Pilot Prepping For Next Races In The Series

Air racing is, by any estimation, a specialized skill, and one that required a lot of training. But training for a pylon race like the Red Bull Air Race Championship could be challenging because of a lack of pylons around which to fly.

Red Bull Air Race pilot Kirby Chambliss has come up with what may be a unique solution to that problem. Earlier this month, he was seen over his hometown of Phoenix, AZ flying among a group of hot air balloons as he might during a race.

Television station KTAR reports that Chambliss practiced his racing technique around the inflated balloons before they were launched, and once they left the ground, he climbed to a higher altitude and put on an impromptu one-man air show.

Chambliss said that he decided to use the balloons in commemoration of National Hot Air Balloon Day June 5. The date marks the anniversary of the first event to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909 ... a hot air balloon race.

The Speedway will host the Red Bull Air Race series on October 6 and 7. Chambliss said he wanted to incorporate the balloons into his training both to prepare and note the 1909 event.

In a video produced by the Red Bull Air Race, Chambliss said that training with balloons is somewhat different than the pylons used during the race because "the balloons are quite a bit wider, and also, you can't hit the balloons."

The next event in the Red Bull Air Race series is June 23-24 in Budapest.

(Image from Red Bull Air Race video)

FMI: Original report