VIDEO: Red Bull Air Race World Series 2007 for the first time in London

Flightglobal.com went to see the aircraft and pilots warm up for the the London leg of this year's Red Bull Air Race World Series last week as they prepared to go head to head this weekend.

Air racing is a flying discipline with skilled pilots competing against eachother on speed and precision as they fly around a range of obstacles that form an assault course in the sky.

The flightglobal.com went en masse to take photographs, ask the pilots about their aircraft and video them in action as they practise the slalom metres above the River Thames.

With nine pilots in different teams flying the Edge 540, it proves, this year to be the most popular experimental aircraft but each pilot can modify the aircraft to their own specifications with the intention of performing faster aerobatic displays.

The Edge 540 aircraft is this year flown by Peter Besenyei, Alejandro Maclean, Mike Mangold, Kirby Chambliss, British pilots Paul Bonhomme and Steve Jones in the Matador team.

The Edge, made by Zivko Aeronautics of Oklahoma, according to Red Bull's site, performs "precise standard manoeuvres at speed". A small one-seater airplane (a two-seater version is also available) "is as precise and controllable as it is aggressive".

VIDEO: Paul Bonhomme talks abou the Edge 540

The Edge is a ‘shoulder wing’ plane with stiff wings. The fuselage is also stable and resists forces of up to 15G.

During the test flights on 26 July, the wind proved to be an issue but Bonhomme says: "It's the same if your car is swayed by the wind. You still have to control it."

The Edge is 6.3m long, has a wing span of 7.34m, flies at a top speed of 426km/h and has a roll rate 420 degrees/second.

Nigel Lamb, pilot for team Red Bull, is flying the MX2, a two seat, carbon fibre aircraft. Bonhomme suggested the weight could cause problems to Lamb's speed, but MX2 technician, Nigel Huxtable told flightglobal.com, that despite the its two seats, speed would not be compromised because of its state-of-the-art composite materials.

The aircraft is 6.28m long with a wing span 7.31m. weighs 590kg. Its top speed is 426 km/h and roll rate of 400 degrees/second. 

The Extra 300SR has met the standards set out by the German Aviation Authority LuftfahrtBundesamt (LBA) as the acting authority for European Air Safety Agency (EASA), and has an aerodynamic wing optimised for low drag and high lift.

The weight has been reduced within the technical boundaries for safe operation to 550kg. Its length is 6.7m and its wing span 8.0m. All these elements help it to fly faster at a top speed of 407 km/h.

The Extra 300S, made from a combination of carbon fibre, steel tubing and aluminium sheeting, reduces weight and increase resilience.

The Extra has been flown by Nicolas Ivanoff, Nigel Lamb, Klaus Schrodt and Frank Versteegh. It is 6.65 m long, with a wing span of 8.0m and weighs 580kg. Its top speed is 405 km/hr.

VIDEO: Mike Mangold talks about the prospects of the different aircraft for the future ...

Source: FlightGlobal.com