Red Bull San Diego- part 1

[beaky]

I was about as close as you can get, but my lens is weak. Hope y'all like these anyway.
Not sure who this is, but he's pulling high gee in this turnaround, at over 200 mph. .. 50 feet off the water. This is what these races are all about.

     


Second pass through the "quattro"... they must pass thru knife-edge, then immediately turn right.

     


Current world champ Kirby Chambliss prepares to enter Gate 4:

     


Nicolas Ivanoff makes a perfect flat pass thru Gate 4, but a bit high.

     


Frank Versteegh (?) pulling over 8 gees hauling it over exiting the chicane...

     


Hungarian superstar Peter Besenyei whipping through Gate 4... he missed placing third by a hair (again); really sharp flier but just not quite fast enough this time.




Next: part 2- more racers

[Isak922]

OH HOW I HATE MYSELF FOR MISSING THIS!

Yesterday was my birthday, too


I blame my new 360 for being so fun.


Nice pictures by the way

[Mobius]

Great shots.  Nice to see you had a chance to get close. 8-)

[Ben R]

Great shots sean!

[Omag 2.0]

That's some scary flying... not a large margin for error...  :o

[beaky]

That's some scary flying... not a large margin for error...  :o

The pylons are proven to not be much of a hazard, but yes, they get quite low sometimes. That's what had my eyes bugging out, espeially in the turns.  Lowest was about 20 feet Saturday.
They are flying "balls out", as well- very fast, with very sudden maneuvers. The most violent handling of these planes that I've ever seen... way more so than the usual aerobatic routine.