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Energy low – request refuel! This announcement by the Red Bull Blanix Pilot sets a project in motion that has never been seen before. REFUEL is the result of a fantastic team effort by the glider acrobats of Red Bull Blanix and the Red Bull Skydive Team. They have created a spectacular preview of AIRPOWER24 and the many ingenious displays that will take place on 6th and 7th September 2024 at the Hinterstoisser Air Base in Zeltweg.
Handing over cans up in the sky
At first glance, the challenge sounds simple, yet it was extremely complicated to implement. Because every detail had to work, the timing had to be perfect for REFUEL not to be a mission impossible. You need true masters of their trade to literally give the can handover wings – and Red Bull Blanix and the Red Bull Skydive Team are just the right people for the job. A brief spoiler: Both are also in action at AIRPOWER24 – don’t miss it!
“The evening after our Valentine’s Day project together, we joked around that it would be exciting to hand over a Red Bull can high above the clouds,” says Red Bull Blanix pilot Ewald Roithner. “It was a pipe dream at the time, just a rough idea, because it would mean that we would have to fly extremely closely together to make it possible.” But as it is, once the spark of an idea is there, the internal motivation to turn almost impossible projects into reality leaves the protagonists no peace.
Roger, let’s go! In summer 2024, the time had come. The Red Bull Blanix gliders and the Red Bull Skydive Team took off to meet up for a REFUEL at an altitude of over 2,500 meters and at around 170 km/h. “It was scary in the air, flying so close to Ewald and his glider with the wingsuit,” said Marco Fürst from the Red Bull Skydive Team. “My feet were very close to the wings, and it was a bit of a challenge to be so close. Because the closer you are to solid parts in the air, the riskier the manoeuvre is for us as wingsuit pilots.”
“My challenge was to keep the glider stable and at a constant speed. Because the moment the skydivers flew their formation close to the glider, I immediately felt the effects of the air turbulence. You could feel every bit of turbulence on the wings.”
The smooth flight was essential to make the can handover happen. “I flew upside down and stuck my hand out of the cockpit to receive the can from Marco Fürst,” explains Ewald Roithner. “We were only an arm’s length away from each other, that was a very special moment.” A cool detail: the Red Bull can was perfectly cooled for Ewald Roithner’s energy refuel, as the outside temperature at 2,500 meters above sea level was only 6°C. The refuel is in the books!