Air Race?

[LarryMcG]

Dear Adrenalin Junkie,

You have heard whispered rumours around the paddock, at the fuel bay or even in the pub. .............

You may have heard it through the grapevine or even on Avcom .............

Well now it is official. The Ultimate Challenge Air Race is on!!!

It will be held at the Rustenburg Airfield on Saturday 15 August and is NOT a handicap race. It is open to anybody and any aircraft that can take off and land on the Rustenburg runway.

The format and rules are simple and easy to understand .................

- GPS' are to be used

- The course is straight out from a flying start for 250 kilometres (135nm), a quick U turn and back again over the windsock

- Jets, Turbines, Superchargers, Turbochargers, Diesels, Petrols, 2 Strokes, Rotaries................ All are welcome

- The categories are all based on the take-off weight of the aircraft and its means of propulsion

Ok, so what does this mean?

It means that a Turbo Saratoga that weighs about the same as a 210 and both Internal combustion engine driven, will race against each other. Now we know this is not fair because the Saratoga is obviously much faster than the 210 and will easily win but, maybe the 210 is faster than all the other 210s as well as the Bonanzas in the same category.

Also, one wonders, is a Cherokee 235 faster than a 182? I know that Pat Hanley and Piet van Blerk have long been arguing over the Mooney/Cirrus challenge and what about a TBM850 and a PC12?

There are a myriad possibilities for challenges amongst all the categories both large and small but the most exciting are going to be watching the big boys putting their money where their mouths are. Is a Lear 45 quicker than a Citation 500................? Hmmmmm I wonder.......... ???

The next exciting item on the agenda is the fact that this race will be recognised by the FAI as an official event. This means that, as we will be covering 500 kilometres, the category winners qualify for an official record in the both the 100 Kilometre and 500 Kilometre closed circuit fastest time.

What we need now is an indication of how many are interested and therefore a quick show of hands (or an e-mail back) please

Yours in Air Racing

ROBIN SPENCER-SCARR

SAPFA

[Sukkelaar]

YUM YUM

Sukkelaar