No Gunfire Involved As WWII Fighter Bests Modern Racing Plane

To celebrate the return of the Red Bull Air Race World Series to London on August 2-3 this year, this week current World Series leader Paul Bonhomme took to the controls of a 1940s Supermarine Spitfire to try his hand at air racing of a different kind.

Bonhomme's aim was to test the speed and agility of the Spitfire against a modern day plane designed specifically for the Red Bull Air Race, the MX2, piloted by his World Series opponent Nigel Lamb.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first production line Spitfire and the 85th anniversary of the first Schneider Trophy race in the UK which was a speed race over 200km contested by the Spitfire's predecessor, the Supermarine S.6b. The Schneider Trophy, first staged in 1913, was awarded to the fastest plane over a 200km course. The first UK race was held between Cowes and Calshot in 1923, with Britain retaining the trophy outright in 1931 after winning three events in a row.

In a nod to the UK Schneider Trophy course, Bonhomme and Lamb raced their planes on a timed lap around the Isle of Wight, using the stunning Needles as a natural start/finish gate. The time trial and agility test brought together two of the worlds most impressive flying machines of their respective eras in a celebration of air racing though the ages.

Going in, the Spitfire touted a 100-knot top speed advantage over the MX2... which meant it made light work of the 40 mile lap of the island, timed at just 9m 35s. The MX2 was slower, coming in at 11m 29s... but the MX's impressive cornering was displayed as it turned quicker through The Needles, showing how the development of racing machines has progressed over the decades.

"The aircraft that I'm flying today is a real feat of engineering given that it was built in the 1940s, its an absolute pleasure and privilege to fly," Bonhomme said. "The planes that were built for the original form of air racing, The Schneider Trophy, taught engineers at the Supermarine factory a great deal when they were developing the Spitfire and these learnings have also contributed to the development of the planes that we race in the Red Bull Air Race World Series. It was great fun for me to be able to pay tribute to the air racing that took place back in the 1920s and compare it with racing of today."

Fellow pilot Nigel Lamb added, "A Spitfire will fly a lot faster than an MX2 but the advantage the MX has is its phenomenal turning ability, thanks to its carbon fibre wing and strength. In the Red Bull Air Race World Series, our aircraft need to be suitable for the precision moves required to navigate the low-level slalom gates.

"On paper a Spitfire will clean up on the straights and the MX will gain in the turns... so the lap of the Isle of Wight was more suited to Paul's plane than mine," Lamb added.

FMI: www.redbullairrace.com