44 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
preceding rounds. Even so, he rates
the following race in Germany as the
season’s highlight. After qualifying
fastest, he finished second on the
podium and the team had put sound
performances together, back-to-back.
After such an unsettled start, the
consistency that Matt and his team
were known for was visible once again.
Less visible was the process
that led to those performances. By
accepting that 2017 was going to be a
challenging year, the team set out to
test the Edge 540 to the fullest extent.
Ongoing development took place after
every race, tweaking this and adjusting
that. Everything from the ailerons and
pitch response to centre of gravity and
seat position was tested and tested
again until it was correct.
Interestingly, the team would
test an element until the perceived
sweet spot was found and then
keep going out the other side of the
envelope. Only through such thorough
testing at both left and right of peak
performance, could the true peak
be found. This meant that in earlier
rounds, performance may actually
deteriorate after a new aspect of
development was tried, but the team
recognised that it could endure such
setbacks early in the season as they
were playing the long game. The
team’s eyes were firmly set on the next
season.
It called for patience in a very
public domain, but the reward wasan extremely thorough analysis
of the aircraft. It was a form of
‘experimentation’ that may not have
been viable if Matt was in the title
race. Still, with all of the change that
confronted the team, at season’s end
Matt finished sixth on the table, which
was testimony to the strategy the team
had adopted before the first propeller
had turned at Abu Dhabi way back in
February.Looking ahead
Unlike many of the other teams
that are backed by major sponsors,
Matt Hall Racing must find a way to
combine the season with other aspects
of its operation. From its base at Lake
Macquarie Airport, its adventure‘The team set
out to test
the Edge 540
to the fullest
extent.’
During the qualifying for the San
Diego stage of the Red Bull Air Race
World Championship.
JOERG MITTER /RED BULL CONTENT POOL
Matt Hall Racing