Bad News For Chambliss, Red Bull Air Race Rotterdam

American pilots Kirby Chambliss, Mike Mangold and Michael Goulian were hoping their new smaller, lighter and narrower tires and wheel covers might give them a slight aerodynamic advantage over their Red Bull Air Race rivals. But the air went out of their plan in Rotterdam when their five-inch wheels were outlawed because officials said they were not designed for the landing speeds.

The Americans had turned to the smaller tires in San Diego and Detroit, where the runways were longer. Red Bull Air Race officials allowed them to keep the smaller tires on until the championship returned to Europe.

"They've had to replace their small tires for their bigger wheels due to the fact that those wheels are illegal on these airplanes for the weight and speed ratings -- so we made them change," said Adrian Judd, the technical director of the Red Bull Air Race.

More on http://redbullairrace.com

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Autos & Vehicles

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• news
• red
• bull
• air
• race
• rotterdam
• plane
• chambliss
• landing
• gear
• rbar08

[MrMoorkey]

What is it they say about a bad workman blaming his tools...

[zaction]

The smaller wheels didn' seem to help them