Video: Red Bull Air Race in Rio

Hi all,

I hope that you had a good weekend! Mine has been busy! Today (Sunday) Rio is being washed by a light but steady rain. It’s fine with me! I need to stay in and catch up on a few things after running around for the last 48 hours.

Friday morning I took a bus to Rio’s Galeão Tom Jobim International Airport. (You’ll notice that the Latin cultures have a love of lengthy names.) I met Van Fry, a JohnInBrazil reader who sent me an email. He had a lengthy layover, so I showed him a bit of Rio so he wouldn’t have to spend all day wandering the corridors of Galeão. We took a taxi to the Uruguaiana market, which is like a permanent flea market. What you want, baby they got it. You’ll find lots of clothes, shoes, and electronics.

Afterwards we went to Santa Teresa, where I shot a few pictures for my friends at www.VisualTravelTours.com, who (hint hint) sell some walking tours of Rio that I wrote and photographed. We had a few beers, enjoyed the magnificent views and welcome breezes, and chatted up a few girls. Van is a great guy, and he is looking forward to his next trip to Brazil, when I will show him more of Rio.

Friday night, despite being a bit tired (it’s not the years, it’s the miles), Geovana and Michelli hoaxed me into going to Devassa bar and restaurant in Ipanema. Stellar scenery, even though Devassa is located on Rua Farme de Amoedo, which is the gay capital of Rio. Women actually seem to like going there for that reason. Anyway, good time. Check us out on Facebook.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning I met my mate Damon, a “Saffa” (South African). Damon has a private pilot’s license and specializes in teaching English to pilots (visit www.wingsenglish.com), so he was keen to visit the Red Bull Air Race which was held at Flamengo Beach here in Rio. Damon, with his pilot contacts, got us into the VIP viewing section. (Thanks, Damon!) We were soon joined by our friend Kristina, who works for Damon as an instructor. You can see photos of us and some shots of the race itself on Facebook.

It was a great time. The pilots, who represent several countries, came zooming in from the right, toward Sugarloaf Mountain. (Yep, the one from “Moonraker”.) The folks atop Sugarloaf must have had some spectacular views of the race. So anyway, the pilots shoot between a pair of pylons. Although speed is the primary objective, they must also strive to pass through the pylons at a specified altitude and angle of attitude. Seconds are added to their times if they are off.

In the video, you’ll see the pilots shoot between the pair of entry pylons, then slalom back and forth around single pylons before shooting through another pair and making a hard bank to the right. Another pair of pylons, and then they do a big loop to the left. Shooting out of that loop, they have a short straightaway heading back to the right before arriving at the final pair of pylons.  They then make a second run through the course. As they do all this, they must be as level as possible or sometimes with wingtip pointing straight down (not sure of the technical term for this maneuver), as the rules dictate – this is precision speed flying.

You can watch the video here:

Anyway, a fun time, but it was really hot, and I for one was happy to find some shade afterwards.

Later I went, again with Geovana and Michelli, to the green and yellow party (green and yellow being the national colors of Brasil) at the Teatro Odisseia (Odyssey Theatre) in Lapa to meet up with Anna Carolina and Maiko and Carolina and Ricardo. Great time dancing and listening to an awesome variety of Brasilian music. But that’s for another post. This post was supposed to be about the Red Bull Air Show. Excuse the meanderings. It’s been a full weekend! And it looks as if the sun is coming out…

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