Aero GP is an international air racing

Air racing

- History :The first ever air race was held in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1908. The participants piloted the only 4 airships in the U.S. around a course located at Forest Park...

 series with up to eight specially designed high-performance sports planes all racing together at speeds of up to 400 km/h (248.5 mph) around a tight circuit just metres off the ground and from each other. The competing pilots are military and civilian pilots from around the world. Aero GP is the only international, televised event where aeroplanes race simultaneously.

Competitive elements

Three primary disciplines in series decide the annual World Champion Flying Ace:

Air Racing: All racing at the same time, between six and eight aircraft reach speeds of 500 km/h at just 10 metres above the racecourse.

Air Combat: A real air-to-air “dogfight”. Pilots take to the skies in an attempt to out-manoeuvre, hunt down and shoot each other out of the sky, in the style of military air combat.

Barnstorming: A third element which can consist of any of the following - depending on the venue: aerobatics, stunt flying or precision target dropping - pilots drop bombs from their aircraft at low altitude, aiming at various targets.

History

The first Aero GP was held in 2005 although the concept dates to 2000. The inaugural event, held in Slovenia, was televised in over 100 countries. Since then Aero GP's have been held in Malta, Romania (twice), The United Kingdom, and Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

The Pilots

Aero GP pilots have backgrounds in flying a range of military and aerobatic aircraft. They come from a variety of countries and backgrounds. Fighter pilots, aerobatics champions, and civil aviation pilots are all known to compete. They are put through tremendous amounts of G- Force when performing in their aircraft.

Regular Aero GP Pilots

Andy Bickmore - UK http://andybickmore.com/

Zoltan Veres - Hungary http://www.vereszoltan.hu/

"Smokey" Young - USA http://www.since1853.co.uk/smokeyyoung

Gerry Cooper - UK http://www.geraldcooper.com/

Mark Jefferies - UK http://www.yakuk.com/airdisplays.asp

2008 series

The series consisted of two Aero GP's. June saw the Aero GP team return to Constanta http://www.lussoluxury.com/content.asp/read-111062008123157/British_Pilot_Wins_Aero_GP.html in Romania and this was followed by a second round in Blackpool, UK.

2009 series

The 2009 series sees Aero GP visit the Middle East for the first time. Aero GP will be headlining the Al Ain air show in the United Arab Emirates between January 29 - 31. There are multiple other venues being discussed for 2009 and these will be announced in the new year.

Accidents

During the Malta show in 2006, 2 planes, an Extra 300 and a Yak-55, collided just outside the harbour of Marsamxett.
The pilot of the Yak-55, Gabor Varga, died instantly. However, the Extra 300 pilot, Eddie Goggins, suffered minor injuries and was soon released after the crash.