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The Sky Challenge Air Race

Taking Live Sport to the Next Dimension

High speed aerobatic aircraft racing through a virtual course and a live online game allowing millions of virtual pilots to join in.

The ultimate convergence of spectator, TV and internet sport. The Sky Challenge Air Race is the future of interactive racing.

Check out one of our early test flights. Do you have what it takes? (video)

The Race

Each of the Sky Challenge aircraft carries advanced inertial positioning systems. An onboard computer shows the pilots the virtual course on a cockpit display.

Successfully getting through the virtual objects will keep the course short, hitting an object will lengthen the course. The first pilot to complete the course and cross the finish line is the winner.

The Game

Online gamers fly their virtual plane through the same virtual course – according to the same rules, over the same Host City.

The Sky Challenge online game matches the exact conditions experienced by the real pilots – including wind, g-forces and other variables which are fed into the game.

If you think you have what it takes to compete against a real pilot pre-registrations for the Sky Challenge Online Game open in September, 2010.

Events

Soon the inaugural Sky Challenge Host City will be announced – followed by an intense period of planning and marketing in advance of the first series of races.

The Sky Challenge Air Race will be the biggest party in town – and one of the world’s greatest ever epic sports battles.

Giant screens, grandstands, a huge range of hospitality options – and the world’s top internet gamers live on stage. Who will win – the real world champion pilots – or the internet’s best virtual pilots?

About

The Sky Challenge Air Race has been developed in New Zealand with specialist partners based in the UK, Germany and Australia.

The first test flights took place in 2006 and 2007 – culminating in a successful series of advanced test flights in northern Spain in October, 2008. The Spanish flights combined virtual, dynamic obstacles in the sky with two Extra 300 L aircraft which successfully flew the course at full speed – with HD TV coverage from on board and from the ground.

The Sky Challenge Air Race now has added experts in event management, internet game production, sponsorship, communications and media distribution to the project team.

Contact

Peter Newport.
Chief Executive Officer. Sky Challenge Air Race
+64 21 380 318
Peter.newport@skychallenge.com

Fiona Fenwick.
Events Director. Sky Challenge Air Race.
+64 21 725 779
fiona.fenwick@skychallenge.com