It’s a bird, it’s a plane … it’s the Red Bull Air Race New York, soaring over Jersey City’s Liberty State Park next Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20.
The beverage company Red Bull sponsors the international series of air races each year. Professional pilots navigate an obstacle course, usually over water near cities (in the case of Jersey City, the race will be over the Hudson River). The race is accompanied by a supporting program of show flights.
The competitors use high-performance aerobatic planes that have a wingspan of less than 25 feet and fly at top speeds ranging from 252 to 265 mph. Pilots do not compete for a monetary prize but are paid to participate.
The crowd will be let into Liberty State Park to see the race at 10 a.m., and the race itself starts at 1 p.m. Admission is $35 on June 19 and $45 on June 20. Tickets to view the race in VIP areas go as high as $1,250.
“It will be an once-in-a-lifetime event for those coming to see it.” – Michael Goulian
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As in the other host cities, Red Bull will employ safety precautions as required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). They include a 500-foot air buffer to protect any nearby structures from a crash. A Red Bull representative, Bruce Bedell, pointed out recently that there have been about 50 Red Bull Air Race events held since 2004 without any major incidents.
Jim DeMatteo, Red Bull race director, said last week that it took nearly three years to hold the event in the New York metropolitan area because of all the permits required from New Jersey and New York, as well as coordinating with all the official agencies working at the race.
Sam Pesin, president of the advocacy group Friends of Liberty State Park and a Jersey City resident, says he’s reassured by Red Bull’s safety measures, and is looking forward to attending the event.
“I see it as family entertainment that is really appropriate for the park,” Pesin said. “I am also impressed that Red Bull did a remarkable bit of planning to assure the public’s safety.”
‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ feature
The spectators coming to the Red Bull Air Race will see a unique spectacle that race pilot Michael Goulian compares to “downhill skiing.”
“It will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for those coming to see it,” said Goulian, a Massachusetts-based pilot with 26 years of experience, including the past four with Red Bull.
On the first day of the race – the qualifying portion – 15 pilots will fly one at a time out of Linden Airport, about 15 miles away from Jersey City. Each plane will fly in air space 1,000 feet above the ground, with a “temporary flight restriction” that keeps out other planes and helicopters that normally fly on that level, according to Goulian.
After traveling over Newark and part of Jersey City, each competing plane will take a position above the Hudson River to start the race. Then, for the next minute or so, at an altitude of no more than 60 feet (the height of a five or six-story building), the plane will transverse a designated obstacle course with inflated pylons, known as “air gates,” taking care not to strike a pylon and incur a penalty of six seconds added to their race time.
Two qualifying sessions will complete the first race day, and the 15 competitors will be reduced to 12. On the race’s second and final day, pilots will follow the same race procedure but with three sessions to whittle down the 12 to a final four.
The pilot with top time out of that final four is the winner.
Goulian hopes he is the one that prevails.
“This is a super-special race because of the location and the exposure,” Goulian said. “The pilot who wins this race will be the one remembered at the end of the year.”
At the Jersey City race, the top nine places earn World Championship points. The air racer with the most points at the race season in September earns the title of Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
For more information, visit http://www.redbullairrace.com.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.