Red Bull Air Race

Perth hosted the finale of the Red Bull Air Race, which for those not aware its those little propellar powered plans that fly really fast through the inflated pylons (apparently called air gates). Anyway it was pretty cool to [photopress:Chopper.jpg,thumb,alignright]see up close, especially the TV helicopter that would follow them in to land and be tailgating the aircraft. This was going on almost directly above our heads. That and the fact that during the race the planes are reaching about 400km/hr, got us thinking ‘wow I bet they would take out a load of people if the pilot lost control and crashed into the grandstand full of people thats all of 100m away’.

Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the spectacle, but isn’t this the era of overkill in safety. I mean there’s warning notices telling you if you stick you head in a plastic bag you might suffocate, and silicon bags saying dont eat me!