The Aviation Magazine Volume 7, Issue 1 #40 Jan-Feb 2016 | Page 34
© 2015 Joerg Mitter /Red Bull Content Pool
Paul Bonhomme, the most successful pilot in the 10‐
season history of the Red Bull Air Race with three World
Championships and 19 race victories, announced on Octo‐
ber 22, that he was retiring from the sport. The 51‐year‐
old from Cambridge was the dominant force in the high‐
speed, low‐altitude race for most of his 66‐race career
since its launch in 2003 and was in the thick of the cham‐
pionship battle in the last six seasons.
Bonhomme is retiring from the sport in which 14 of the
world's best pilots from 11 nations race at speeds of 370
km/h through a 25‐meter high racetrack because he
would like to spend more time with his family and because
it felt right after winning the 2015 World Championship on
Sunday in Las Vegas. He will also concentrate on flying
aerobatic displays at air shows with his Red Bull Matadors
teammate as well as his career as a Captain flying Boeing
747s for British Airways.
"I reckon now is a good time to stop. It worked, the team
were (still are) fantastic and I have been very lucky to en‐
joy the fruits of great teamwork," said Bonhomme. "The
flying and the opportunity to race has been utterly superb.
Those moments in the track, in a well prepared race plane,
is the ultimate flying experience. If you can fly it inch per‐
fect at 200kts whilst 50ft from the ground, pulling 10G and
then discover that you've set the fastest time, it is a buzz,
a massive buzz."
Known around the world for his formidable flying prowess
on the high‐speed tracks, Bonhomme's smooth and effi‐
cient flying style in the race tracks set the standard in the
sport for years with many of his rival pilots trying to match
his racing lines and efficiency. Despite his friendly de‐
meanor, deadpan humour, entertaining quips and engag‐
ing ability to explain the finer points of the sport to fans
and reporters around the world, Bonhomme was a fierce
competitor who loathed losing.
He got his private pilot’s license at 18. He was soon work‐
ing as a flight instructor and later became an air taxi pilot
before flying charter flights. His aerobatics career began in
1986 and he has been flying at air shows ever
since.