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Aero antics
IT'S fast, thrilling and fun to watch. But how does it feel to be a pilot braving huge G-forces in an aircraft barely bigger than a rowing boat on Stanley Park lake? "It's all about precision, control, not losing your cool, or thinking you're good at it," says Richard Grace, one of the stars of Aero GP racing and aerobatics in Blackpool this weekend. "The second you think you're good is the moment you crash and burn."
When your mum flies a Spitfire that the family's saved from the scrapheap, it's hardly likely you're going to settle for a few Airfix models fluttering above your bed.
Richard preferred to shoot his Airfix models with an air rifle – and boy, could they burn.
Now his hand-built Cassutt racer will be taking on the big boys of Aero GP, the fastest motorsport in Europe, for a series of races and aerobatic spectacles this weekend.
Blackpool is hosting the UK's first multiplane, high speed air race in modern times.
The wacky racers end Veterans' Week in a blaze of glory so long as bad weather doesn't spoil the show.
Picture Aces High in teeny weeny aeroplanes, flying like the clappers above North Promenade, and you get the picture. Exhilaration maxed to the extreme.
Pilots need nerves of steel to avoid succumbing to G Force which whitens the knuckles of onlookers below.
Seat-of-your pants flying this, not unlike the celebrated Red Bull tourney but more a one-in-all-in dash for the finish, rather than individual speed trials.
The buzz is unbeatable, says Richard, whose mum Caroline also happens to fly a Spitfire. The family rebuild old aircraft, often better than before.
It took the Graces five years to rebuild
their distinguished war veteran Spitfire. Richard loves flying it, for the heritage, but admits "it's not the nicest experience."
This weekend's Aero GP, races and
aerobatics, starting 2pm, Saturday and Sunday, mark a coup for Blackpool.
In the better-known Red Bull air races, the planes fly one at a time. But Aero GP is the Grand Prix of air racing, planes flying just yards above sea level and while, strictly speaking, they shouldn't exceed around 250mph ... some can reach 300mph. Ten times faster than the speed limit for motorists along the Prom!
The teams are in Blackpool from Thursday to get the lie of the land. "I'm looking forward to seeing the Tower, and Pleasure Beach – and that ferry," Richard says.
He pits his single seater Cassutt sports racer against other specialist aerobatic aircraft, including the two-seater Extra 300L, with a mighty six cylinder engine.
It's "flying as it should be."
The small but high performance aircraft can dance as well as zip through air. It's usually powered by a 0-200, 100 horse power engine.
Surprisingly fuel efficient, it can cruise at 185-200 mph on approximately six gallons per hour – handy for the refuelling at nearby Blackpool Airport.
The mid wing design has stood the test of time since the halcyon days of bi-plane air racing and is arguably far more manoeuvrable.
The cockpit is enclosed. "I do a lot of air displays and got called up because of my aeroplane. The Cassutt racers are really tiny – 15ft wing spans and about 18 ft long. It's bracing.
"I got my licence on Cessnas and at 19, four years ago, bought one of these things, then another. I've got five now, three flying and doing air shows around the country.
"Flying is all I've known. My dad was a pilot in Australia, where he met my mother, and they went to Guernsey, where he was building a racing yacht, and they used to fly back and forth all the time. I was born in Cornwall.
"My mum got me into it. She got an American copy bi-plane, and did some buying and selling, rebuilding aircraft – the Spitfire being one of them. She did the air show at Barrow four years ago when I got to be ground crew.
"Cassutts aren't comfortable, it's like sitting on a bit of sheet metal, because they're built for speed and agility, very reponsive, sensitive and a bit tricky, pretty much stripped to the basics.
"Top whack is about 248mph and you average 180mph but for racing purposes it's over 210mph and often more.
"You fly low, too, around 50ft which gives a tremendous sense of speed.
"They're small to go fast so they lose inherent stability. In car terms it's closest to the Lotus Elite, without the creature comforts. It knocks spots off anything Top Gear can do.
"It's closer, in spirit, to speedboat racing or motorbike racing .. more specifically, putting a dirty great big 1,000cc motorbike engine on micro scooter wheels! Great fun, though."
Just one word of warning: call Richard The Amazing Grace at your peril. "Most the pilots have nicknames but I've told Aero GP I'm an Englishman, not an American, and we don't do nicknames!"
jacqui.morley@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
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Weather for Blackpool
Wednesday 30 May 2012
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Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
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