42 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
T
o be successful at the elite level
of any motor sport, both the
machine and the human in the
seat need to be operating in
unison at the edge of the envelope.
This truth is appreciated by every
pilot and team that travels the globe
as part of the Red Bull Air Race
(RBAR) circuit. And as the 2017
season dawned Australia’s own Matt
Hall Racing was confronted with the
reality that the machine element of
their combination would not be ready
in time and difficult decisions needed
to be made.
Best laid plans
Over preceding seasons Matt Hall
had developed a reputation for
consistency, and with good reason.
At the helm of his MXS race aircraft,
Matt had finished second in the
RBAR Championship in both 2015
and 2016. Always among the points
and frequently on the podium, he had
gone tantalisingly close to the title,
particularly in 2015 when he was just
edged out by Paul Bonhomme.
So 2017 shaped up as a season
when the team might have a real shot
at the championship – that is until
issues emerged with the MXS that
would call for it to be grounded for an
extended period of time. The team’s
years of development of the aircraft
and Matt’s experience flying it were
to be rendered null and void and
preparations for the new season were
turned on their head with the decision
to transition to a new aircraft type –
the Edge 540 V3.
Such a decision is a major step for
any team as it is not simply a case of
buying an aircraft off the shelf and
going flying. In the first instance, any
new aircraft has to be made compliant
to the rules governing the RBAR. This
process includes fitting race-specific
equipment such as pylon cutters,
camera housings, new engine mounts
and a range of other modifications.
Once completed, the aircraft then
has to be scrutinised and certified
for racing.
The extent of those changes meant
it was obvious that the new Edge 540
could not be ready in time for the first
race of the 2017 season, so an alternative
plan needed to be put in place.
When the first race took place at
Abu Dhabi, Matt lined up in a ‘loaner’.
The aircraft was an older model Edge
540 that former Red Bull Air Racer
Peter Besenyei had flown way back in- Despite the challenge of flying
a ‘new’ aircraft, Matt still managed to
finish among the points to get his new
season underway.
A new Edge
The choice of the new Edge 540
over another MXS was influenced
by a number of factors, not the least
including Edge’s higher level of
factory support at the time. Another
pragmatic consideration was the
Edge’s extremely light steel tube
airframe as opposed to the MXS’s
one-piece carbon fibre structure. That
makes repairing and developing the
Edge simpler as fundamentally the
team is dealing with components that
are attached to an airframe that can
be removed, modified, repaired or
replaced with a greater degree of ease
than is the case with working with
carbon fibre.
Even so, a great deal of work
needed to be done before the aircraft
could be race-ready for the second
round in San Diego. Beyond the RBAR
certification, Matt needed to get in
the cockpit and get comfortable with
his new aircraft. Flying to the United
States three weeks before the race,
he subsequently ferried the aircraft
from Zivko Aeronautics in Oklahoma
to California where further engine
diagnostics took place. Two days later
the flight was made to San Diego
and qualifying began. The results
now show that Matt again finished
with points for the race despite the
challenges of flying a new aircraft.
Compared to the MXS, various
aspects of the Edge 540 V3 handled
differently. In general, Matt found
the Edge more stable to fly and while
around the same speed in straight and
level flight, it possessed a higher rate
of roll. Further, the rate of g-onset
took a little getting used to. Being
so used to the MXS and the control
column position in relation to the
pre-stall buffet, Matt had to re-learn
exactly where that equivalent point
was in the Edge and move to it quickly
and with confidence.Mattafterqualifyingatthe
Lausitzring,Germanyround.
DANIEL GRUND/RED BULL CONTENT POOLMatt Hall Racing