Baptism
By Fire.

A New Kind Of Race

AIR RACE X was presented to us by Yoshi, Matt and Pete, and we loved it for two reasons: we finally got to fly the race plane we had bought with the hope of air racing returning, and we are always up for a challenge.

The concept was unique. Pilots around the world would fly the same GPS-marked track in their own countries. Each aircraft carried an RDU unit that tracked the aircraft, monitored penalties, pylon hits, height, entry speed and over-G events.

No Track Time

Preparation was far from ideal. Patrick had an airshow in China before the event, then rain prevented meaningful practice. By the time racing started, other teams had already logged times while Team 77 was still trying to understand the system.

Day One: Problems Everywhere

The first day was chaos. The RDU kept showing pylon hits and low penalties. After sending data to Japan, the team discovered that one gate marker was six metres off position and another set of gate coordinates was wrong.

With no physical pylons like Red Bull Air Race, judging height and position from ground markers was difficult. Team 77 was initially seven to eight seconds off the leading pace.

The Winglet Call

On day two, the team swapped to larger winglets after discussions with Pablo Castello Branco and Mark Hensman. The aircraft improved, and with an easterly wind through the start gate, Patrick managed laps in the 65 to 67 second range.

The Weather Lesson

Calm conditions on day three did not bring the expected improvement. Clean runs were slower, and the team realised the track favoured a slight headwind angle through the start gate. It was a painful but important lesson.

The Protest

Against Juan Velarde, penalties appeared despite Patrick feeling he had flown clean, repeatable lines. Greg lodged a protest. The review showed the RDU had only locked onto 11 of 16 satellites, causing incorrect tracking. The protest was accepted.

Three Wins And A Huge Learning Curve

Team 77 went on to beat Juan Velarde and Matt Hall, and beat Pete McLeod by default. They narrowly lost to Mika Brageot by just over half a second.

The final result was three wins from seven matchups — but more importantly, it was a massive learning curve in a completely new form of air racing.

Why It Mattered

AIR RACE X was not Red Bull Air Race, and it was never meant to be. It was augmented reality, real aircraft, real race data and a new way of presenting air racing to a different audience.

It was bold, different and sometimes frustrating, but it put real air racing back in motion — and Team 77 was part of it from the start.