Red Bull Air Race Greenwich 2008

[floppybootstomp]

As promised, some pix.

It wasn't much of a day, actually, the weather spoiled things. It was very windy and it rained on and off.

Many planes were buffeted by the wind and collided with the inflatable markers; there were long gaps between flights waiting for wind to drop; some contestants dropped out; others were disqualified and the whole show lasted less than four hours.

A bit sad really, but the small amount of competitive flying we saw was good

So here's a small selection of pix:

 

[Madxgraphics]

Awesome pics, just a shame the weather was so sh*te...

 

[Waynos_Face]

Yeah great pics Flopps, what camera you using??? as those pics are pretty good.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Yeah great pics Flopps, what camera you using??? as those pics are pretty good.

Nikon D40X; 18-135mm lens; full auto on 'Sports' mode. Pix reduced from full res to 800 pixels wide to suit Forum.

 

[psd99]

Nice Flopps once again showing some superb pictures

 

[Ian]

Smashing pics Flops, it makes you realise how close they actually get to the ground when you see some of those!

How close were you, it looks like you must have been near to all the action ?

 

[floppybootstomp]

There's a river walk that goes from the Thames Barrier uninterrupted until the centre of Greenwich (the site of the Cutty Sark boat). The walk runs past the O2 (The Dome) and that's where we were, so I was as close to the river as you could be, water lapping at my feet sort of thing.

The pix actually look better at full res (3872 x 2592), the planes are a little sharper.

 

[Taffycat]

Great pix Flopps - the planes really stand out well against that stormy sky Where do they take-off from in the first place? Is there a small airfield somewhere close by, or do they have a bit of space at one of the bigger airports?

 

[Anon_F]

Great picture FBS, The detail & sharpness of the photos are very good.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks for the comments everybody

Taff, I don't know where they take off and land, I was wondering that myself. I expect the program would tell you that but I was too tight to buy one

I'd hazard a guess at City Airport which is only 2 or 3 miles away at Silvertown.

Edit: See next post.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Nice little vid Here

And I found this:

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the operation is that in order to run the event, Red Bull is planning to clear a piece of waste ground, probably to the north-east of London City Airport, laying down a new runway and turning that into the airfield/pits area.

Although that was for the 2007 event, I think it's likely that's where the airstrip and pits are.

And here's some Youtube footage where you can see how bad the weather was.

 

[Abarbarian]

Great pics, looks like you had a fun time despite the weather.

 

[Taffycat]

Thanks Flopps - wow, that is some amazing footage... the way they kept slicing the tops off those pylons...! Clever pilots though, the way they can maneuver those planes is incredible.