Team Muroya 31

Thanks for the support.

2011-03-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

I would like to express my sincere sympathy to everyone affected by the recent earthquake off northeastern Pacific Ocean coast.

My Staff and myself, living in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, directly encountered the earthquake.
Thank you all of for your messages of concern. My staff and aircraft are all safe for now.

Under the unstable nuclear plant situation, people in Fukushima are still living with tight food and gasoline supplies, and also accepting residents evacuated from the power plant area.
We are fighting with multiple disasters to restart normal life.

In addition, the suffering due to the tsunami being endured by the people affected is probably unimaginable.

So many messages from all over the world are reaching us, and it is encouraging us quite a lot.
For further recover, For now we need global support due to the profound damages.

What I can do for now would be expanding the circle of help as much as possible!

Thanks for the support from around the world.
I would like to express the gratitude and warm feelings of everyone.

The relief money collected through Google Checkout will be donated to a charity set up through the

Japanese Red Cross to support victims of the earthquake and rebuild the afflicted areas.

Yoshi Muoya

Red Bull Air Race season over

2010-08-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

The final race of the 2010 held Red Bull Air Race World Championship was held in Germany at the Euro Speedway, Lausitz. Hannes Arch won with a time of 1:12:30, Paul Bonhomme was second only 0.36 seconds behind. Paul Bonhomme won the 2010 World Championship title over the six race season.

Yoshi Muroya was fourth in training, 9th in the qualifying round today which was postponed yesterday because of rain, The top 12 round resulted in 9-seconds of penalties, including a Pylon hit with a total of, 1:23:76 for 12th place in this round. A total of five points for the six round 2010 World Championship placed him in 12th overall.

Muroya's latest comments (video) is available on the official Muroya website YouTube channel.
And detailed results can be downloaded from the official Red Bull Site

Photos by Taro Imahara / T.I.P.P

Eurospeedway Lausitz training rounds

2010-08-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

T1 and T2 where the first time Yoshi has been in the race track for 3 months since Rio. Getting back to speed took a little time but now today in T4, Yoshi ahs put in a good practice time placing Team Muroya 4th in training. Pretty good since he has so much less time in the race track compared to the other pilots. For T4 we went with different power settings to those we have tried in previous races and the engine is really running nicely. That together wth a new fuel servo compared to the last race in Rio, we are at last competitive with the second tier group of pilots. Yoshi thinks there is still room for improvement in the lines through the course. Here is hoping for some really good Qualifying rounds tomorrow!

Pictures Taro Imahara / TIPP

Flying again

2010-08-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Back in the air after repairing the tail plane and making a new canopy at the Xtremeair factory in Germany.
Soon the last Red Bull Air Race for this season. After that it won't be until 2012 that the next edition of RBAR will be seen.
So, Team Muroya is looking forward to a smooth and trouble free race to finish the 2010 season on a high note!

pics by Taro Imahara / T.I.P.P

Plane during final preparations at Xtremeair GMBH (nearest the door)

Flying again at last

Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010 New York Report

2010-06-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

An unfortunate run of bad luck has forced Team Muroya to drop out of the New York race. After an earlier mishap in Windsor that saw Team Muroya having to hurriedly prepare another aircraft to compete in, pilot Yoshi Muroya chose to stay in Windsor with the new plane to get as much practice in as possible prior to flying the plane to New Jersey for the New York round.

Bad weather then forced a difficult ferry flight in marginal weather requiring him to turn back twice. Muroya suffered the misfortune of clipping the propeller while landing at the Race Airport in New Jersey.

Without enough time to complete repairs prior to the New York race, Muroya took the decision to retire from the round, regroup and assess the problems of the last two weeks - and work towards a strong comeback in the European rounds of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010.

Team Muroya expressed its apologies to supporters and fans for the disappointment and inconvenience caused in the Windsor and New York rounds.

The team looks forward to their continued support going in to the European stage of the World Championship.

Posted by Team MUROYA Racing

Windsor report and results

2010-06-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

Windsor, June 4, 2010

Regrettably and with much disappointment, Team Muroya has been forced to withdraw from the Windsor round of the Red Bull Air Race Championship 2010.

During a practice session overhead Windsor Airport, a problem developed with the cockpit canopy which led to irreparable damage to it. Unfortunately the canopy is a custom item and a replacement is not readily available.
The biggest disappointment for the team is that the plane had been worked on for 2 weeks prior to arriving in Windsor to improve the engine and overall performance. These changes had shown to be effective during practice and the plane was performing well.

It will take approximately three weeks to reproduce a new canopy so a decision was taken to accept Team Arch’s offer to use their race plane from last year for the Windsor and New York rounds. However this aircraft was located in Oklahoma at the Zivko Edge factory and needed to be assembled including mounting the engine and various other components.

Team Muroya made a huge effort to get to the Zivko factory and prepare the plane in the short time available. Pilot Yoshi Muroya, Technician Takashi Nishimura and TC Rob Fry worked long hours for 2 days with a deadline of 3pm local time in order that Yoshi could ferry to Windsor before sunset on June 3rd. Unfortunately, although the plane was assembled and ready to go a problem was discovered with the electrical system and the engine could not be started as the time limit went by.

You can see Yoshi's Interview just after the retirement for the Windsor round here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUwEIp5BMTk

Posted by Team coordinator Robert Fry

Out in the rain

2010-05-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

After working late on the aircraft last night to improve the performance we were looking forward to a good day and a chance to claw our way back into the running.

The wild card round went reasonably well with a good net time (without penalties) showing the plane is now back running well again. The 4 seconds of penalties were unfortunate but we managed to squeeze into the top 12 after Sergei hit a pylon while pushing the lines aggressively.

As light rain started to fall we were first up in the final 12 round. The start was good and everything going well to the 270 turn where Yoshi was called by the judges for "descending in the gate" resulting in a disqualification. Yoshi after reviewing the video felt it was not deserved however the judges call is final.

Shortly after, the rain started more heavily and after the first 4 Pilots completed their runs racing has been postponed for a while.

But for Team Muroya, the racing in Rio is over. Tomorrow we disassemble the aircraft and on the 16th May we reassemble in Windsor, Canada then fly the plane to a small airport near Detroit for some modification work prior to the next race in Windsor.

Photo by Taro Imahara

Rio de Janeiro qualification report and results

2010-05-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

Japanese Pilot Yoshihide Muroya qualified 13th today at the Rio de Janeiro round of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Hannes Arch took the bonus qualifying point with Nigel Lamb 2nd and Paul Bonhomme in 3rd.

After 2 clean rounds it is evident that Muroya’s plane is not performing as powerfully as the others and although admitting to be able to close up a second or two through better lines through the course, a thorough check of the engine settings is in progress to find out where the difference in engine performance could be.

Team Muroya will now compete in the Wild Card round going into the final day of racing and is looking forward to the opportunity to advance into the top 12 and then subsequent rounds.

Final will be live streamed on http://www.redbullairrace.com/ 9/May 24:51 Japan time.
Please keep an eye on Yoshi’s Performance on high speed track at Rio de Janeiro.

Team MUROYA official site　http://yoshi-muroya.jp

Red Bull Air Race official site http://www.redbullairrace.com/

Photo by Taro Imahara/TIPP

Posted by Team Muroya Racing

Training flights at Rio

2010-05-07T16:59:00.001-07:00

Two days of 4 training flights were to be held however we only got one flight yesterday. 2 Flights today plus 2 compensation runs through the track. The Rio track is proving to be less technical than Perth so outright speed (power) is proving to be important. Our result in T4 was 11th and this determines our start order position tomorrow for the qualification rounds. Our flights were quite clean with one penalty for an early pull up but looking at our times against the other pilots (disregarding the penalty) our speed does not seem very good. We will be looking to make some engine adjustments and pilot Yoshi is studying the course again to try and find some shortcuts!

However the weather forecast is not looking very good and rain might cut the racing short. Lets hope that it doesn't and we can ge some good racing in and a good result!

New Sponsor for 2010!!

2010-05-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Team Muroya is proud to announce Aqualine Ltd., a Japanese water supplier as an official
partner for the remaining races of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Aqualine
Ltd. will be providing its best quality water and their support to Team Muroya from Rio de
Janeiro onwards.

Fans will see the Aqualine logos on Yoshi's aircraft and his flight suit.
Aqualine is renowned for their high quality water products in Japan for both consumers and
companies. The natural bottled water “aqua-aqua” is their main brand and the water is carefully
chosen from a spring in the Tachikawa mountains, rated one of the best natural water sources in
the world.

"Team Muroya is delighted to the have the valuable support of Aqualine in our quest for
success in the 2010 seasonsponsorship”, said Muroya.

The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is a motorsports competition rapidly gaining on
popularity and as an exciting test of physical and mental endurance in race aircrafts flown by
the world's best race pilots. The high speed, low-level races are held on demanding courses in
cities around the globe.

Photo by Taro Imahara/TIPP
Posted by Team Muroya Racing

At the COPA! The girl from Ipanema goes walking.....

2010-05-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

But for us serious air racers it is time to get down to business and today the Race Airport was officially opened by Red Bull Air Race GMBH CEO Bernd Loidl. The Race Airport is on regional airport and calibration flights got under way after a small delay. However, just before Yoshi was about to taxi out a time out has been called and we are "waiting for updates".
Hopefully the flying in and out of this busy airport will go smoother when full training in the track starts tomorrow.

Perth Report and Result

2010-04-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

The final race for Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010 was held in Perth Australia today, Hannes Arch has won the Perth round of the championship followed by local hero Matt Hall just 0.48 seconds behind him.

Yoshihide Muroya progressed through the Wild Card session today, taking 1st place to move into the Top 12.
His Top 12 round time of 1.32.43 including a marginal 2 seconds penalty put him in 9th position, not quite good enough to move on to the next round.

But, he was able to fly his plane close to its best time, and looking on the positive side said, “I have found a big key point concerning flying style from this race and will review it and prepare for the next round in Rio”.

Photo by Taro Imahara/TIP
Posted by team Muroya

Race Day Schedule

2010-04-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday 18 April – Race Day

(Japan Local time)
12:45～　Wild card
13:40～　Top 12
14:20～　Super 8
14:55～　Final 4

Live streaming can be viewed via Channel 6 at Team MUROYA official website

Posted by Team MUROYA Racing

Perth qualification report and results

2010-04-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Qualification round for 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was held in Perth, Australia today.

Muroya hit a pylon on the first qualification round and finished with a total 9sec penalty. He decided to use Q2 as preparation for tomorrows racing and made a stable flight in the second round and with no penalty. Unfortunately the time put him in 13th and therefore takes a place in the Wild Card round for tomorrow's racing.

You can watch MUROYA's interview after qualifying flight here (in Japanese)

The Wild Card session will start from 18th April 12:45 Japan time and can be viewed via Channel 6 at Team MUROYA official website

For further information about today’s results… http://85.25.132.161/Index.htm

In addition, Pit Lane Walk with a special guest has been conducted.

American Actor Josh Lucas has visted to our hanger.

Posted by Team MUROYA Racing

Qualifying Day Schedule

2010-04-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday 17 April – Qualifying Day
(Local Time/Perth)
12:30 First Qualifying round
13:30 Second Qualifying round

For more information about Perth Race, please visit ...
http://www.redbullairrace.com/
Red Bull Air Race Live Blog
Race Live Result

Photo by Taro Imahara/TIPP

Posted by Team MUROYA Racing

Perth Race Runway is open!

2010-04-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

Despite some inclement weather in the area, the Race Runway was officially opened at Perth today. You definitely know you are in Australia when there is a Koala and a Kangaroo at a ceremony such as this!

The pilots were all presented wth a Boomerang as a momento of the Perth race and many were soon out on the runway trying to make them fly and come back! Perhaps due to the quality of the gift, many were quite successful!

Perth arrival

2010-04-10T02:44:00.000-07:00

April 9th is the date all Technicians and Team Coordinators were to be in Perth. Work started on re-assembling the aircraft and today, April 10th now at 5pm, most planes are nearly complete.
The picture shows the scene in the Fighter Combat International hanger at Jandakot Airport, Perth. The aircraft are to be all assembled and test flown here through Tuesday, April 13th. On Wednesday all will then fly in to the Race Airport situated on a park in downtown Perth adjacent to the Race Course.

Abu Dhabi 10th place

2010-03-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

WOW what an exciting day at the Red Bull Air races!
4 Disqualifications for dangerous flying for Rakmanin, Arch, Dolderer and Chambliss!
3 Did not starts for MaClean, Hall and Goulian!

The DNS for Hall and Goulian were on the start grid. They could not get their engines started to go for the next flight.

Paul Bonhomme won with a very good final time considering the heat of 41 deg C in the race track. The fact that Besenyei took out 3rd place with a time 7 seconds slower showed how consistency in the final rounds is so important.

Team Muroya wants to take this lesson to Perth. Our plane seems closer to beingcompetitive. Even so we still need to improve the plane to reach the final 4.

The start to the season has shown the effects of the new rules about weight limits for planes and pilots.
The planes are held in Parc Ferme from 2 hours before the racing starts and can be spot checked for weight at any time. Team Maclean were unlucky to be found 3kg light in a spot check and were therefore disqualified from the qualification rounds. Such small discrepancys can occurr just by the difference in temperature of the fuel when it was put in the plane and when the plane is weighed possibly the next day. Teams have to be very careful that the fuel loads and any compensation weights are correct prior to the 2 hour Parc Ferme time. The pilots are weighed together with their compensation weights immediately after landing and must exceed the minimum Pilot weight of 82kg or else the will be disqualified.

For Team Muroya the 10th place and 2 points is not too bad a start. We know where our improvements can be made an look forward to the next round in Perth.
photos by Taro Imahara/TIPP

Qualifying in Abu Dhabi

2010-03-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Todays qualifying rounds were quite exciting for Team Muroya placing 6th in the 1st round but dropping to 8th overall after the 2 rounds were completed.

The new engine is running well considering the heat here and is becoming progressively better.

We look forward to some great racing in the finals tomorrow and a great finish for the Team.
Photo by Taro Imahara / TIPP

Abu Dhabi photo shoot

2010-03-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

Race 31 over head the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi (7star Hotel)

Photo: Mike Hewett/Getty Images

Abu Dhabi - Let the racing begin!

2010-03-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

Today the Red Bull Air Race Runway was officially opened in Abu Dhabi. Here we see the official ceremony with media, organisers, spomsors being welcomed and introduced to the Pilots.
Also parked at the ceremony was the modified Ivanoff Edge with 3 into 1 pipes out the side.

Abu Dhabi Flying at last!

2010-03-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Race 31 is assembled and flying. After long hours of work over the last 3 days, we started test flying today. The plane and engine are working well. The new engine seems a definite improvement! You will notice the new lines of the plane now with modified top sections and sleek canopy. Less drag and more power! Yeah!

Test flying of the other planes is underway too. Now, the new planes and modifications are out in the open for all to see. Most notable is Nigel Lambs new wing tip fins! His plane now looks like 2 sharks swimming in formation! Or a bit like a mini 737! Look out for the pictures. Hannes Arch has the new V3 Edge which is much lighter so he has more equipment and also ballast to bring it to the minimum weight. The advantage of this is the weight is closer to the center of the aircraft which should make the energy required to make manouevres less which of course turns into more speed around the track. Paul Bonhommes Edge has some improvements which are difficult to see but we know for sure he has a new engine similar to ours which should give him more power than last season, and has lost some weight out of the plane too. Interesting addition to his plane are the cowl flaps under the bottom of the cowling. This allows him to keep his engine really cool before retracting them going into the track for less drag and full power in the minute or so of the track run.

WOW!!

Technician testing winglet covers while Pilot tests winglets!

Abu Dhabi 2

2010-03-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

The plane reassembly is progressing but there is much work to be done. There is a new telemetry system being fitted to all the aircraft involving new HD camera live broadcasting of the cockpit and tail cameras that requires more power than the existing 8amp alternators can produce so, we have to fit new 20amp alternators and revise the wiring on the aircraft. Then there is new wiring for the cameras and systems so everyone is very busy completing these modifications before we can get down to actually racing.
Here we see Yoshi and Takashi talking about the new GPS antennas before they fit it to the race plane.
Oops date is wrong again. 20th here in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi 1

2010-03-19T03:56:00.000-07:00

At last we were able to get to start preparing the planes for racing. There has been some delay in getting access to the planes after shipment from all over the world and in our case from New Zealand. We off loaded the aircraft from their airshipment pallets at 11:30pm last night and put them in their hangers for an early start this morning at 8:30am. Work is progressing smoothly and Team Muroya is changing to our brand new racing engine as planned. The new engine should be more powerfull and lighter in weight with all the latest allowable engine nodifictions such as re-profiled camshaft new pistons and rings and other small but positive improvements over the standard engine.
Here we see Takashi working on the new engine prior to attachment to the fuselage this morning. Sorry for the date stamp error.

Wining Wings－Asia Downunder

2010-03-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Muroya has been screened on Asia Downunder programme, TV One.

Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010 will open in Abu Dhabi on 26 & 27 March.

Posted by Team MUROYA Racing

Press conference and send-off party

2010-03-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

Tokyo, Japan－

Team MUROYA press conference for the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010 and a special arranged send-off party have been held at Aoyama attended by 60 members of the media, guests and supporters.

Under their watchful gaze, Yoshi said, “I should like to begin by thanking you for the great encouragement to date. In 2009 season, we had a relatively modest start through the first 3 races and in Windsor I was unable to flight due to heavy pylon hit in training session. I learned in my rookie how crucial getting a top spot is.” commented Muroya. “But every race we’ve got better and better, and in Barcelona I finished in 6th place, so I’ve achieved my rookie year goal of finishing above 7th place in a race. During the off season, we’ve been training in New Zealand and doing lots of modifications on our EDGE. My goal for this season is to be ranked in the top 7 overall, consistently in the super 8, and to be on the podium at least 1 time. Now we’re hard at work preparing and I’m looking forward to the first race in Abu Dhabi.”

At the party, 2 movies (Team MUROYA 2009 highlight and a trailer of “Sky is the limit” that is MUROYA’s documentary film) were screened. You can see them on YouTube.

Team MUROYA 2009 highlight
"Sky is the limit" trailer

Posted by Team MUROYA Racing

Team MUROYA Information

2010-03-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

9th on March,
MUROYA has visited to local press (Fukushima Minyuu and Fukushima Minpou) to inform them about his participation of Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2010.

High Flying in Auckland

2010-02-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the video of the flight in Auckland NZ!
Video From Red Bull Japan.

Muroya, training in New Zealand, delights big Auckland crowd

2010-02-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

From RedBull AirRace News;

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Japan’s Yoshi Muroya, who has been training hard through New Zealand’s summer for the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, was able to show off some of his high-speed, low-altitude flying prowess in front of a big crowd gathered at the Auckland Anniversary Day celebrations in the city’s famous harbour on Feb. 1.

Muroya, who emerged as one of the most improved pilots late in his rookie season, delighted the many thousands of spectator by flying a Sukhoi 29 owned by his team coordinator Rob Fry in a high-energy 15-minute demonstration over the harbour in Auckland, known as the “City of Sails” because it has more yachts per capita than any city in the world.

“The Red Bull Air Race is quite well known here in New Zealand,” said Muroya, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Jan. 27. Muroya was one of four rookies last year is counting on winning over New Zealand fans away from Australia’s Matt Hall, another rookie in 2009.

“Many people have been following it on TV,” Muroya added. “There is a strong sporting rivalry between New Zealand and Australia. I think as long as there’s no New Zealand pilot in the race, the people would probably support the Aussie pilot. But now that I’ve been here for so long I’m sure the New Zealand fans will be cheering for me.”
Popular in Japan and New Zealand
Muroya, the first Asian pilot in the championship, has helped make the Red Bull Air Race popular in his home country Japan and is hoping that there will one day be a race staged in Tokyo.

“There were so many TV programmes about the Red Bull Air Race in Japan and now many people know what the race is,” he said. “They’re really looking forward to having a race in Japan one day.”
During this off-season, Muroya has been shuttling between Japan and New Zealand. He has spent about half the time between December and February in the warmer climate here in a series two-week stints with his Auckland-based team coordinator Fry, working on his flying skills and on improvements in his Edge 540.
“The weather is fine so the flying is easy and the plane is progressing so things are good here,” Muroya said. “Rob Fry lives here in Auckland and I’m staying at his home, which is just a one-minute walk from his hangar on a small airfield. The people are really nice and the local reaction has been very positive. It’s a safe, laid-back environment.”
The training conditions in Auckland are also superb, he said. “There’s a designated low-flying area nearby over the water. There’s also plenty of technical support nearby. New Zealand is also easily accessible to Japan. There’s only a four-hour time difference.”
Muroya, an avid snowboarder, has also spent time in the off-season on the slopes in Japan. “Snowboarding in Japan and then swimming in the sea in New Zealand,” he said, surprised himself by the temperature extremes he has been shifting back and forth through since December.
Aims for top 7 finish in 2010
Muroya displayed an admirable degree of self-discipline to stick closely to his plan for his first season with an emphasis on safety and acquiring experience in the first four races before attacking for points in the final two rounds.
He hopes to make a big move up in the championship standings in 2010. After finishing 13th with 9 points in 2009 and getting a season-best in the final race of the year in Barcelona, Muroya has set his sites on 7th place overall in 2010.

“The plane is coming along well,” he said. “We’re making a lot of modifications during the summer here. I’ve been able to prepare and train more than last year so I’m looking forward to getting off to a good start in Abu Dhabi. I’ve got an overall development plan for 2010 and I’m progressing along that nicely. The off-season training is going well so I expect to see much better results in 2010.”
One area Muroya hopes to improve in the upcoming season will be cutting down on pylon hits. He took the dubious distinction of having the most pylon hits in his rookie season but chalks that up to experience. He’s confident he won’t “win” that title again this year.
“I’m the reigning world champion for pylon hits but I need to hand that over to someone else,” he said. “I think I’ve tested the strength of the Air Gates enough.”

A New Year and a New Race Season

2010-01-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year followers!

Team Muroya is working hard on modifications to our race plane here in New Zealand. Unfortunately we can not give you the details but all will become clear at the first race in Abu Dhabi in 2 months time!

After a trip back to Japan to be with family over the new year period, Yoshi is here in Auckland again for several weeks helping with the Edge mods. Prior to heading down to the hanger each morning, Yoshi and TC Rob have been doing some cycling around the farms in the airport area. Here we see them just back from a hilly work out.

Edge in New Zealand

2009-12-14T02:22:00.000-08:00

After a long wait our race plane has arrived in NZ for flight tests and.....
Yoshi came in to late spring weather in Auckland from late Autumn in Japan and we assembled the plane and carried out test flights for 3 days. Now the hard work begins on some exciting ideas for next season. Watch this space!

Back in Japan

2009-10-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Photo: Taro Imahara

Photo: Taro Imahara

Photo: Taro Imahara

Amongst Yoshi's commitments in Japan was staging the 2009 Skyleisure Japan in Fukushima at his home airport, Fukushima Sky Park.

In the photo Yoshi introduces the TV Tokyo team to Mr Saito, the head of the Fukushima Sky Park Flying Club.

TV Tokyo together with many local Fukushima media reps were there to record and broadcast the 2 day event. The main atractions were Jurgis Kairys' and Yoshi' solo flights and the "Air Bandits" formation team of TC Robert Fry in lead with a Yak 50 and wing men Jurgis and Yoshi.

Not so Coveted award!

2009-10-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Yoshi receives Air Gators award! To the most deserving pilot of the season, the Air Gators present their special award each year! This season Yoshi was a narrow winner of the most Pylon hits (14) award for 2009. "This is the one trophy that we WON'T be trying for next year" says Yoshi and paid tribute to his coach Steve Jones for selling him his special pylon attractive aircraft.

Great Day!

2009-10-04T10:20:00.001-07:00

Barcelona Wild Card, Top 12 and Super 8!

2009-10-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

A fantastic result for Team Muroya on the final day of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2009.

Yoshi was at last able to find that consistent groove that he has been looking for. Long appraisal of yesterdays videos last night and a recheck of our recordings of other teams flights this morning confirmed a way that he could improve his lines through the track.

The hard work paid off and Yoshi finished top in the Wild Card round and then through into the Super 8. A clean run in the top eight left him with his best placing of 6th for the season.

An ecstatic Yoshi said; "I managed to meet my goals for this race placing 7th or better. I have been working on a plan of improving bit by bit and it has worked as planned. We now look forward to improving our plane over the off season and getting plenty of practice in as well to keep up my G tolerance to a high level".

Airgators and their job

2009-10-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

There is a news article about the air gates and the men that keep them up on the Red Bull Air Race newsroom. It is very interesting for avid air race followers.

Pit Lane walk photos

2009-10-03T10:07:00.001-07:00

Barcelona Qualifying

2009-10-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Go here for the news from Red Bull Air Race Newsroom

For Team Muroya:

Qualification Round 1.

A good time through the track but 3 penalties through 3 of the turning gates. Not exactly in the rules as we see but this has been clarified with the judges between rounds.

Qualification Round 2

Yoshi went into this round with the intention of getting a clean run but with an average time. He admitted to slightly misjudging the onshore wind while concentrating too hard on the next gate, the quadro and unfortunately took out the right hand start pylon.

Obviously room for improvement in consistency but the times through the track are ok considering our plane.

After racing the press and the enthusiastic Spanish fans are having a great time meeting the pilots in the pit lane at the Red Bull Air Race runway at Sabadell.

Barcelona Training

2009-10-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

A mixed bag today for Team Muroya. 3rd Training was OK but the wind in 4th training was causing a few people problems. The southerly sea breeze came in and even with making an allowance for it, Yoshi's turn was a bit too loose causing him to take out two pylons in the quatro. We are studying the videos and looking for ways to improve the lines through the course and thereby the times in qualifying.

Training underway in Barcelona

2009-10-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

The pilots are getting the feel for he track after 2 runs yesterday and now into the 3rd training flights.

Also yeasterday afternoon, Patrick Paris visited the Red Bull Air Race runway at Sabadell to say hello to his rookies from Red Bull Air Race training camps last year.
Patrick is the 1998 Aerobatics World Champion and is in charge of training any new Red Bull Air Race pilots.

Barcelona Live Raceblog

2009-09-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Join the fun live at Barcelona!
Send questions and interact with the race teams!

Red Bull Air Race Barcelona Liveblog

Barcelona finale kicks off

2009-09-30T04:31:00.000-07:00

September 30.

The Red Bull Air Race Airport at Sabadell, Barcelona was officially opened today in front of a large gathering of Spanish and International press representatives.

The showdown looming between Reigning Champion Hannes Arch and this years Championship leader Paul Bonhomme is the main topic of conversation around RBAR circles here in Barcelona.

Last night two events were held in downtown Barcelona near the race track.

The first was the Pilot activation/autograph session at the beach restaurant "SHOKO".
Enthusiastic Red Bull Air Race fans were able to get up close and talk to the pilots and ask questions of them while getting their autographs.

The second was a party held for departing Teams Dell and Mangold. A traditional Spanish meal was enjoyed with a desert including chocolate pieces with the images of the pilots. A very nice touch to end a great night of comradeship amongst the teams.

Pictures from Porto

2009-09-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

A great selection of pictures from Porto

Barcelona Live internet streaming

2009-09-27T23:48:00.000-07:00

Watch the Barcelona action live here.
Unfortunately due to broadcast partner commitments the stream can not be seen from the following countries:
* Spain
* Germany
* United Kingdom
* Australia
* New Zealand
* Taiwan
* Malta

Meet Yoshi, Pilot Activation/Autograph session Barcelona

2009-09-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody, Please take the chance to meet Yoshi and other Pilots:
Tuesday; 29 September 2009: Pilot Activation / Autograph Session from 20.30 - 21.00 @

Shoko Restaurant & Club
Paseo Marítino de la Barceloneta, 36. Barcelona

Muroya vs Coulthard

2009-09-24T03:29:00.001-07:00

September 21 saw a special event at Yoshi's homebase airport Fukushima Sky Park in Fukushima Japan. David Coulthard's Formula 1 car vs Yoshi Muroya's Extra 300S.

We are not sure who won but from the Video and pictures they had a great time showing off their "rides"!!

It was a great opportunity for two World top level motor sports racers to compare notes on their respective race codes and machinery. Yoshi was sorry that he did not have his real race plane there to show off!

Roll on Barcelona

2009-09-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

For the latest on the Barcelona Finale buildup go to:

The Red Bull Airrace Newsroom

See you all in Barcelona!

Next stop Barcelona

2009-09-14T04:14:00.000-07:00

The Rookies line up to depart the Porto TRW together enroute to Barcelona while the teams depart to all corners of the globe. In 2 weeks time we will all gather again in Bacelona for the final race of the season. It is sure to be a fascinating race. The front runners vying for top spot and the rookies out to prove themselves to the fans.
Exciting drama will unfold no doubt!

Porto 10

2009-09-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

The pilot interviews after today's racing give a great insight into how their day went. Take a look:
www.redbullairracenewsroom.com

Porto 9

2009-09-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day in Porto for the final day of racing. Team Moroya had a reasonable day in that our time through the track was quite good and would have had us in 5th place into the super 8. However it was not to be with a 2 sec penalty finishing the day for us.

All in all not a bad effort and we look forward to Barcelona knowning we are getting stronger race by race.

The crowd at the TRW could only be described as extremely enthusiastic as they welcomed the 5 - 15 placed pilots to the autograph session on the far side of the runway.

Porto 8

2009-09-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Onboard Video of Qualifying:
First Quali flight

Porto 7

2009-09-13T04:32:00.000-07:00

Pilot interviews from Qualifying can be found here: Quali Interviews

Photos from Qualifying day:
Photos by Taro Imahara

Porto 6

2009-09-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, quite a good day for Team Muroya. Everyone is very pleased especially Yoshi. After a mediocre practice in the box Yoshi was not happy with a small modification on the ailerons that we had tested and so we went back to the original settings for the Quali runs. Yoshi is now feeling the courses better and after his good run in the wild cards in Budapest is starting to feel he has the coordination to start to find the potential of the plane. A great run in first Quali and a follow on, although 1 second slower, was smooth and consistent. This is the first time we have achieved 2 consecutive runs with no penalties and is a big step forward for the team.

We hope the weather will allow us to compete in a full day of racing tomorrow. The more racing the better even if we would be 4th if the weather is bad!

Photo: The planes line up for the quali's out of Maia Airport. We had to move there because of the lingering fog at the TRW.

Porto 5

2009-09-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

The second practice day ended with no practice again. Although not getting to fly is the same for everyone, it is actually harder on the rookies but I guess we just have to live with it and hope for good weather for the next 2 days.

The official Red Bull Air Race news bulletin about the weather is here:

Red Bull Air Race newsroom

Porto 4

2009-09-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

It is now 14:00 and still no training flights. The sea fog is sticking to the coast like glue. The frustrating thing is that the race track is clear and we can see this on our TV screens in the hanger. The RB helicopter has just taken off with Paul Bonhomme on board to check if it is safe to take off and land from the TRW.

Photos:

The TRW as we arrived this morning and Steve Jones describes the way the planes turn at the end of the track for the TV cameras.

Porto 3

2009-09-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

It is now 16:20 and we can still hear the foghorns blowing down the coast towards the river and race course. Race training has just been cancelled for the day because of the sea fog remaining in the area all day! Beaten out of valuable training time in the box by the weather. Again.

Porto 2

2009-09-10T01:56:00.000-07:00

An interesting news article here about the front runners expectations for Porto as we move into training today (which is delayed due to foggy weather just now)
Arch Bonhomme

Porto 1

2009-09-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by here in Porto as we prepare for the racing. Here the TRW for the racing is on a carpark down near the beach on the coast. The race track is a few kilometers away on the river valley with high hills along the side and high bridges at either end of the course. Prior the raceplanes arriving today at the TRW, they were based at Maia, a General Aviation airport some 20 km away. The last 2 days have been spent there preparing the planes after their ferry flights from Budapest

Yesterday afternoon Yoshi had Rob drove down to the race area to recce the course which curves around with the river. It is unique in that you can't see one end from the other and due to the width constraints, there are no horizontal turns or quads.
Check out the course at: Porto

The photos show some of the barges already set up on the river but without the pylons and some of the old buildings around this famous old port city. One can imagine the sailing ships of yesteryear tied up to the banks near the mouth of the river loading the Port wine for which the area is famous. For a brief history of Porto go here: History

Last night there was a public autograph session at the Sao Bento Railway Station which is considered amongst the most beautiful in Europe.

Today the race planes flew into the TRW from Maia and the TRW was officially opened by the Mayor of Porto Mr. Rui Rio and CEO of Red Bull Air Race GMBH., Mr. Bernd Loidl.

Each of the pilots was introduced to the Mayor. See photos.

The road to Porto

2009-09-06T05:33:00.000-07:00

TC Robert here sitting in Gatwick waiting for my flight to Porto. It is 30hours now since I left home in Auckland. Yoshi is somewhere enroute from Tokyo via Paris and Tech Takashi is on his way from LA.

We are looking forward to the first race for Team Muroya in Porto and to improving our standings in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 09.

For those that want to meet Yoshi in person there is a Pilot Activation/Autograph session to be held at:
São Bento Station
Praça Almeida Garret, 4000-069 Porto
On 8th Sept. at 20:00 to 21:00

See you in Porto!

Wild Card and Top 12

2009-08-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yoshi made a creditable time in the wildcard and although 2 of the wild carders were DSQed we felt we deserved our place in the 12s. The next flight was a different story though as we had difficulty with our engine start which might have upset the rythm for the flight. Anyway, a pylon hit and a level flight penalty finished us for the Budapest races. The time through the track was encouraging though. We look forward to the next races in Porto!

Qualifying

2009-08-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

We did well in the track today but almost everyone else did better!
It will be an interesting wild card race tomorrow for sure. Hopefully we can make use of the second chance the wildcard brings.

Budapest Training 3 and 4

2009-08-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

Training 3 and 4 and compensation training today was a mixed bag for the team.

Times through the track were not too bad however some small errors resulting in penalties in each of the runs are holding back our race time and qualification start rankings. However we were not the only ones with no less than 4 disqualifications for various rule infractions and 2 did not starts due to equipment problems.

Tomorrow will be a better day!

Picture by Taro Imahara: Yoshi waits his turn to fly.

Live timing on internet

2009-08-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

You can follow the timing action live here:

http://www.redbullairrace.com/infosystem

Tokol sushi

2009-08-18T00:18:00.000-07:00

Last night Team Muroya had a special treat when Hannes invited us over to his hanger for sushi. On the TRW there is no alcohol so Red Bull was substituted for the traditional sake or cold Asahi Superdry beer!

Photo shows Pete, Hannes and Yoshi discussing the days practice session over sushi and Red Bull in Hannes' hanger.

Budapest 6

2009-08-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Practice flight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K43Npm98Bn8

Budapest 5

2009-08-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

17:00
First day of training on the course in Budapest went well considering it was the first time under a real bridge for Yoshi! Race 31 is performing well and we look forward to improving our times bit by bit over the next 3 days.

Well done Team Maclean and Team Sergei now having their aircraft back flying after some long hours work changing equipment. In the case of Sergei they had to change the whole engine and they are in the air testing the plane as I write.

Hoping to post a video of our 2nd practice run later this evening.

Budapest 4

2009-08-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today was "under bridge" training day and calibration flights. The calibration flights involve flying each aircraft over head the airfield to test and calibrate the on board cameras and flight data telemetry downlinks. The rookie pilots also conducted training flights involving flying under a rope suspended between two race pylons at the same height as the bottom of the Chain bridge to the river below. Veteran retired RBAR pilot Klaus Schrot coached the pilots on under bridge flying. The pylons were on Tokol airport and will later be used (without the rope!) for media promotion flights in the RB Extra300L.

After the flights were completed, Yoshi and Rob headed for the Compound area where we, together with most of the new people, were given a tour of all the operations areas controlling the races on the race track. Of course the race tower is the most conspicuous of the structures that make up the compound however there are a lot more things going on in the surrounding temporary buildings erected there for the event.

Some photos attached.

Budapest 3

2009-08-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Race day -5
Yesterday evening we were able to do a test and training flight. The engine is running well and seems to have more power in line with our expectations. This morning Yoshi and Rob checked out the race course area on the Danube River. We walked over the famous Chain Bridge which is now the "traditional start/finish" for the Budapest leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Late afternoon training saw Team Sergei suffer an over speed of the engine/propeller and it looks like they are in for some late nights to rectify the problem. Same applies for Team Maclean. Their hanger door remained closed all day today while some serious work is taking place on their engine to enable it to pass scrutineering after modification work during the break between races. For race 31 we had another training flight and Yoshi is happy with the plane and got some secret practice inflying under the bridge!

Budapest 2

2009-08-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

Race day -6.
For our fans in Japan, Fuji TV will be on site in Budapest to record the entire event as part of their 3 part 3 hour TV programming featuring Yoshi and the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2009. We will be looking forward to seeing the Red Bull Air Race Fuji TV programs in Japan!

Fuji TV is well known for its coverage in Japan of Formula 1 motor racing and other major sporting events.

In Budapest

2009-08-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

All three team members arrived in Budapest yesterday (12th August)
Yoshi arrived from Japan, Takashi from Los Angeles and Robert from Auckland all via Frankfurt.
Today assembly of the plane is progressing smoothly. All the european teams have had their aircraft assembled, flying and under modification since around 21st July. Teams Bonnhome, Ivanoff and Lamb had their planes shipped directly to the UK and are due to fly in to Tokol airport, the race runway, today via a promotion photoshoot in France.

Team Dolder arrived early from Germany and have their engine covered with a white cloth hiding what is rumoured to be a new engine (with a Californian aroma) installed no doubt with all the latest go fast goodies (light weight pistons, cylinders, tapered inlet tubes, lightweight exhaust etc)installed as they play equipment catch up with the experienced teams. Closed hanger doors shield their plane from curious eyes.... Enthusiastic German fans will be arriving in droves by chartered 737 to cheer Mattias on in Budapest.

Photos show Race 31 wing repair waiting for a coat of paint and partly assembled plane front into the hanger to keep our engine work out of easy view.

Towards Budapest

2009-07-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

A quick update from TC Rob here in Japan, as we move in to the last 30 days prior to the next Red Bull Air Race in Budapest and the first there for Team Muroya 31.

Race 31 is repaired and in the shipping container on its way to Budapest. The wing damage was confirmed to be not serious but it was better to err on the side of safety and not race. While we had the chance with the plane at the Zivko Edge factory, we did some further changes that should help the overall performance of the aircraft.

The air tickets to Budapest are booked and Yoshi is raring to go! See you all in Hungary where, the talk has it, Peter is test flying a new Hungarian built race plane.... Will we see it in the races??? Time will tell....

Red Bull Air Race Windsor 5

2009-06-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Photos from Windsor
Taro Imahara/TIPP

Red Bull Air Race Windsor 4

2009-06-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

Very disappointed team at the moment due to a technical problem with the aircraft that precludes us continuing racing at Windsor. The plane is now disassembled ready to move to the repair facility. We will work on the plane and be ready for Budapest.

Good luck to the other teams!

Red Bull Air Race Windsor 3

2009-06-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Attached photos by Taro Imahara at the TRW before todays 1st training flight.
Yoshi's reaction from the 1st time in the box at Windsor was that the course is tight but the mods we have done have improved the feel of the plane!

Photos:Taro IMAHARA/TIPP

Windsor Race Report 2

2009-06-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

First training day was not to be. We set off to the airport with anticipation but by the time the first 5 planes had flown the rain was coming down and those were to be the only flights of the day. Yoshi and I decided to head back but Yoshi was hungry and a bit cold so we stopped at a Chinese restaurant near the airport for some hot noodles. After this afternoon snack the weather had become a bit better so we asked for a test flight to make sure the plane was running as we expected and to keep Yoshi's G tolerance up. We quickly went back to the TRW and Yoshi went for a quick flight. The engine data from the flight is downloaded and analysed and is looking good. Tomorrow should be fine!

Photo shows a wet TRW pit area as it was around 14:00 today.

Windsor Race Report 1

2009-06-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to heat up. The TRW is open. The planes are in their respective hangers. One thing noticeable is the top 3 are being more "open" with their cowlings, literally. Few covers or closed door work on the planes. It seems that most people have figured out what the others are doing so it is not worh going to the trouble of hiding things anymore. If you haven't "got it" now, catching up is going to be difficult seems to be the attitude at the top. Further down though especially in the Americam camps, work seems a bit more frenzied. There are a lot of mid group and bottom group teams including Team Muroya, working to grab some points from the top guys and stamp their mark on the rest of the season!

All is looking good for some great racing here at Windsor.

Picture: All looks quite but inside the hangers, teams are preparing their race planes for first training tomorrow.

Race 31 arrives in Windsor

2009-06-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

2017.4 Nautical miles covered(3631.32km)
10.6 hours flight time
187 gals of fuel (710liters)
Average speed 190 knots (342kph)

Windsor race getting closer!

2009-06-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Air Race Team Muroya report.

For those who might wonder, "how do these high tech race planes get from race to race". Well, sometimes disassembled and flown in a jumbo jet or in a container over the ocean and sometimes they fly there. Between San Diego and Windsor the planes have gone mostly to some place to have modifications and will all converge on Windsor by June 7th.

Race 31 is typical. Some work has been done which we hope will improve our team results in the coming races. Now the plane is being flown from California to Windsor by TC Robert. Yesterday he stopped at Chandler near Phoenix for the night and was looked after by Team Chambliss. Today he has flown as far as Guthrie, Oklahoma and Race 31 is hangered at the Zivko factory, home of the Zivko Edge, together with Hannes Arch's plane. Hannes' plane was trucked there for repair from San Diego following his bird strike incident.

In a day or two Race 31 should be in Windsor after the 1900 nautical mile flight from California.

Robs self portrait at 7,500ft doing 200knots and Wind Power farm, on a farm, new Amarillo.

Windsor here we come!

2009-05-20T02:54:00.000-07:00

Photos: Taro Imahara/TIPP http://tipp.sakura.ne.jp/

Pre Windsor report

Soooo, what is Team Muroya up to between races......

Race plane 31 is at a top secret US location (rumoured to be area 88 close to area 51) undergoing massive alterations to make it as streamlined as a Ferrari and as light as a feather. In the first week of June, Team Coordinator Robert will ferry it from area 88 to Windsor. It is believed it will be so fast, it will only take 3 hours for the trip!

Meanwhile, in the real world, pilot Yoshi has been keeping his hand in flying an air show at the Kanoya Maritime Self Defense Force Base in Kyushu Japan. Yoshi’s air show flying in Japan is done in an Extra 300S in Red Bull colours. This was his first opportunity to fly in front of his local fans since the start of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2009 season and as can be seen from the attached photos they really appreciated it.

Kanoya, being a MSDF base, has a large fleet of PC3 Orions that regularly patrol the Japan sea and Japan’s coastal territories. Each year though they put on a very energetic formation routine probably never seen in other parts of the World in such large aircraft. Their finale is the 4 ship break you see in the photos.

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 7

2009-05-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Photos:Taro IMAHARA/TIPP

May 10, 17:00

Its all over for this leg of the series. A blinding quick time in the final saw Nicolas Ivanoff take the Red Bull Air Race in San Diego 09. Paul Bonhomme hung in for second place and Hannes Arch pulled a penalty in the Quadro while pushing the radius of the turn into it very tight. Bad luck for Hannes, also having a bird strike during his run that leg a rather large hole in his horizontal stabilizer!

Team Muroya had a clean (no penalties for the first time YEAH) run in the wild card round that put us into the final 12. The final 12 run was not so good. Looks like we need more time in the track before we can start pushing the times too much! All in all though an improvement that saw us move up 2 places on the hanger pecking order for Windsor and our first championship point YEAH!. We are taking it step by step. Congratulations to Matt Hall for his solid performance again as top Rookie!

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 6

2009-05-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

San Diego 19:00

Well, Qualifying is over and we are in lucky 13th position again! Our first run we had a good time through the track but picked up 2 penalties equaling 4 seconds. 1st penalty was on the chicane when we popped up a little high on the middle pylon. 2nd penalty we were a little high coming out of the Quadro.

The second qualifying run was run in conditions with a low ceiling. Our time improved a little but we ran a little high coming out of the chicane and copped another 2 second penalty. Next, through the start finish line we clipped the inside pylon for a total of 8secs.

Without the penalties we could be in amongst the 6th to 8th placers. We are looking for a clean run in the wild card flight to get another shot at the first 12!

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 5

2009-05-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately all practice sessions in the race box were cancelled due to low clouds in the area. It was very frustrating for all the teams because the weather at the TRW Brown Field was beautiful!

After the final cancellation notice was given at 16:00, some of the pilots including Yoshi went for training flights overhead the TRW.

So, no more practice time in the Race track. Tomorrow it is straight into the Qualification rounds. The course has been the same configuration in San Diego for the last 3 years so it will be a big advantage for the veteran competitors and the lack of box time here will make it difficult for the Rookies!

Training Flight

2009-05-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 4

2009-05-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

13:00 May 8
Flying delayed all morning due to low cloud over the race area. 3rd training is cancelled. Waiting for weather to clear for training 4 to start first take off scheduled for 14:25

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 3

2009-05-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

May 7

Today was the first day of practice "in the box". Due to a Padres day baseball game at Petco stadium (very close to the shoreline where the Red Bull Air Race course is set) we weren't able to fly during game time so one flight was made during the morning and then we had to wait until late in the afternoon for the second practice. Yoshi's flight time was around 18:00 and the low sun made it difficult for the later pilots on the flight list. We had a good run and came in 9th for the second practice session. This made for a long day with team briefing at the TRW at 0745 and getting back to the Hotel at 20:30.

Tomorrow we will post a video of todays flight on utube. Three more practice flights tomorrow and the last chance to "learn" the best lines around the course before qualifying on Saturday!

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 2

2009-05-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

May 6th

The TRW (temporary runway) was opened this morning by Red Bull Air Race GMBH CEO Bernd Loidl with all the race pilots and media in attendance. Bernd was presented with the recently received Emmy award for excellence in TV programming.

see: http://www.redbullairrace.com/news

Red Bull Air Race San Diego 1

2009-05-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

San Diego May 5

Team Coordinator Robert arrived in San Diego on May 1st from New Zealand and Technician Takashi Nishimura the same day from Riverside CA.

On May 2nd we assembled most of race plane 31 working side by side with the other teams assembling there planes. When we looked in the hanger we found that 4 planes were missing. 4 days after we left from Abu Dhabi, the whole of the Red Bull Air Race equipment had arrived in San Diego. All 15 race planes, 1 media plane 1 helicopter and all the portable hangers, control towers, the High Flyers building and all the other equipment had been put in 2 Boeing 747 jumbo jets and transported to San Diego.

The 4 missing planes were Bonhomme, Gulian, Chambliss and Mangold. All were assembled on arrival by their teams and flown out to various places in the USA for modification before the San Diego races. Bonhomie's plane went to Mojave for more work by the Scaled Composites and Nemesis Racing team. The objective was to reduce the weight of the plane somehow. Gulian's plane went to Oregon to remove the wing "cuffs" that proved to be slow in Abu Dhabi. The other 2 we are not sure where they went and what modifications were done.

For team Muroya, we have found some equipment on the plane that we didn't really need so we spent some time removing these and reduced the weight by about 1 kg.

On May 3 Yoshi arrived from Japan and in the late afternoon made a test flight. May 4th some more adjustments made to the plane and another test flight. After the experience from Abu Dhabi Yoshi has moved the seat to a lower position and laid the seat back at more of an angle to make it more comfortable for flying the Red Bull Race course. Today May 5th we had another test flight. So far all flights have been overhead the Temporary Runway located at Brown Field airport. From tomorrow, the real practice in the race area starts with a calibration flight overhead the race course. The calibration flight is to test the TV and Data telemetry systems that are now back on board the planes. These systems allow the position speed and attitude of the planes to be broadcast live to the ground together with the live camera images from the cockpit camera and tail camera.

Also today, the Team coordinators had a briefing on the care of the special G-RS racing G suits. Part of the TC job is to take the G suit back to the Hotel after each championship round and WASH it! Glamorous job! These new G suits have 4 columns of water called "fluid muscles" that are contained in tubes that run vertically down the length of the suit, 2 at the front and 2 at the back. So, prior to washing, the water tubes need to be removed. The system works by having a tight fitting body suit with the fluid columns in it. When the aircraft experiences the on onset of high G forces, the fluid flows down the columns and exerts more pressure on the legs and lower body thereby restricting the flow of blood there and increasing the pilots resistance to high G forces. Each suit weighs about 6.5 kgs. If he pilot elects not to use his G suit, he must carry a lead weight of 6.5kg on the seat instead.

http://www.redbullairrace.com/news.php?id=2267&lang=en

Pictures show the fluid columns that are in inserted into special cloth tubes that run the length of the suit.

Team Muroya is looking forward to improving our performance in the races in San Diego with more experience in the track. We are planning some major improvements to our race plane between San Diego and Windsor to help put us closer in aircraft performance to the top teams. From our research prior to purchasing the Edge 540, we knew our plane would be down slightly on performance compared to the top teams but have now found a way to get some vital improvements incorporated in our machine earlier than we had originally planned.

Watch for some exciting racing from Team Muroya in the coming championship rounds!