Going To See The Perth Air Race

Even if you can't stand the taste of Red Bull energy drinks, you have to take your hat off to the company for keeping the Perth Air Race going.

The race, taking place in Perth Australia, is really a sight to see. Not just a quick dash from point A to point B, the racers have to fly through pylons, called "air gates" to qualify, making tight turns and short times. The pilots typically compete in high performance aerobatic planes, allowing for the kind of responsiveness that really lets them wow the crowd.

The air gates are actually a fascinating little marvel of technology. They've been developed to be breakaway, so that, in the event that a pilot snags one of them, it won't throw them off or cause an accident, but rather, it will simply rip away and collapse in order to provide a safe experience for the racers, which is very important, considering the lower altitudes that these fellows fly at.

These races have been going on since 2003, so it's been nearly a decade now and they're still drawing huge crowds and making a splash with national televised coverage. At this point it's become something of a tradition.

If you're new to the whole thing and you want to have something to talk about should you go see it for yourself, here are the champions, by year, since the inception of the contest...

2003 Peter Besenyei of Hungary2004 Kirby Chambliss from the United States2005 Mike Mangold from the United States2006 Chambliss2008 Mangold2009 Paul Bonhomme, the first British Champion

If you really want to get into it, you'll want to do a little research on the teams involved and the events and what have you, but this short list should be all you need to at least fake it! Of course, what you really need to do is get on Youtube and find some videos of the competition, since seeing it is really the point.

2009 was a benchmark for the competition, seeing racers from four new countries: Peter McLeod from Canada, Yoshihide Muroya from Japan, Matt Hall from Australia, and Matthias Dolderer from Germany. None took the gold, but third place went to Matt Hall.

The race actually takes place all around the entire world, with events in the US, the UK, Brazil, Germany, everywhere. We focus on Perth just because... It's a beautiful place for an air race! Nowhere will you find the kind of blue skies, fluffy white clouds and gorgeous landscapes you see in Australia.

If you've been looking for an excuse to visit Australia, you couldn't ask for a better one. Next time you want to take a holiday, check and see when the Red Bull Air Race is taking place and see if you can get your vacation time and come down to see it take place. It's thrilling, it's fun, and it's a great excuse to get out of town for a little while. Obviously, the entire country is beautiful, and it's worth a trip regardless, but going there during the Air Race is definitely the way to do it.