The Red Bull Air Race brings out the wannabe pilot in most boys - and some girls too. So we're happy to preview the daredevils hitting London (not literally, we hope) for the second time.
On Saturday and Sunday tiny planes will race a few feet above the lapping Thames beside The O2, performing a series of stunts as they sneak in-between huge floating plastic pylons before pulling up at the last minute and doing death-defying climbs and dives which leave the pilots facing the force of 12G's.
Woo-hoo! It all makes you want to sit down with a nice cup of tea just thinking about it, doesn't it?
It's a ticketed event, of course, but if you happened to be around the area earlier today (or working in one of the Canary Wharf towers) you'd have had a free bird's eye view of them practising. It looked awesome, trust us. We're not sure if they'll do the same today (Friday) but it may be worth a look-see.
Looking through the official and quite impressive website, it turns out this is a contest between 12 pilots. While we're obviously contractually-obliged to back the 3 Brits, one of the Americans won today's training runs and so must be favourite to win. Oddly, though, the square-jawed Austrian pilot Hannes Arch most looks the part. That cheeky white smile, the tussled hair, the leather jacket, his new shiny canopy - it's all a bit homoerotic Top Gun, isn't it?
So - this is Top Gun but on an energy drink still banned in most of Scandinavia (and France, until earlier this year). Who in their right mind would miss this? And what's the chance of them crashing into the sluggish Blimp? Crikey.
Pic of last year's event from .kol tregaskes' photostream
