Gqeberha-based Patrick Davidson is racing pilots from around the world and he barely has to leave his backyard — thanks to the accuracy of GPS technology.
The furthest he’s been is nearby Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown, where he builds a course using GPS markers that represent gates he has to fly through, turn around and race back. One race will last less than 50 seconds with the aircraft hitting ground speeds of nearly 500km/h.
Each competitor’s data is centralised to determine a winner for each round of racing.
Davidson, who owns an earth-moving company and is also involved in mining, inherited the flying genes from his father, an aerobatic pilot.
“I was exposed to it from a young age,” said the 42-year-old, who won his first title at 12, accompanied by a safety pilot because he wasn’t old enough to have a pilot’s licence.
He raced in the Red Bull Air Race challenger series, which involved transporting people and equipment around the world, until 2019, after which it was canned.
A couple of people who had been involved in that came up with the virtual Air Race X concept, where pilots race against each other using identical courses, all without having to travel.
Four pilots are based across Europe, one in Japan, two in Australia, Davidson in South Africa and the organisers are rooted in Australia and New Zealand.
“It’s got a massive amount of traction now,” said the married father of two. “I think it’s a very unique and up-to-date way of racing in terms of emissions and carbon footprint.”
The first race was staged last year and this year there are three races planned. The first took place in May and the other two are set for September and October.
Next year there will be five races. “The last race, they're still pushing to have an actual race. So it’ll be with real pylons at a venue and I think the top five will qualify.”
The format involves qualifying races before quarterfinals, semifinals and a final are staged. The data of each race is uploaded into a central system which shows the flight paths of the planes against each other.
One racing tournament can last up to 10 days, with course set-up, waiting for best weather and practice rounds before the actual racing starts, though each pilot can begin racing whenever they’re ready.
The trick is negotiating an invisible course with only the markings on the ground to guide them.
“They essentially give you a centre line and the pylon is 15m wide. So you can go seven-and-a-half either side and you can mark it with flat PVC sheeting, you can mark it with drums, you could mark it with whatever you like, and those things extend up to 200 foot, obviously imaginary.
“But as a pilot, you need to mark these things on the ground and you need to be able to fly through it.”
Pilots are penalised for a range of offences and they are also handicapped according to air density.
“There's a formula which they use and they basically calculate it [air density] so that it actually gives you a handicap as well,” said Davidson, who also enjoys endurance racing in racing cars, mountain-biking, wakeboarding and kitesurfing.
He competed in the first event at Seaview, near Gqeberha, where the weather is less predictable than it is inland.
Then he moved to Makhanda, which is about two-and-a-half thousand feet above sea level.
“The aircraft we fly are normally aspirated, so there's no turbochargers, so you lose boost. So we actually had the benefit of a slight handicap. We lost performance on the engine, but it was much easier for us to predict the wind and it was a flat surface as well,” he said.
The plane produces about 3,000rpm, which translates into noise.
“At Seaview, when we did the first event there, we had a massive amount of noise complaints,” said Davidson. “I’m not going to deny it, it is very loud. It’s super fast and it’s obviously very low as well ...
“At Makhanda, the airfield is situated outside town.”
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