Air Racing - History

History

The first heavier-than-air air race was held on May 23, 1909 - the Prix de Lagatinerie, at the Port-Aviation airport south of Paris, France. Four pilots entered the race, two started and nobody completed the full race distance though this was not unexpected as the rules specified that whoever travelled furthest would be the winner if no-one completed the race. Léon Delagrange who covered slightly more than half of the ten 1.2-kilometre laps was declared the winner.

Some other minor events were held before the August 22–29, 1909 Grand Week of the Champagne at Reims, France. This was the first major international air race, drawing the most important plane makers and pilots of the era, as well as celebrities and royalty. The premier event — the Gordon Bennett Trophy — was won by Glenn Curtiss, who beat second place finisher Louis Blériot by five seconds. Curtiss was named "Champion Air Racer of the World". This event was held yearly at different locations.

Between 1913 and 1931 the Schneider Trophy seaplane race was run, which was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of World War II.

On October 19, 1919, the Army Transcontinental Air Race began along a 2700 mile route from Long Island, New York to San Francisco, California and back which would see widespread carnage including 7 fatalities (2 en route to the race) and of the 48 aircraft that started, 33 would complete the double crossing of the continent.

In 1921, the United States instituted the National Air Meets, which became the National Air Races in 1924. In 1929, the Women's Air Derby became a part of the National Air Races circuit. The National Air Races lasted until 1949. The Cleveland Air Races was another important event. In 1947, an All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" was established, running until 1977.

In 1934, the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia took place with the winning de Havilland Comet flown by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black.

In 1964, Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, pilot, and unlimited hydroplane racing champion, organized the first Reno Air Races at a small dirt strip called the Sky Ranch, located between Sparks, Nevada, and Pyramid Lake. The National Championship Air Races were soon moved to the Reno Stead Airport and have been held there every September since 1966. The five-day event attracts around 200,000 people, and includes racing around courses marked out by pylons for six classes of aircraft: Unlimited, Formula One, Sport Biplane, AT-6, Sport and Jet. It also features civil airshow acts, military flight demonstrations, and a large static aircraft display. Other promoters have run pylon racing events across the USA and Canada, including races in Las Vegas, NV in 1965, Lancaster, CA in 1965 and 1966, Mojave, California in 1970-71, and 1973–79; at Cape May, NJ in 1971, San Diego, CA in 1971, Miami, FL in 1973 and 1979, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1984; Hamilton Field, California, in 1988; at Dallas, TX in 1990, in Denver, CO in 1990 and 1992, in Kansas City in 1993, in Phoenix, Arizona in 1994 and 1995; and in Tunica, Mississippi in 2005. Numerous other venues across the United States, Canada, and Mexico have also hosted events featuring the smaller Formula One and Biplane classes.

In 1970, American Formula One racing was exported to Europe (Great Britain, and then to France), where almost as many races have been held as in the U.S.A. Also in 1970, the California 1000 Air Race started at the Mojave Airport with a 66 lap unlimited air race that featured a Douglas DC-7 with one aircraft completing the circuit.

Red Bull has created a series called the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in which competitors fly individually between pairs of pylons, while performing prescribed maneuvers. Usually held over water near large cities, the sport has attracted large crowds and renewed media interest in air racing.

Aero GP has multiple aircraft racing together around pylons, and is based in Europe where it has held an air race each year since 2005, including 2 grand prix in 2008.

Powered paragliding or Paramotor races have been organized with the first occurring on 4 September 2010 in an airfield in Montauban, Southern France. These are parasails powered by small two-stroke engines and allow a much smaller race where the audience can see the pilots as they carry out their maneuvers.

Sky Challenge Air Race was announced in July 2011 and combines real racing aircraft which are tracked with GPS with a virtual environment visible from the cockpit through a Head-up display while flying, and to the viewers on the ground with a flight simulator that they may use to join in the race.