It All Comes Down To Two Pilots
The battle for the first world title in aerobatic air racing
came down to the final two pilots Sunday at Stead Field in Reno
(NV). Finding enough extra speed, American pilot Mike Mangold
(Victorville, CA) eclipsed pre-race favorite, Kirby Chambliss
(Flying Crown Ranch AZ), to win the first Red Bull Air Race World
Series Championship.
"It was unbelievable out there," said Mangold, 46, a former US
Air Force fighter pilot and current US Aerobatic Team member.
"Maximum speed, maximum G-forces, tough obstacles--I'm just glad I
got through it. It's the best two minutes in air racing."
The Red Bull Air Race, which made its US debut at the 2004
National Championship Air Races this weekend, takes air racing to
new heights as pilots execute gravity-defying aerobatics while
navigating through a twisting race course of five pylon obstacles
stationed just over 500 feet in front of spectators. Pilots run one
at a time against the clock.
For the second day in a row, cool and windy skies provided
another challenging obstacle for Mangold, Chambliss and the other
two elite finalists - former U.S. Aerobatic champion Mike Goulian
(Arlington, MA) and former World Aerobatic champion Peter Besenyei
(Budapest, Hungary).
In fact, Besenyei clipped a 50-foot, air-filled pylon during his
knife-edge run through Gate 3, bringing it down and incurring a
10-second time penalty.
Mangold, who piloted his Edge 540 plane to Saturday's Red Bull
Air Race USA Championship in a clean, errorless flight, also
encountered some trouble in today's World Series final.
"I had a little problem with the Touch and Go," Mangold said
about the obstacle that requires the plane to touchdown on a
12-by-36 foot target zone. "It was a little gusty today. I think I
touched again and again."
Chambliss, who also pilots an Edge 540, is good friends with
Mangold off the runway. But, today the competition proved to be
fierce in the sky.
"Everybody wanted it and we were all pushing it as much as we
could," said Chambliss, 45, a three-time U.S. Aerobatic champion.
"Mike's airplane, straight and level running flat out, is 7-8 knots
faster than my airplane.
I couldn't make up that speed difference. I turned every pylon
as close as I could, hung it out as far as I could, and just
couldn't quite make it."
Sunday's race in Reno served as the final championship round of
the 2004 Red Bull Air Race World Series. Chambliss won the first
round in the United Kingdom on June 20, narrowly beating Besenyei
by a mere .03 seconds, and he also captured the second round race
in Budapest, Hungary on August 20 over a stunning course set on the
Danube River. Fittingly though, the winner-take-all World Series
Championship final was crowned in Reno, the worldwide home of air
racing.
For Chambliss, he'll have to wait another year to win the world
title. Even so, he took great satisfaction with the reception Reno
gave to this new style of aerobatic air racing.
"I'm an American and I wanted to help bring this to the US
because it is so exciting, not only from a pilot's standpoint, but
also from a spectator standpoint," Chambliss said.
Competing in qualification heats earlier in the week were
British pilots Steve Jones and Paul Bonhomme, and American pilot
David Martin (Possum Kingdom Lake, TX). German pilot Klaus Schrodt
did not compete due to mechanical problems.