Hannes Arch Bird Strike! Red Bull Air Race San Diego 2009
Red Bull Air Race pilot Hannes Arch, had the speed to win on Sunday and was just ahead of Ivanoff at the first interval. But then a pelican punctured a gaping hole in his horizontal stabiliser shortly before the midway point. Arch said he was startled by the bird hit and was then unable to properly level his wings through the next Air Gate. It was a costly two-second penalty that dropped him behind both Ivanoff and Bonhomme. I was having a really good run and then I had a bird strike that distracted me, Arch said after inspecting the blood-covered hole on the right side of his planes tail. I was off line after that. The bird strike nearly tore off my horizontal stabiliser. It was bad luck but good luck that I was able to fly to the finish line. This wasn't the first bird strike in the Red Bull Air Race history. In London 2008, Paul Bonhomme was unable to avoid a flock of about 200 seagulls and hit at least three of the birds, which caused some visible damage to his Edge 540. Bonhommes technician Wade Hammond was busy repairing the damage to the right wing and tail - 4 mm deep compressions to the carbon fibre skin as well as chipped paint. More information on www.redbullairrace.com
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