Excited about attending the NYC Red Bull Air Race

Racing over New York Harbor

I’m getting really excited about going to the Red Bull Air Race in New York City.  This is the first time I will be attending an event of this kind.  I became a fan via Facebook and have been exposed to a bunch of videos from ongoing events and it seems really neat.  The race in Windsor, Ontario (right across from Detroit) just wrapped up and the race videos from that event were really cool.

This will be the first time that the air race has come to New York, and hopefully not the last.

I’m just hoping that the site is good enough for spectator viewing.  It’s sort of a strangely shaped race area and the grandstands are sort of tucked in the corner.  This is unlike other event locations where the river is straight and the viewing is along a straight bank.

The good news is that grandstand viewers also have access to jumbotrons that will broadcast on-aircraft video and audio.  That should add a lot to the experience!  I’m trying to get a feel for the different pilots and teams before hand so I can have some idea of who I’m watching go through the gates.

One important thing I’ve learned is that there are different colored gates, and the pilot much go through them in different attitudes.  Blue gates require passing with level wings.  Red gates require a 90 degree knife-edge pass.  I think that yellow gates mark transitions and/or start/end.

Smoke on!