Red Bull Air Race World Championship Chiba

2015-05-21 | Airport Photography

The 17th was a beautiful sunny day, originally a perfect day for watching the airshow and photography, but due to the following two reasons, it didn’t go very smoothly.

First was the temperature. The weather forecast predicted 28 degrees, so it was supposed to be a pleasant spring day. However, once the sun came out, the cloudless blue sky turned the spring day into summer, the beach continuously absorbed heat, and the ground temperature rose steadily; according to the loudspeakers at the venue, the high temperature at noon reached 36 degrees!

Therefore, before watching the flight display, I applied a thick layer of sunscreen to my face and arms, bought mineral water at the shop beforehand, took all possible sun protection measures, and minimized movement, resting in the seat as much as possible. To protect the spectators’ line of sight, umbrellas were not allowed in the venue, so everyone was exposed directly to the sunlight.

By the way, bringing drinks and food into the venue was prohibited. While this is understandable from a safety perspective, there were very few shops, so buying anything meant queuing in long lines, and the prices were shockingly high—a 500ml bottle of mineral water cost 4 dollars. I felt the organizers showed a bit of inexperience in these areas. If there is a Japan race in the future, I hope there will be improvements in sun protection facilities and food/beverage sales.

The second major issue was backlighting. Coming to the seaside, I saw many yachts and fishing boats out at sea. At first, I didn’t pay much attention, but later it hit me: this was the only correct solution to get front-lighting conditions. Clear skies are nice, but shooting in such strong backlighting meant that if I added too much positive exposure compensation, the blue sky in the background would turn into a white wash—it gave me a headache. Since there was no solution anyway, I just stuck to the standard settings: aperture f/8, shutter 1/1000 sec, ISO 200 to cope. Next time, I’ll check if there’s a possibility to charter a boat to watch the race.

The schedule for the day was as follows, 10:00 Venue opens 12:00 Challenger Class Final 13:00 Master Class Round 1 (Round of 14), i.e., 14 pilots in paired heats, winner is the one with the shorter time. Then, the best performer among the 7 losers is selected, determining the top 8 15:00 Master Class Round 2 (Round of 8), the top 8 compete in paired heats, the 4 winners advance to the top 4 15:30 Master Class Final, the final does not use a paired format, but rather the 4 pilots fly one by one, and final rankings are determined by their times 15:55 Award Ceremony

Before the race, the organizers also arranged a FlyBoard performance. According to Baidu Baike, the “FlyBoard” is a water sports device invented by the Frenchman Zapata in the autumn of 2011. Users fix it to their feet and connect it to a huge hose linked to a motorboat; the “FlyBoard” draws water through the hose and utilizes the thrust from the water jet to allow the user to leap high above the water surface and perform various maneuvers.

I had seen an introduction to FlyBoard on TV before, but seeing it with my own eyes for the first time was quite thrilling. However, since today’s theme was airplanes, I didn’t take many photos.

The results for the first round at 13:00, Round of 14, are as follows, The highlight here was Japanese pilot Yoshihide Muroya, who flew the best time on the Makuhari track, 50.779 seconds.

The second round, Round of 8, determined the top four pilots. Results are as follows

Unfortunately, Muroya, who had just set a great time, was too impatient. He exceeded 10G during a high-G turn and was disqualified, placing 8th in this race.

The results for the third round, the Final, are as follows, The champion was British pilot Paul Bonhomme, with a final time of 51.502 seconds;

The runner-up was Australian pilot Matt Hall, with a time of 51.884 seconds;

Third place went to German pilot Matthias Dolderer, with a time of 53.903 seconds. He failed to achieve a Level Flight attitude while crossing Gate 9, resulting in a 2-second penalty, but his actual flight time was 51.903 seconds;