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Air racing is a motorsport that involves airplanes competing over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previously estimated time. == History == The first heavier-than-air air race was held on May 23, 1909 - the Prix de Lagatinerie, at the Port-Aviation airport south of Paris, France. Four pilots entered the race, two started and nobody completed the full race distance though this was not unexpected as the rules specified that whoever travelled furthest would be the winner if no-one completed the race. Léon Delagrange who covered slightly more than half of the ten 1.2-kilometre laps was declared the winner.〔(The May–June 1909 "Port Aviation" Meetings – The World's First Air Races ) by Anders Bruun accessdate 22 August 2012〕 Some other minor events were held before the ''Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne'' in August 22–29, 1909 at Reims, France. This was the first major international flying event, drawing the most important aircraft makers and pilots of the era, as well as celebrities and royalty. The premier event — the first Gordon Bennett Trophy competition — was won by Glenn Curtiss, who beat second place finisher Louis Blériot by five seconds. Curtiss was named "Champion Air Racer of the World". The first air race in the United States was held at Dominguez Field, just south of Los Angeles, from January 10 to 20, 1910, organized by pilots A. Roy Knabenshue and Charles Willard. Funding was raised from railroad magnate Henry Huntington and the Los Angeles Merchants and Manufacturers Association. William Randolph Hearst carried coverage of the event in his ''Los Angeles Examiner'', and hired a hot air balloon with a promotional parse touting his newspaper. The event attracted 43 entrants, of which 16 appeared. It was there that aviation pioneer and military pilot Jimmy Doolittle, then thirteen, saw his first airplane. In the years before the First World War popular interest in aviation led to a large number of air races in Europe, including the 1911 Circuit of Europe race, the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Air Race and the Aerial Derby. In 1913 the first Schneider Trophy seaplane race was held. When the competition was resumed after the war it was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of World War II. On October 19, 1919, the Army Transcontinental Air Race began along a 2700 mile route from Long Island, New York to San Francisco, California and back which would see widespread carnage including 7 fatalities (2 en route to the race). Of the 48 aircraft that started, 33 would complete the double crossing of the continent.〔(Billy Mitchell and the Great Transcontinental Air Race of 1919 ) by Dr. William M. Leary, Air University Review, May–June 1984〕 In 1921, the United States instituted the National Air Meets, which became the National Air Races in 1924. In 1929, the Women's Air Derby, nicknamed the "Powder Puff Derby", became a part of the National Air Races circuit. The National Air Races lasted until 1949. The Cleveland Air Races was another important event. In 1947, an All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race, also dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" was established, running until 1977. In 1934, the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia took place with the winning de Havilland Comet flown by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black. In 1964, Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, pilot, and unlimited hydroplane racing champion, organized the first Reno Air Races at a small dirt strip called the Sky Ranch, located between Sparks, Nevada, and Pyramid Lake. The National Championship Air Races were soon moved to the Reno Stead Airport and have been held there every September since 1966. The five-day event attracts around 200,000 people, and includes racing around courses marked out by pylons for six classes of aircraft: Unlimited, Formula One, Sport Biplane, AT-6, Sport and Jet. It also features civil airshow acts, military flight demonstrations, and a large static aircraft display. Other promoters have run pylon racing events across the USA and Canada, including races in Las Vegas, NV in 1965, Lancaster, CA in 1965 and 1966, Mojave, California in 1970-71, and 1973–79; at Cape May, NJ in 1971, San Diego, CA in 1971, Miami, FL in 1973 and 1979, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1984; Hamilton Field, California, in 1988; at Dallas, TX in 1990, in Denver, CO in 1990 and 1992, in Kansas City in 1993, in Phoenix, Arizona in 1994 and 1995; and in Tunica, Mississippi in 2005. Numerous other venues across the United States, Canada, and Mexico have also hosted events featuring the smaller Formula One and Biplane classes. In 1970, American Formula One racing was exported to Europe (Great Britain, and then to France), where almost as many races have been held as in the U.S.A. Also in 1970, the California 1000 Air Race started at the Mojave Airport with a 66 lap unlimited air race that featured a Douglas DC-7 with one aircraft completing the circuit.〔http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMGgnFusEg California 1000 Unlimited Class Air Race video〕 Red Bull has created a series called the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in which competitors fly individually between pairs of pylons, while performing prescribed maneuvers. Usually held over water near large cities, the sport has attracted large crowds and renewed media interest in air racing. Aero GP has multiple aircraft racing together pik around pylons, and is based in Europe where it has held an air race each year since 2005. Powered paragliding or paramotor races have been organized with the first occurring on 4 September 2010 in an airfield in Montauban, Southern France. These are parasails powered by small two-stroke engines and allow a much smaller race where the audience can see the pilots as they carry out their maneuvers.〔(Parabatix Sky Racers )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「air racing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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