Imagine yourself running a race of about 5.6 kilometres. Doesn’t sound too tough, right?
Now imagine doing it at 320 kilometres per hour.
Oh. And 50 feet off the ground.
That’s the kind of action Mark McIntyre found himself involved in recently.
McIntyre was in Roswell, N.M., last month for an event with Formula One Air Racing.
“You see Red Bull air racing or whatnot, that’s one airplane on a course by itself and you’re basically timed,” McIntyre said.
“Formula 1 is basically NASCAR at 50 feet.”
Dreams of being a pilot
At a young age, McIntyre wanted to fly. He was part of the Air Cadets program and aspirations of joining the military and pursuing his dream that way.
But while pursuing his pilot’s licence when he was 16, McIntyre got some bad news during a routine medical exam. It turned out he was colour blind.
“I was basically told at that time that I could never do it for a living,” he said.
McIntyre gave up his dream career. But he found another way into the aviation industry.
“I like working with my hands and working on cars or bikes or building stuff,” he said. “So I just kind of transitioned into maintenance.”
McIntyre attended NBCC Moncton and became an aircraft maintenance engineer. He currently works in Saint John.
But there was still that dream of flying.
“I had actually given up on it altogether,” McIntyre said.
But a chance conversation made him rethink things.
“I worked out west and up north and did a little bit of high Arctic stuff as well as some small airline stuff before moving into corporate aircraft,” he said. “It wasn’t until I came home … that I met a co-worker who was an instructor, and we got talking.”
McIntyre said he told his co-worker he’d always wanted to fly for a living but wasn’t doing it because of his colour blindness.
“And he said ‘Oh, that’s not true,’” McIntyre said. His co-worker told him there were a lot of ways to make a living as a pilot, even with his colour blindness.
“Then we made a deal,” McIntyre said. “He says you buy an airplane and I’ll teach you to fly for free.”
After a conversation with his wife, McIntyre started looking for a plane. He found a training aircraft in Florida, at a time when the Canadian dollar was close to par with the U.S. dollar.
After a two-day process of disassembling and inspecting the plane, McIntyre put it back together, bought it and flew it home.
Once he got the plane home, he was able to do all the work himself thanks to his certifications and began his training.
“I did it well enough that my co-worker says ‘Well, you did your private licence, why don’t we continue and get you your commercial licence, too?’”
McIntyre holds both a private and commercial licence, though he said he doesn’t do anything with the commercial licence.
Off to the (air) races
McIntyre said he doesn’t call it a fluke that he ended up racing planes, but it started from what was intended to be a one-time thing.
“I’d always been a fan of the Reno Air Races,” he said.
McIntyre said the races gave pilots a chance to innovate and push the aircraft to their limits.
“It’s pushing the aviation, which kind of became stagnant for a little while,” he said.
McIntyre was having difficulty deciding what to do with his licence.
“Just flying around the city really didn’t interest me much,” he said. “I kind of dabbled in thinking about getting into aerobatics, but the aerobatic aircraft are rather expensive.”
McIntyre and his wife happened to attend the Reno Air Races one year during a vacation, and he discovered the Formula One class.
“Formula One is basically grassroots racing,” McIntyre said. “There’s a specific skill set that you need to have and develop in order to do it. It’s not easy to do, but the aircraft are, relatively speaking, inexpensive.”
McIntyre talked to participants and thought he’d like to try it out. When he returned home, he ordered a set of blueprints to build his own racer.
He sold the training plane he’d learned to fly in, and used that money to start buying the pieces and materials to build the plane he’s currently working on.
What is Formula One racing?
McIntyre described the racing as like NASCAR in the air.
“We race around a 3 ½-mile (5.6-kilometre) oval track, racing around a set of seven pylons,” he said. The pylons are like telephone poles with large cans on the top to mark the track.
“Depending on your division, anywhere between five to eight airplanes take off from the runway at the same time, at the drop of a green flag,” he said. “You race down the runway, racing onto the course and you get onto the course, and you basically race head-to-head.”
The planes must conform to certain specifications. McIntyre said the square footage of the wing must be 66 square feet.
“How we get that square footage is up to us,” he added.
Other requirements include fixed landing gear, meaning the gear can’t retract into the body of the plane, and the propellor must be one piece and can’t be made of metal. All planes use the same engine.
“We have to be stock engines, so it can’t be all souped up,” he said.
Pilots trying to find an edge need to focus on the shape of the aircraft, worrying about reducing weight and drag.
“And piloting skills, as well,” he said.
He said the standardized specifications help keep the sport competitive.
No victories, but rookie pilot impresses
McIntyre made his debut in the air at the Formula One event in Roswell this year, but he’s been around the sport for about seven years.
“I crewed for a team for the past three years,” he said. “I’ve been involved in the sport for a while and learning.”
Making his first appearance as a pilot could have been overwhelming, he said, but his previous involvement gave him some experience to lean on.
“We had a magnificent time,” McIntyre said. “It was so much fun.”
Unfortunately, McIntyre’s best finish in five races was fourth place. He finished fifth, dead last, in the other four.
“I mean, we weren’t the fastest plane by any means,” he said. “But it was good to learn and see what it’s all about and how you interact with the other aircraft on the course.”
Despite the lack of success in the air, McIntyre impressed organizers and his peers enough to fly away with rookie of the year honours.
“I consider that a great honour,” he said.
According to McIntyre, the award isn’t all about results, but how a competitor conducts themselves and the efforts they make to improve.
“When we were in training and during race week leading up to the race, I was always trying to get more course time,” he said. “I talked to a lot of veteran racers like, ‘Hey, you’ve seen on the course. Do you have any hints, tips or tricks or anything you see that I should be doing that I’m not doing?’”
McIntyre said he was constantly seeking feedback, and he’s had not problems because of the friendly community in the sport.
“It’s phenomenal,” he said.
Mark McIntyre, in the red plane, takes off against a competitor in Roswell, N.M. Image: Submitted by Mark McIntyre
McIntyre said once pilots are in the air, it’s highly competitive. But otherwise, there’s a strong sense of community.
“Everyone is super-friendly,” he said. “We all go down with spare parts.”
McIntyre said one racer this year dealt with complete engine failure.
“His week was basically done,” he said. “Then one of the other racers brought a spare engine for his airplane and he’s like ‘Hey, throw it on, here’s my spare engine.’”
McIntyre said the cost of an engine can range from $15,000 to $30,000, and this other racer didn’t think twice about offering his spare engine at no charge.
“Everybody helps everybody. It’s amazing,” McIntyre said.
What’s next?
McIntyre said he’ll be flying a bit more in October and November, until it gets too cold.
“The aircraft doesn’t have heat or anything like that,” he said.
He said he’s putting some time into modifications to the plane he used this year to make it a bit quicker.
“But I’m actually putting all my effort into the aircraft that I’m building and I’ll try to finish that for spring,” he said. “That will be a competitive airplane.”
As for the sport itself, McIntyre said the organization is looking at expanding beyond the single event in New Mexico. He said they’re trying to get certification so they can conduct races on their own, and possibly set up a three-race series across the United States.
As for a Canadian stop?
“I’d love to see it in Canada,” McIntyre said. “I think it’d be great for helping promote aviation.”
