Red Bull coming to Indy

1600vw said:
I can not wait. The wife and I will be going, health permitting.

http://wishtv.com/2015/12/16/ims-announces-red-bull-air-race-coming-to-indy/
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In case you're interested, I was very excited about seeing them in Vegas for my birthday a couple years ago. HUGE disappointment! Flying inside a track is so small, for a fast airplane, they only have a couple gates and it's over. Didn't bother going back out the second day. The place to see them is out over water with lots of gates and room to do some real flying. Just my 2 cents.... ;)
 
flyingriki said:
In case you're interested, I was very excited about seeing them in Vegas for my birthday a couple years ago. HUGE disappointment! Flying inside a track is so small, for a fast airplane, they only have a couple gates and it's over. Didn't bother going back out the second day. The place to see them is out over water with lots of gates and room to do some real flying. Just my 2 cents.... ;)
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Indy is not some small track. You can put all the football stadiums in America side the in field. At least this is what they said during a Indy race one year. There is also an 18 hole golf course in this infield. Indy is not some small race track.
 
Don't care if they race around a nickel, I'd like to go. Columbus, Ohio is not that far either. I doubt I will get another chance this life. Not much interesting aviation comes to Ohio. Just what is already here.

David
 
This would be awesome to se live. How do they stage this I wonder? Do they use an airport nearby? I wonder if one could fly into Indy regional and catch a cab to the track etc?
 
tree96 said:
This would be awesome to se live. How do they stage this I wonder? Do they use an airport nearby? I wonder if one could fly into Indy regional and catch a cab to the track etc?
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At Texas Motor Speedway they took off and landed in the infield. It's worth going at least once. I might go to this since it's not a 2 day drive this time.
 
1600vw said:
Indy is not some small track. You can put all the football stadiums in America side the in field. At least this is what they said during a Indy race one year. There is also an 18 hole golf course in this infield. Indy is not some small race track.
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I said small for a plane doing over 200 mph...Vegas is not some small track, it's huge. And one run at 200 mph is around 18 seconds or less...and they only do 2 runs. How exciting is that? If it is to you....ok. I prefer a few minutes of racing, as a minimum. But, to each his own....:mad2:

I love airplanes and racing. Just saying we were all really disappointed. Take it or leave it.
Money much better spent would be going to Reno once. You will NOT be disappointed. :nono:
 
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flyingriki said:
I said small for a plane doing over 200 mph...Vegas is not some small track, it's huge. And one run at 200 mph is around 18 seconds or less...and they only do 2 runs. How exciting is that? If it is to you....ok. I prefer a few minutes of racing, as a minimum. But, to each his own....:mad2:

I love airplanes and racing. Just saying we were all really disappointed. Take it or leave it.
Money much better spent would be going to Reno once. You will NOT be disappointed. :nono:
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How fast do you think an Indy car is? They cruise around that track at 240 MPH.
 
1600vw said:
How fast do you think an Indy car is? They cruise around that track at 240 MPH.
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And they race for HOURS, not a few seconds....and there are pit stops and strategy, and breakdowns, etc.
A plane comes into the "course", screams through in a few seconds, goes out and comes back to do the few seconds in reverse then is gone. Wait 10-15 minutes and another does the same thing. After a few of those exciting races they announce a winner..... Whoopee!
I'm wasting my time here. Go see the damn things, I don't give a crap. Just pointing out several peoples experiences.
 
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1600vw said:
How fast do you think an Indy car is? They cruise around that track at 240 MPH.
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Being picky, but a few years ago when I went I thought they were topping out around 230. May vary depending on ambient conditions though.

My wife's family is in Indy. This might be a good excuse to go visit them!
 
JB1842 said:
At Texas Motor Speedway they took off and landed in the infield. It's worth going at least once. I might go to this since it's not a 2 day drive this time.
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Maybe a great time for a PoA meetup?
 
Somedudeintn said:
Being picky, but a few years ago when I went I thought they were topping out around 230. May vary depending on ambient conditions though.

My wife's family is in Indy. This might be a good excuse to go visit them!
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Yeah, a few go over 230 in qualifying, the majority go over 200. I live in Indy, not going near the place.
 
flyingriki said:
And they race for HOURS, not a few seconds....and there are pit stops and strategy, and breakdowns, etc.
A plane comes into the "course", screams through in a few seconds, goes out and comes back to do the few seconds in reverse then is gone. Wait 10-15 minutes and another does the same thing. After a few of those exciting races they announce a winner..... Whoopee!
I'm wasting my time here. Go see the damn things, I don't give a crap. Just pointing out several peoples experiences.
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I think your point is well taken. Reminds me of when some of my fraternity brothers convinced the rest of us how awesome Thunder on the Ohio was. God that was miserable. Just like you described, except the racing was way off in the distance, so there was no sense of speed, all you can see is water spray, the racing was lopsided because no one could match Miss Budweiser, and it was longer than 10-15 minutes between heats.
 
After spending quite a few years working indy in the pits for the 500 I'd say its a really boring race despite the speeds....from the pit wall the cars look really fast but the track is so big they don't look so fast....

As for the planes, I think it would be worth seeing at least once. I watch Svetlana Kapanina and a Russian Aerobatic pilot fly around the track at Motegi Japan and it was really cool. We ran the oval but they were using the infield road course track as a guide and also as a runway. They were happy to chat with us indycar mechanic plane fanatics too. I think I'm going to take the wife to the show in indy and see for myself....the formula 1 races were pretty boring, the 500 was really boring (at least from the pits) so I think we can handle a boring plane race too if it turns out to be so. Only about 70 miles to the track from here......

Frank
 
Somedudeintn said:
Being picky, but a few years ago when I went I thought they were topping out around 230. May vary depending on ambient conditions though.
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It absolutely does vary depending on conditions. When the track cools down, they can go a lot faster due to increased grip. But 230 would be an average time for qualification-- not during the race.

You have to see how sharp and flat the turns are in person, and then consider that during qualifications, the accelerator is flat to the floor all the way around the track.
 
BiffJ said:
After spending quite a few years working indy in the pits for the 500 I'd say its a really boring race despite the speeds....from the pit wall the cars look really fast but the track is so big they don't look so fast....

As for the planes, I think it would be worth seeing at least once. I watch Svetlana Kapanina and a Russian Aerobatic pilot fly around the track at Motegi Japan and it was really cool. We ran the oval but they were using the infield road course track as a guide and also as a runway. They were happy to chat with us indycar mechanic plane fanatics too. I think I'm going to take the wife to the show in indy and see for myself....the formula 1 races were pretty boring, the 500 was really boring (at least from the pits) so I think we can handle a boring plane race too if it turns out to be so. Only about 70 miles to the track from here......

Frank
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I am not a huge racing fan myself. I go to the race every 5 to 10 years-- generally when a friend with an extra ticket asks me at the last minute. I will say that the one time I sat behind the pits, was a little disappointing. Outside of the turns, or maybe outside of the main straightaway up high is generally where you want to be. They have added a lot of good technology to help you keep track of where everyone is. The way to do the 500 is to bring a picnic lunch. Get there early to watch some of the opening ceremonies. Then about 50 laps in when the novelty wears off, break out the food and keep eating until about lap 150. Then start paying attention again.
 
tree96 said:
This would be awesome to se live. How do they stage this I wonder? Do they use an airport nearby? I wonder if one could fly into Indy regional and catch a cab to the track etc?
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Eagle Creek (KEYE) would be closer assuming there is no TFR. Uber or a cab would get you to the track. I am local so I plan on dropping by to check it out.
 
I already bought my tickets. Disappointing or not I've never been to one and this is easily doable. Love going to the 500 so I think this should be just as fun. Especially having a lot of friends in the area to go and drink with.
1600vw said:
There is also an 18 hole golf course in this infield. Indy is not some small race track.
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To be clear, only 4 of the holes are inside the track.

tree96 said:
This would be awesome to se live. How do they stage this I wonder? Do they use an airport nearby? I wonder if one could fly into Indy regional and catch a cab to the track etc?
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Heard they are gonna use a road inside the track as the runway.
Indy regional would be a long taxi ride. Better to just rent a car for a day. Eagle creek and Hendricks county would be the closest GA airports.
 
Sounds like fun. I would be down for going to meet some people.

Ive been to the MotoGP races there, great racing btw, and the redbull race looks awesome on TV.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
If we do a PoA meetup I'm down.
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If so, we should do it at KEYE. We can walk across the street to Rick's Boatyard.

I presume that there would be some TFR associated with the event waiver, but KEYE is just outside of the TFR for the 500, so it should be fine for folks coming in.
 
I'm down for a meetup as well KEYE sounds like a good bet.
 
Anyone have experience with wearing a headset/handheld during the races to listen in?
 
Second thought, it's probably some protected frequency so people can't mic in.
 
tree96 said:
This would be awesome to se live. How do they stage this I wonder? Do they use an airport nearby? I wonder if one could fly into Indy regional and catch a cab to the track etc?
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They are going to use the backstretch for the runway.

Plenty long enough, and the only real obstruction is the turn 2 suites.
 
1600vw said:
Indy is not some small track. You can put all the football stadiums in America side the in field. At least this is what they said during a Indy race one year. There is also an 18 hole golf course in this infield. Indy is not some small race track.
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indy-motor-speedway.jpg
 
Big ten football stadii.
 

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And Indy is only 1 mile on a side, outside the stadium, I measured it once. Which means a 200 mph pass will take about 15-16 seconds....Whoopeee!
Vegas is even smaller and yes, they did use the track for a runway. It was dangerous as hell at Vegas with the high winds whipping over, down and swirling into the hole of the stadium. I don't think the pilots were very damn happy about it and the landings were scary.
 
flyingriki said:
Vegas is even smaller and yes, they did use the track for a runway. It was dangerous as hell at Vegas with the high winds whipping over, down and swirling into the hole of the stadium. I don't think the pilots were very damn happy about it and the landings were scary.
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I posted a link in another thread. They are using a road in the infield for the landing strip; not the track itself.
 
PPC1052 said:
I posted a link in another thread. They are using a road in the infield for the landing strip; not the track itself.
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Well, the road in the infield they are using is mostly part of a straightaway of the road course so it is technically part of the track, just not the famed oval.

Pedantic, I know. :D
 
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