it's moorings and started
rolling down-river, we knew the writing was on the wall. It was a
lot of fun, watching them try to corral the damned thing with
boats, but at 3 PM they called it due to wind.

So, we did what every red-blooded American would do -- we sent the
kids back to the room with pizza and pop, and went bar hopping!
Detroit comes equipped with a wonderful "People Mover" system that
aids and abets this sort of behavior, and -- for just 50 cents --
you can ride all over downtown Detroit in style.

Now, I know what you're thinking. I was expecting Detroit to be an
open sewer, with gang-bangers and trash everywhere, but we were
pleasantly surprised to find a clean, modern, nice riverfront area,
and some fun bars to visit. We never felt the least bit
threatened, and, in fact, we walked back to our hotel from the
bars, enjoying the night air. They've spent HUGE amounts of money
cleaning up the area, and it shows.

We eventually settled into the Hard Rock Cafe, where (for reasons
that may become clear at the HOPS Party in Oshkosh) we endeavored
to explore and discover the perfect Long Island Iced Tea recipe.
It was hell, but someone had to do it -- and we eventually
discovered the LIITs can be made both with and without tequila.

This seemed incredibly important at the time, for some reason...
I don't know why.

Sunday dawned sunny and nice, in the 70s. The organizers had to
pack two days of racing into a single day, and it was chock-full of
good stuff. Once the racing got started, they were very good at
keeping things moving, with very small gaps between each racer.
(Prior to racing, however, they lagged badly. They need to study
Oshkosh, and learn how to keep the crowds entertained...)

The races themselves are fabulous, with real danger and excitement
at every pylon. For those who may not know, they don't race
head-to-head, but rather against the clock through a complex course
made up of 60-foot inflatable pylons mounted on anchored barges in
the Detroit River. Some pylons must be split in knife-edge
flight, while others must be done wings-level.

The consistency of these competition pilots is simply incredible.
Kirby Chambliss ended up winning by a scant fraction of a second
(like, .015 of a second), over a course that takes between 1:12 and
1:20 to complete. To say it's exciting is an understatement, and
even the "NASCAR crowd" (meaning non-aviation folk) was able to
appreciate the skill that went into flying the course.

Surprisingly, the Red Bull organizers muffed some pretty basic
stuff. For example, there was just one (1) vendor selling shirts
and T-shirts for a crowd of thousands, and the lines were
interminable. They could've sold many more, if they had the
foresight to place more vendors in the area.

Ditto with race souvenirs -- there simply weren't any. With all
the down-time waiting, Red Bull left tens of thousands of dollars
on the table by not catering to the crowd.

The biggest rip-off of the weekend surely had to be the upscale
$200 seats that were placed inside a cordoned-off area right up
against the hotel. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people
continually walked the sidewalk in front of these poor saps,
meaning that they were unable to see anything most of the time. I
would have been furious, and demanded to be "upgraded" to the $30
riverfront seats like ours...

Still, these were minor glitches in an overall wonderful weekend.
If you EVER get the chance to see this international "World Series"
of air racing, jump at it. I had seen their first "exhibition
race" at Reno, back in '04, so I knew what it was about -- and I'm
here to tell you that they were worth every hour of that horrible,
1000-mile drive to see them.

Barf

Bertie

Bertie, do be quiet.


Unlikely.

Bertie